VOL. 21, NO. n
ii.
The Commoner
V,
it-
The Disarmament Conference
, .-.Tho conferonco on. the limitation of arma
ments, originully called to meet in Washington,
Nov. 11, mot for its first session at 10:30 a,
m., Nov. 12. Prosidont Harding came in at
10:33 and immediately Secretary Hughes called
the conference to order.
. Prayor was offered by the President's pastor,
the Bev. W. S. Abernathy of Calvary Baptist
church. . :
Immediately at the conclusion of the, prayer
Prosident Harding, rose and began the delivery
of his address, c ThoT,tlelogatos at the main tablo
followed tho- address, -reading line by line from
copies they had. T.honudienaoarid some of the
delegations came fco.tlwir lcet applauding when
Mr. Harding declared America wanted "lesg of
nrmament and none ox wa)" and wanted to
work to that end.
Arthur J. Balfour nominated Secretary
Hughes for chairman of the conference, and
John- W. Garrett of Baltimore, former minister
to the Notholands wag soleotod as secretary-general
of the conference.
Secretary Hughes in a short speech accepted
tho chairmanship, and presented his .proposals
for the limitation of riaval armaments and for -a
naval holiday.
As summarized by the Associated Press, the
principal features off 'the American plan- pro
pose: .j .i
That for .not lessthan ten years, 'competitive
naval building cease ds between Great Britain,
tho United States and Japan.
That all . capital ships building or planned",
bo scrapped and a feXv recently placed in the
water b6 destroyed within three months of rati
fication of tha'agreenieut. i .
'That tho older ships, also bo destroyed, re
ducing tho .British fdrce to twenty-twp battle
ships, the American to eighteen and the Japan
ese to ten, each ship to bo retained being
'named.-' i
That during the agreement no capital craft be
laid down except under a detailed replacement
gchome included in, the proposal, which would
provide for .ulUmatQ equality of the British and
American fleets and for a Japanese force at 60
per cent of the strength of either of the' other
two. u - . '',.(.
That all qther naval craft be similarity pro
vided for in the same ratio, specific figures for
aggregate tonnage in each class being laid down.
That naval aircraft be disregarded in the scal
ing down 'processes as a problem incapable of
solution of commercial aircraft f pr war pur
poses. That no naval building be undertaken in any
of the, three countries on foreign account during
the agreement.
That no capital Ships hereafter laid down ex
ceed 3M00 tons.
That the life of a battleship shall be fixed at
twenty years, and that ships to bo replaced r.hall
be destroyed before the replacement vessel is
more ,than three months passed completion.
That no battleship replacements whatever
be, undetaken for ten years' from date of the
agreement.
That no combat , oraf t bo acquired except by
construction and none be bq disposed of that it
might become part of another, navy.
That regulations to govojrn,dumverBion M mer
chant craft for war purpfrseiPbe drawn up, be
cause of the importance of.the merchant marine
"in inverse ratio to th.e" size of naval arma
ments." Those are the features of the sweeping chal
lenge Secretary Hughes presented to the other
naval powers. There was complete detail cover
ing every phase of the question, but he es
sence of the proposal lay in this: That the
United States offered to go far beyond what she
asked Geat Britain or Japan to do, viewed 'rom
the financial losses involved.
The whole American big shipbuilding program
Jp on the stpeks While Great Britain has.no
capital ships under construction and the Japan
ese "eight and eight" program is as yet largely
on papeV,
The conference adjourned at 12:22 o'clock
until ..Tuesday, Nov. 15, at 11 a. m.
SEQJlT DIPLOMACY BARJCO SUCCESS
' (Below will be found, tho first of the series
of press dispatches by Mr. Bryan on the
-limitation of arms conference, called to meet
jit Washington, Nov. 11. These dispatches are
carrierd by the .United Press to a list pf news
papera.Uhroughout the United States, and for
the conveniences pf our readers who , desire a
ompletereporfeot the conference In suitable
form for reference, the entire series will bo re
produced in subsequent issues of The Com
moner. Ed.)
