Evening Star Newspaper, April 19, 1925, Page 37

[EDIiTO RIAL PAGE NATIONAL PROBLEMS SPECIAL ARTICLES Part 2—14 Pages FRANCE WANTS PEACE AND AIMS TO GAIN IT Militaristic Ideas Give Way to Desire to Meet Germany Half-Way—Finan- cial Troubles Chief Issue. RY FRANK H. ARIS haps most fittingly, SIMONDS. who of France. Indeed one might even go further and say that the Tiger's definition would apply with about equal exactness to the mood of all the peoples of Europe who were belligerems in the World War. He said, “You will find the people of France, confused, the situation con- fusing. We took much out of these people during the war, we asked too much of them, what you see now is the result of the great things they did then." There after all is the key of con- temporary Europe, of other countrie quite as much as France. That per- haps adequately explains why France at the moment is an absurdly disap- pointing country to any one who knew it in the great days of the war, in the only loss exciting days of the making of peace, or for that matter even in the hours which preceded the occupation of the Ruhr which was in a_very real sense the final campaign of the war. A vear ago when 1 was here in Paris the change was coming, you could feel it. Poincare was still prime minister, but his fate was already written. France was on the eve of breaking as completely with the war, with war leaders and war ideas as Britain already had when it called in labor and Ramsay MacDonald, the man who had opposed the war even when it was being fought. Breaks With Past. Given French tradition, French his- tory, recent as well as remote, given French continental position, it would bLe impossible for France even to go quite as far as Britain went when it turned to MacDonald, but within in- evitable limits France has gone to the same extreme, and, in about the same manner, it has made the same tre. mendous break with its recent.and ever glorious past. As T see it France called upon Herriot with a sort of inarticulate de- sire once for all to dissipate the foreign lezend that France was militaristic, imperialistic, anything but a war- weary and war-exhausted people, which wanted to get back to the busi- ness of life, who were tired of any discussions of world power and even of continental prestige, who wanted 10 break down a degree of moral isolation which justly or not had come in_recent years. The result, all things considered, s about as perplexing as was the labor advent in Britain. It manifest that the moral position of France in the world has improved— although there were those to say that the gain is imaginary and the possible losses concrete. Nevertheless achievement of MacDonald was to ‘reate a better atmosphere in Europe and the triumph, the single triumph of Herriot was that both in Britain and in Germany there no longer existed apprehension of French pur- poses Germany Takel In the present situation wants peace, no country more. w Seriously. France eal change of view. It is not (hql the Frenchman is going to drop his distrust, even his fear of German ultimate purposes, but there is a grow. ing sentiment here that Germany ,will not in any event be able to attack for 10 years, perhaps for 20, what is more, as newspaper comment on the latest German election showed, there is an increasing tendency to take the Ger- man republic seriously. Again, the Frenchman now knows that he will never get any sort of guarantee from the and the only of British n British estimate still, st, not of French necessity. this wholly natural British attitude, | excite enthusiasm, | while it does not while it even leads to ¢ disturbing now because yan perceives that in ticism, is less the French- ingland it fs ctting to be understood that British | engaged If interest will adways be to attack German ever tries nce and Belgium again. I'rance, then, is ready for some- hing like the kind of pact which fs » the making. It does not reject the Sivesemann proposals as it would have one year ago, it does not by any means reject them with violence as { would have done two or three vears z0. On the contrary, there is an nazingly reasonable tone in all dis- “ussion. The distinction as 1 see it « that, while the French do not be Jieve overmuch, they not only are srepared to listen, but they are listen- ing Fr Rhine Evacuation Inevitable. It is a safe conjecture that the main obstacle to any adjustment, so far as he German is concerned, the assump- jon that the French do not mean to evacuate the Rhineland at all, that hey mean to hold the left bank of he Rhine as the sole guarantee of -ecurity, has no basis in fact. The I'rench are almost unanimous in the ccognition that evacuation is in- cvitable. Therefore, there is no un- lwidgable gulf between the two standpoints. What the French are decided about i« that although evacuation is to take Jlace, other things must also march vith this: You may safely assume that in September the Germans will \ admitted to the League of Nations with French approval, that by that time the evacuation of the Ruhr and the Cologne zone will either be ac- .mplished or the matter will be in <ich a state that no one, German or erwise, will have any doubt that it will take place promptly—in a ord, that there will be no controversy here. It was Clemenceau, per- de- fined for me the present state was | the | Even | in the matter of Germany there iS & | denying the fact United States, | insurance he can ex-| hect from Great Britain will be based | tion her foreign debt, something like in- | = own countrymen as well as to the Poles and the Czechs. The mass of the French people be. lieve that any sort of viable arrange- ment with Germany is desirable. They |are, as T have said, amazingly inter- ested in the Stresemann gestures, but theyalso believe that peace in Europe that you cannot segregate certain are: They believe that a war on the Vistula would bring war on the Rhine, that German pansion down the Danube would end in German re- sumption of aspirations on the Rhine and toward the Channel. They believe the one chance of peace is that peo- ples will now settle down within their present frontiers. Frontiers Are Accepted. There is no sentiment in France favorable to occupying German ter- ritory