Evening star., 1932-04-13
FAR EAST QUESTION
|S|SSUE AT GENEVA.
Tardieu Cites o-Japanese
Conflict as Failure of Ex-
isting Peace PactS.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

While in responsible quarters in
Washington Premier Tardieu's speech
Yesterday at Geneva is interpreted to
have more bearing on the coming
French election than on the actual
issues at the arms conference, serious
concern is expressed about one sentence
of the French premier Who could
believe" he asked, that any state that
had broken its fundamental engage
ment of the Kellogg pact would keep
any secondary engagements"
Thus the fears expressed in Washing
ton ever since the beginning of the
Sno-Japanese confiict, that the action
OF the Japanese in the Far East would
have serious repercussions on the issues
of the Arms Limitation Conference, ap-
pear to have been fully justified.
European nations continue to live in
fear and suspicion of one another. The
American Government has repeatedly
told the French that their demand OF
additional security pactS was Witnout
any foundation, because the Locarno
pact, the Kellogg pact and especially
the League OF Nations were sufficient
guarantees that nobody would dare
wage an aggressive war any longer.
The French were Skeptical about all
these treaties, maintaining that zone CT
them provided adequate machinery to
deal with a nation that might break
any OF these security pacts.
Tardieu Spoke Plainly.
Since there had been no t1agrant vio-
lation Of any of the pacts, the French
thesis seemed groundless.
Since the opening of the conference
in January, the French government re-
Trained from making any direct allusion
to the bearing of the Sino-Japanese
conflict on the disarmament confer
ence.
Yesterday, however, Premier Tardieu
in his usual blunt way, told the world
what France thought about the queS-
ton, and told 1t in plain language.
Naturally the British, the Italian and
the German representatives are now en-
deavoring TO work behind the scenes in
order to mellify the French premier and
officials in Washington pretend to take
lightly the French premiers bombshell.
Nonethelsss, it is admitted in certain
quarters that the skies at Geneva are
The Secretary of State left Wash
ington in the belief that while nothing
spectacular regarding reduction of ar
maments could be expected, the nations
of the world would agree at least to
limit their war materials to their pres
ent standards.
Recall Last War.
In certain military circles these
efforts are considered futile. The dele
gates at Geneva, it is said. think about
the next war in terms of the last war
They seem to think that the next war
will be fought with deadly super en-
gineS. They imagine the new Big Ber-
thaS' and new monstruouS tanks will
come out OF the various arsenals, while
huge bombing planes will spread death
and destruction throughout the world.
According to military experts in this
country and abroad, the probabilities
are that the next war will be fought on
entirely new lines and these super en-
gines of destruction will be as poWerless
as the bayonet and the rife were in the
last war. The next war, if there is one
will be fought, it is thought, on a more
humanitarian basis The technical
services of various armies are now en-
deaVoring and have succeeded, to a cer-
tain degree, to discover electric and
chemical devices which would annihiiate
the power of the big guns and super
tanks. They are also trying to dis
cover means of rendering powerless the
action OF the huge bombing planes.