Washington, Nov. 11. The first question to
come before the conference is whether the ses
sion shall bo open or secret.
Diplomacy says secret; but opposition from
diplomacy is an argument 'for open Sessions,
rather than against t'hem. Diplomacy, ', as . wo
have had it iii the pa'st, has been a fruitful cause
of War. Things done" in secret became the
'causo of war things that would nbt have been
done at all but for ttie secrecy 'permitted. ' ,'
The peace conference at Versailles specifical
ly condemned secret treaties and pledged1 the
contracting gbvOrnments against such 'secret
treaties in the future. This doctrine has bedn en
dorsed by all the nations save the United States,
and no objection was made to this particular
provision in this country. The United States sen
ate has very wisely requested the American.,
delegation to use their influence to secure open
sessions. ' v
'' There was much more reason for 'secrecy at
Versailles than here, . because this conference
Is called priipdrily for 'reduction, or, as 'some
say, limitation of armaments, and this is the
one questipn upon Which the eyes of the "vvorld
are, centered and in. which the heart-' r6f '.the
worfd is interested. ' ' ''
t The nations represented here have parliamen
tary governments, and their people understand
tho responsibility of the representative." They
know that he does not speak -for himself,' but
for 'those whdm he represents. - Record votes
are required so that ho cannot evade f h.6 ues
tionlngs of his' constituents.- Everyone who is
acquainted ' with parliamentary bodies knows
What a difference it makes whether the repre
sentative goes on record. . J
I have seen a motion carried by a large ma
jority on a viva voce vote, and defeated on a
large majority on a rollcaU- immediately after-
wards. '"''
This is 'the most momentous gathering held
within the' memory of man and, as Lloyd George
has recently said, may become the most import
ant gathering held in 1900 years. With-the
welfare of a whole 'world at stake', the: -welfare'
of thel'public outweighs the consideration
of personal 'feelings, or even the wishes rf gov
ernments. (
in the recent war.tRe lossof life directly
and indirectly was estimated at thirty millions,
the destruction of property at three hundred
billions, and the war added to the debts of the
world a sum five times as great- as the world
owed when the first gun was fired.
The question now is whether the world will
, turn over a new leaf and seek to end war
through the progressive reduction of armaments
or face world bankruptcy. At such a. time, the
friends of peace cannot afford to surrender any
advantage, and publicity is not only an advan
tage but the most valuable one.
It is not necessary to conclude that those
Who love darkness gather than light in this mat
ter do so for the reason given in the Bible
namely that "their deeds are evil;" it may be
because they prefer to shield themselves and
w 5Jvern'ne8 by ying behind closed doors
what they would not dare to say publicly and
with the best ofi motives. But thHeneflts of
open sessions are so obvious as to outweigh any
objections thjat may be raised. ua any
In so tremendous a change, the representa
tive is naturally more timid than the T people-
JBJearl? 'Kat 5e may ma-e a mistake Why
not give him the benefit of any protest his ac
tion may arouse. If he makes a mistake it is
hetter to find it out immediately, before it is
too late to correct it." e u 1S
Let there be light. v yf j B
DISARMAMENT AND INVESTIGATION
Washington, Nov. 14.- The air is still vibrating-
with the thrilling news of yesterday A
spirit of hope pervades , the capital
Those who doubted while they waited for the
delegates to assemble, now feel quite sure that
bo far as fleets are concerned, the question ia
practipally settled. uucsuon is
They argue that this government hnq Tn n
probability, already sounded the Tgovernmen? nJ
Great Britain and Japan and knows that w
Will in due time announce their acceptance f
the plan of scrappingmore than half of alfthe
battleships afloat and will suspend ' building rifw
ones , for ten years. ' uimz.aB new.
