Evening star., 1934-03-25
ARMAMENTS RACE ALONE
HELD NO CAUSE FOR WAR
Mere Possession Of Weapons Is No
Threat to PeaCe-AssOCiated POliti.
cal Events Dangerous.

ScrlDe0 as the unreallty OF American
peace activities. Our agents have
sought to limit and reduce the arma-
ments with which a war must be
fought. but have ignored the causes
which must produce war If permitted
to persist. Such deception was only
possible while the nations which chal-
lenged the existing order were un-
armed, and those which defended it
we're heavily armed. AS long as that
situation prevailed it was possible to
say that German revisionary plans
did not constitute a real menace to
France and her allies. But when
Germany began to arm and disclosed
a purpose to arm up to French levels
such contention was silly. In the
same fashion, when Japan ratified
the Kellogg pact you could discount
the speeches of her militarists, but
when she invaded Manchuria tha.
was a horse of another color.
In this correspondence I have
steadily stressed the thesis. with
which Mr.. Lippmann seems in pres
ent agreement, that we ought to stay
out of European disarmament con-
ferences because we are resolved to
stay out OF European political af-
fairs. Armaments in Europe are
purely questions OF politics. Playing
Little Rcd Riding Hood to Europe
would be all right if grandmother
were really in bed waiting for our
basket of moral nutrition. bat in
fact the big bad wolf is in grand
mothers place. And Europe wants
not our moral advice but our mate
rial aid.
What has existed in Europe for the
past three years, ever since the col
lapse OF the Locarno truce, indicated
by the proposal of the Austro-German
tariff union, has been war-war car
ried on by every other means save
that of arms, to be sure, but never
theiess a conflict between irrecon-
cilable national policies. Disarma-
ment programs have been used as
ammunition. Opposing nations, hav-
ing renounced war as an instrument
of policy. have undertaken to use the
League of Nations as an instrument
for the support of purely national
policies.
Now European nations have been
forced to come out into the open
because it is no longer possible to
deceive either themselves or anybody
else. The opposing policies Of vari-
Gus nations must lead to war unless
they are modified. No nation Is
ready to modify its policies. The
armed nations in Europe are not
ready, however, to use their arms to
carry out policies, and the disarmed
countries can do nothing until they
have armed. Both parties will now,
therefore, proceed to multiply arma-
ments. What on earth can the
United States accomplish under such
circumstances?
Arms Races Inescapable.
Since the armed nations apparently
prefer to multiply their preparations
for war rather than make it, We may
we'll witness a considerable period OF
pause The world had 10 years OF
that between Tangier and Serajevo;
it came to an end finally because the
tension produced by the constant
clash of policies became unbearable.
The same thing is likely to happen
again, but once more the armaments
will not be responsible. 1t is pos
Sible to make out strong case
against armaments for social or fiscal
reasons, but not as a menace to
peace.
II Germany and France. Italy and
Germany. Hungary and Czecho-
slovakia cannot arrange their terri
torisL disputes. they must arm to
support their separate contentious.
Such arming will lead to armament
races, almost inescapably. But in the
, end it will be Alsace Lorraine,
Trieste and the Upper Adige, Slovakia
and Macedonia which will produce
conflict. not the guns countries ac-
cumlate to back their conflicting
claims to these lands.
What Mr.. Davis and his school OF
peacemakers have undertaken to do
in the postwar period is to settle all
the responsibility for war upon guns
and totally ignore the reasons which
lead people to arm themselves.
American fear of Japanese attack
upon California may be absurd and
military preparations to repel it
childish, but German purpose to
seize the Polish Corridor is not
childish. because the Germans have
done that before. Thus, while the
Poles may consent to truce with the
Germans, they will not disarm; to get
them to disarm you must bring them
certified assurance that Germany has
abandoned the program of treaty re-
vision on her eastern marches.
Personally, I am neither a ma
tionalist nor a militarist. I should
welcome any sort of American CO.
operation with Europe which might
promise to promote peace. I should
be perfectly willing that the United
States should run risks commensurate
with the possibilities of achievement.
But I do not want to see the United