Evening star., 1932-10-23


at all time7 hiss bccn just b-nccth TIE
surface. Disarmament. reduction ol
lin!i et.on OF eSi-ting military md neva
e-.c 'i7l"r,cnts are di5rlo-cd Cnce rfnre
e ccn.irgcnt urcu F1cr"h s-cu-ity
N-oreove~. IN The be-. ground j. tina
fren"eltly Announced pu-rG-c of Jsp~r
to incrcsse. not to Limit O: reduce. its
ray when the London agreements ter
inmate in 1885
The French position is so familiar
that it requires little new exposition
From the days of the Paris Feace Con-
ference. almost IA years ago. to the
present hour the French have insisted
that all international regulation of mill
tary ard naval forces must be preceded
by the formulation of pacts guarantee
ing the security of all countries and
the provision of an international police
force to prevent the violation of these
pacts. Thus Woodrow Wi'ron at Paris
WIS cocfrcrted b. tFc proposal of Icon
Eou-gec'5 Tor fn Il o-~2;-cnrl er-,,
Undc" to- d'-cc' icn G. tn Ic-ga, Of
Netionc. vii " w. olf to b. p 'cvjCed
With a g-lc-cl $.
Proposed P~i'cc Force.
Thirteen years lI-c-, ", en- the A ms
Conference at Genera WIS open ng last
Winter. An,re Tardicu, speaking for
France. proposed an international air
force controlled from Geneva and de-
signed to provide the League with a
police force. At Paris Wilson and Lloyd
George gave Clemenceau the treaty of
guarantee, which the United States
later failed to ratify Since that time
France has been working uninterrupt-
edly to repair this disaster.
AS far back as 1924, when Herriot
was prime minister for the first time,
he and Ramsay Macdonald. also newly
come to power met at Genera and in
that League Assembly there was framed
the famous protocol which bound all
League members to defend any individ-
ual state attacked But Great Britain
presently refused to ratify the protocol
and it fell by the wayside, like the
tri-nartite treaty.
IN 1925 the iScue took a new form.
when the Tory government in Britain
consented to the Locarno agreements.
which bound Britain to act against
Germany or France in caso ether
should attempt by violence to destroy
the status quo of the treaty of Ver-ail-
les on the Rhine. But the British re-
fused to take a similar engagement
which would insure the security of the
Poles and the Czechos'ov?ks, who we're
the allies OF the French. Germany. 100.
while agreeing not 10 recover ner lost
provinces in toe east by force. declined
to recognize the status quo on the E1be
and the Vistula as permanent. as she
had recognized that On the Rhine
Exposed to New Threat.
Meantime. with the coming CT the
Fascists. France had been exposed to a
new threat dircc.ei primarily at her
position in the Mediterranean. but also
calling into quest ion her possession of
Nice and Savoy Thus. while the mill
tary question continued to excite alarm
because Of its German aspect. the naval
question was equally disturbing because
of Italy. And it was the Italian detail
of the security question which turned
up to plague the London Naval Confer
ence in 1880.
At London the French demanded. as
the price of any agreement to limit
their naval program ard thus to per-
NIT Italy to arrive at PARITY. that Great
the status quo in the Mediterranean as
she had already given her pledge on the
Rhine. When. as consequence, the
Fiye-Power Conference went on the
rocks and the question of saving it be-
came acute. Stimson and Morrow egreed
for the United States to discuss the
question CT a consultative pact. At the
time this assent was ascribed to a desire
to inset the French wishes directly end
thus save the Five-Power Conference.
But, in fact, the thing was BIT more
complicated. Actuall.' the British had
declared that they would not consider
making a new commitment unless the
United States would agree in case of any
crisis arising in the Mediterranean 1t
would go to conference. Britain would
then agree to a Mediterranean Locarno.
France would assent to limitation OF
her own naval program which would
save the Rapidan adjustment between
Great Britain and the United States.
Italy. on her side would obtain parity
with France in printiple at least
The news that Stimson was consider
irg a consultative pact. however. pro-
duced an explosion in Washington, and
Joseph P Cotton, acting Secretary OF
State. announced no such agreement
would be made And in the end the
thing fell through. At the time Stim-
son announced that the American dele
CATION had been willing in principle
to accept a consultative pact but not
under tie existing circumstances. For,
if it were offered to win the French
to obtain a naval agreement, they would
inevitably see an American obligation
to do more than consult In fact, in
any Franco-Italian quarrel in the fu-
ture the United States might find itself
entangled as Britain had been in 1914
because of her previous naval arrange
ment with the French.
Failed to Achieve Results.
The Five-Power Conference, as re-
suit. failed to achieve any definitlve
results, since the Anglo o-Amerlcan-Jap-
anese agreements we're MADE condl-
tional. Moreover, tine hope of later
Franco Italian adjustment which would
make the London agreements def1nit1Ve
has never been realized. French and
italian naval construction has contin-
ued and British anxiety as the strength
of these fleets mounted has been dis
closed in frequent forecasts OF de-
cision to exceed the tonnage figures OF
the Rapidan agreement. as the British
are free to do in the face OF Franco
italian building.
Last Winter at Geneva all tfe old
situation was Immediately restored. Tar
dieu. BIZ his "bombshell'' proposals even
before the sessions opened, made French
acceptance of any program OF reduction
contingent upon an assurance OF French
security by an international force con-
trolled at Geneva. Meantime, the
F-enco-Italian dispute found no &C
ccmmodation and after six weeks the
AIMS Conference was compelled 10 TURN
from the discuss on of numbers TO the
consideration of weapons. And it had
not progressed beyond conditional agree
mems in the matter of weapons when
1t adjourned.
Before the adjournment, however,
President Hoover, in an endeavor to re-
animate the languishing sessions. mace
his sensational proposal for the division
of armies into two components, police
and security, and to proceed to re-
duction Of one-third in the latter cate
CORY. And this proposal was still under
discussion when the conference ad-
iourned. Without, however, taking any
action upon it, the conference handed
It on to the later phase.