; 'They go farther; they ' arguthat no govern-
t N
ment can reject the American offer wUh
being overthrown by tho people-at homo C
where the world is weary of war and on'nrL.
by the taxation Imposed by war. uppre3sed
The debts of the World are more ihan i
times as great as they were when the first
was fired. All tho surging dissatisfaction nn2
the people would mass behind a protept if an
government stood in the way of this lone af
toward disarmament. b ateP
At tho first session, Premier Briand of pranp
seemed to excite more personal interest than
any of the other delegates, possibly because 2
Was his first visit, and he' was not only a'strane
-Or Titft a- representative of one government that
has always expressed itself conditionally in tho
ftiatter of disarmament. Frahce.puts the question
of security first; an agreement to disarm de
ponds upon Rrovisions-tUat will give Franco a
sense of secunlty from danger. ,
.' Briand might easily',ibe taken for an Ameri
'can lawyer or politician., He gives an appear
ance of solidity and poise. He speaks without
embarrassment, and so modulates his musical
voice as to make it winning in' its melody. His
gestures, though few, are appropriate, arid his
emphasis makes you feel that .you understand
what he is saying,, even ,when .you do not know
the French language.
The conference : will ifind 'that disarmament
.will be greatly aided- by v. an -international tri
bunal for the settlement of disputes. Hereto
fore, war has (been tho only' means provided for
the arbitrament of International,. questions.
For this reason -every, nation of importance
has had. a war department and nearly all a navy
department also. They.feavQ had an organized
forcp lor .use on landaandsea, and they havo
usually resorted to compulsory sprvice, No sulK
stitute for war is sufficient that -dpes not cover
all war producing. .qausQs, . As . long as nations
regard, war as a necessity they will prepare for
it, and while they rgga,X4 preparation reces
sary they will not a-greja ,to: anything that looks
toward universal disatniament. .. .
Fortunately,- the cpnfejje.n.qe wjll "have at hand
and immediately available- a a plan thoroughly
understood and universally approved, namely;
the plan which torovjdes for the .investigation of
all disputes .before jjesorta wax., . ,
Arbitration treaties. pnnpt, cover the subjects
out of which war -is most likely to grow. All
p,.our .arbitration treaties contain three excep
tions, viz..: independence, yjtal interests and the
interests of third parties. "Vital interests" alone
comprehends every real cause of. war, so that
arbitration was only cqmpulsoryin few and re
latively unimportant matters. i- The treaties for
investigation closed the gap , and left no cause
out of which war could come without a nriod
of investigation. , . ,
In the thirty treaties ''negotiated by the
United States with nearly all -foe leading .lations,
one year's time was provided . f pr investigation
and report, during which the' contracting par
ties were pledged not to r'esprtto force, but they
reserved the right to decide, af the end of that
period tipon their owncou"rso and to act inde
pendently. . .- H . V .
These treaties make war almost impossihlo
between the United States and the governments
with which the treaties- were 'negotiated gov
ernments which represented .about three-quarters
of the population of the globe.
The plan of these treaties- was incorporated
in the covenant of the ieague of nations and has
therefore been approved "by all'the nations rep
resented in this conference. The 'United states
Senate made nonobjection to this, portion of
the covenant, as the proposed reservatims will
Bhow. -.1
It would seem easy therefore to extend, as
far as possible, the jurisdiction of court3 of
arbitration and then estahlish.-' international
tribunal with power to Investigate all disputes
which are not submitted to' arbitration. Wit'n
such a tribunal provided for,"thb probability of
war would be ho lessered that the nations will
be willing to go farther in the .direction of dis
armament than they would without provision
S ?s, made for sopao such tribunal. It may ho
added that disarmament greatly ''increases the
value of these tribunals for- investigation; the
less provision there is made' for, -armies and na
vies, the less the likelihood of die violation of
any treaty. - :
It will he remembered that the covenant of
tne league of nations coupled thesa two peace
?Fipi)aitions tether; Investigation was pro
vided for. qua progressive reductions or arma
ments pledged. .
Such a tribunal .should be empowered to con
sider any and every cause, which!, can produce
friction .between nations; including any claims
"&S il?ny .pailoa JW'ftfr JuBfcflSrin. jnaklng for
addition a its territory., TW purchase of unoc-
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