Evening star., 1932-02-14
PROGRESS Cheers
ARMSCDNFE FERENCE
Delegates Optimistic Due to
I Spirit of Cancellation; Far
/ East Big Problem.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Dy Gable to The Star.
= GENEVA, February 13.-One week
Of keynoting by the principal powers,
plus half dozen OF lesser magnitude,
has filled the entire disarmament con-
ference including especially the Ameri- |
can delegation, with feelings OF hope
fullness that were not evident 10 days
ago Predictions now encountered in !
nearly every quarter are that some
progress is possible.
The very fact the conference couldn't
conceivably have been called under |
more inauSpiciouS circumstances has
Substantially contributed to the belief
that tangible results, although Of a
limited scope, must and will! be
achieved. Because of the Far Eastern
crisis overhanging Geneva like 3 great
black pail, the speech Of W. W. Yen,
Chinese delegate, today sank deeper
into the hearts and minds of leading
delegates than almost any preceding it.
The Chinese Statesmans address was
terrific indictment Of the world
failure to make its vaunted peace ma
shinery work 1t was also interpreted
As warning that If the supreme effort
now under way at Geneva to lay
foundations for peace also comes to
naught, China's teeming millions per-
force must turn their back on two
thousand years af pacifism and resort
10 ether methods for preserving them
Selves from such ruthlessness as that !
from which they are now suffering.
Crisis Recognized.
Before the conference convened Feb
tuary 2, few expected the opening |
statements of various countries to con-
tain much beyond ptous platitudes. |
Practically without exception. they have
registered conciliation. coupled with
genuine appreciation Of the gravity Of
the international situation and an
anxiety to relieve it by any practicable
methods at the conferences command
No single power launched an ultimatum
Or program from which it would be EN-
barrassing to retire.
Speaker after speaker all down the
line of European, American and Ash
attic delegation chiefs revealed that they
are under a spell from that amazing
demonstration in the conference hall a
week ago, when statesmen for the first
time in history saw public opinion
AS petitions representing the worlds
war-weary nillions-people inarticu-
late where statecraft is concerned
were piled high on the conference ros-
trum by long lines Of men and women
who crossed the seas to present them,
the hardest boiled delegates sat up and
took notice
The memory of that scene fingers 1t
Is destined to have a far-reaching psy-
Geological effect in Geneva While
these various externalitieS and gener-
alities leave the conference hopefully
minded, nobody blinks at the fact that
ground must be laid either here or at
the capitals most concerned for group
of political settlements before real dis
armament progress is attainable.
Far East First Problem.
The foremost hurdle which must be
taken is ending the war in the Far
East. As long as it RACES, with any
hour capable of en1Dfoiling other ma
tions, no important government is con-
sidered likely to spike its guns or de-
commission its ships. The second
obstacle to be overcome is the Franco
German feud. Todays report that
France and Great Britain had reached
reparatlonS agreement encourages the
prospect of certain concessions to Ger
many which might facilitate progress at /
Geneva.
GermanyS demand for armament
equality. or at least that her eonquerors
after 13 years of broken PLACES, as she
views them, shall proceed to disarm
themselves, must be met in some form.
The French program, which acquired
little support during the week except
from allied Poland, Czechoslovakia and
friendly Belgium, makes no visible con-
cession to the German viewpoint. 1t Is
felt privately that France is in less
uncompromising mood than appears on
the surface The third great barrier to
actual achievement at Geneva Is the
Franco Italian controversy over naval
parity Here, too, the week developed
some signs of reconciliation.
Results Still Remote.
. 1t is understood in all quarters that
, it is far too early to expect concrete
results in any of these major fields Of
political strife. 1t denotes progress even
to recognize that they are in condi-
ton precedent to results. Realization
on that score IS universal. The view
was ventured tonight by an authority
who has taken trouble to make an
analytical study of the keynote speeches
that it would be possible with relative
ease to conclude an agreement at
Geneva to do away with some If not
every. form of weapon OF so-called ag-
gressive warfare, such as tanks, heavy
artillery bombing, aircraft, poison gas
and submarines.
France and Japan emerge as the only
stubborn advocates of submarines. The
same authority, after surveying the
weeks avalanche of words, discerns in
them strong possibility that while the
powers might not be disposed to reduce
ornaments pending political settle
Ments they would not oppose limiting
armamentS to the present size =. agree
fhg, In other words, to an Indefinite
arms holiday.
Long Step Forward.
80 That would, at any rate, be long
step forward Foreign Minister Grandi's
speech in many respects was the most
statesmanlike utterance of all. He ad-
vocated certainly the most concrete and
far reaching program barring Maxim
Gitvinoff's plea for total general dis
armament, which looks practicability.
Chancellor Bruening's marked re-
straint did not fail of it's intended ef-
feet. The German chancellor's speech
: was well calculated to launch the con-
ference amid that pacific atmosphere
= which must prevail if any kind Of an
agreement is to be forthcoming.
The American delegation to Geneva
came to the conference convinced that
II any one thing is designed to drive
the worlds statesmen into an arma-
ment compact, it is economic pressure.
Every speaker confessed his people have
reached the groaning point of exhaus-
ton under the adversely now encircling
the globe That, plus mankind's long
ing for peace, as exemplif1ed by the
petition demonstration February 6.
seems more than ever the weight which
will incline the Geneva scales finally
IN the right direction.
:; ARBITRATOR is NAMED