Evening star., 1932-02-21
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.


~ ENEVA-The flood of eloquence
which has beaten upon devoted
r heads of delegations In the
~ Disarmament Conference fol
three solid weeks having abated
It is at last possible to arrive at some
fairly clear idea of the points OF view
contained in the proposals of respective
powers.
At the outset it was plain to all that
the statesmen of every country were
consciously under the double necessity
of convincing their own fellow coun-
trymen that they were making the larg-
est possible effort to reduce armaments
with the smallest conceivable sacrlnce
of their national security interests
From this results the unmlStakaole CIT
cumstance that all statesmen nave
clearly pronounced for reduction Oh
ornaments and at the same tline a.. an
have attached impossible conditions LOT
any actual decrease in the costs ana
numbers of their armed forces.
In reality three major proposals nave
been laid before the conference, the
French, German and Anglo-Saxon, al
though many variations OF these theses
are discoverable in the suggestions OF
statesmen from other countries. one
should perhaps, for accuracy note a
fourth program. that of Soviet Russia
which amounts to the idea OF immediate
and complete disarmament without re-
gard to any other considerations.
Security French Aim.
The French proposal turns wholly
,uon the question of security. II pro-
noses TO establish, under the control OF
the League of Nations. an international
force to carry out international law:
For the League to be an international
superstate with the function OF main
tanning order is wholly analogous 10
the duty of our Federal Government
when State rights conflict with national
jurisdiction. in other words, to be pro-
vided with the means of police power.
In practice. the means are 10 De lul .
nished by drafts upon the air forces OF
member nations; aside from TINS, sucn
air forces are to be restricted Vigorously
If the Tardieu formula was applied
snv nation undertaking by violence TO
inset the existing system founded upon
neace treaties would instantly be sub
iect to sanctions The status quo
which satisfies France and her allies
would be insured implicitly. The
French proposal is founded upon the
conception that when this system was
accepted and established the reduction
of armies and navies would naturally
follow.
France. Poland and Czechoslovakia.
for example. are fearful OF the loss Oh
Alsace-Lorraine, the Polish Corrldor
and of the eventual realization OF the
Austro-G German Anschluss. They rea-
son that such a League of Nations
force would protect them from further
political attacks such as Hitler has
iv, would nnhOld
their territorial integrity.
The German proposal by contrast, is
based upon the priciple Of equality OF
armed forces with France, as moral
right and also as a legal right that is
alleged to be implicit in the terms of
the Versailles treaty as to German dis
armament. The German demand in
wolves no increase in German forces to
the level of the French army, nor does
1t seek equal strength with the British
navy: but, on the whole, it suggests
reduction of both to the limits of Ger
man armament fixed by the treaty. In
a word Germany would thus be freed
of all military inequalities imposed by
the treaty of Versailles.
Would Reduce Handicap.
The effect Of the German proposal
however, would remove the present
French military superiority and reduce
the handicaps of German attempt
at later time. to recover her lost ter
ritories by a new war and to realize
the Anschluss agreement with Austria.
Since Germany exceeds France in pop
ulation and industrial reSourceS-that
is. in potentlalitieS OF war. such basis
of equality would actually spell su-
periority in fact Thus the equality of
security demanded by Germany could
prove long step toward war revenge
and recovery.
Italy supports the German thesis of
equality of armamentS between the
great powers because Italy, by reason
of her poverty, cannot equal the
French military strength save as the
French power is reduced The ultimate
object of Italian policy is not blind
support of Germany. but desire to
hold a balance of power between