permanently, her frontiers as fixed by the treaty, the Ruhr occupation idea is a_ thing of the past, liquidated by the Dawes settlement, but France believes that Germany cannot get together armies adequate to crush Poland or Czecho- slovakia without becoming again a menace to all European peace. Noth ing has been more significant here (han to watch the sentiment gradually stiffening in the matter of the east- ern frontier: The thing is not, in my judgment, a fatal barrier to peace by agreement, however, to some sort of pact of the character now under examination, be- cause 1 belleve the Germans want an adjustment quite as much as the French. Whatever their mental Tes ervations with respect of their east- ern frontiers, they desire the evacua- tion of their western territories, they want an end of the menace for them of new occupations, they want thef hands free ‘to get back to busines and they are terribly eager to get foreign loans which can only come with confidence, with an end Franco-German crisis. Finance Greatest Issue. So much for the question of for- eign affairs; it fills the press and prol ably dominates the cables, but in reality it is subordinate to the mat- ter of finance in France. It is, after all and by comparison, academic and in the future, but the financial crisis is immediate. Here you have a rather striking anomaly. Of all the Euro- pean nations the French economic situation is perhaps the most sati: factory. Exports are decisively in e: cess of imports, unemployment is represented by 60,000 where it stands 1,300,000 in Great Britain, there been an immigration of more than 2,500,000 in the last five vears, showing that France has at least re. the war. than in the pre-war period. You have, then, no unemployment, no excess of imports, and you em- phatically have nothing of the evi- dence of present poverty which strikes one in Germany. France is busy, fed, clothed, in many directions even prosperous, particularly as to the farmers—and this is an agricul- tural countr And vet there is no that one lives in the sense of a present and continuing financial crisis. You see the papers nd magazines announcing that ‘‘the franc is France” and the course of the rate of exchange is followed with the intensity of interest that attaches to the temperature of one who is gravely sick. Reconstruction - Work. The reason for this is always the same. To win the war and to re: construct her ruins France raised and expended sums which represent even “without taking into considers half her national wealth. For construction of her ruined areas alone she spent more than $5,000.000,000, and the job is not finished: in fact, has now ‘to be adjourned because of lack of funds. From Germany she has col- lected for this vast undertaking al- most_exactly nothing, and even under the Dawes plan payments are but be- ginning and will not be impressive for several years. The next budget will balance, in- come will meet expenditures, unless some accident intervenes, a business depression, for example. An end has been made tq the evil practice of run- ning expenses on bond issues, on bor- rowings. But the best that can be expected will not leave any balance due to excess or receipts, and there still remains the enormous task of funding the past borrowings: which indure as floating loans. The task of bringing about financial adjustment remains tremendous, although a check has been put to the grosser evils. Barrier to Confidence. For the moment the shadow of the financial difficulties lies over every- thing and remains a very real barrier to the restoration of confidence. Un- tainty continues, there is beyond much doubt a considerable flow of French capital abroad just as there is British. Fundamentally, however, the situation does not seem unsound be- cause the whole people are working hard, they are selling more than they buy abread, and they are taking in much money each vear from tourists, which is an invisible contribution. France is thinking about money, not militarism; her views as to secur- ity have about touched the irreducible minimum. Since the United States and Great Britain have refused any guarantee which strikes France as adequate, since the United States has stayed out of the league and Britain has just rejected the protocol, the French feel their own situation has been:rather compromised. Since America_and Britain insist upon iso- RBut at the same time the French|igtion, France must keep to her Pol- will see to it that the matter of the demilitarization of the Rhineland is sdequately covered by international eement, that German violations of he armament provisions of the treaty have been repaired, and finally, and the point is vital, that no detail in the | szeneral agreement gives the Germans| ny basis for regarding their eastern {rontiers as movable. France js going to stand by Poland and Czechoslova- kia, she is going to continue to regard her alliances in the center and east of ISurope as of enduring importance. The first German gestures roused a yeal wave of protest in France, and did infinite harm because they seemed 10 indicate that Germany was offering 1o zuarantee Alsace-Lorraine, but only on the understanding that the Danzig Corridor, Upper Silesia and Austria might be regarded as good hunting zround. 1 do not pretend to Know fhow these proposals struck Herriot and his radical and Socialist asso- ciates, but there was no mistaking the impression they made in France, Herriot and his supporters had to give assurances to their vromptly ish and Czech alliances. And she will, that much the Senate will attend to. To a German arrangement every one is recoriciled; what is asked sim- ply is a clear contract which sur- renders nothing, for the French may be forgiven in the belief that it will really provide little additional. It will be a sign, perhaps, of the general desire for appeasement, for the end- ing of post-war bickerings, for a re- turn to good business; it will be, for Germany and France, a basis for for- eign loans which both need. Not fm- possibly in the meantime the much debated tariff and commercial treaty will also be signed, which is at least of equal importance. In any event, before the Summer is over something is likely to be signed and the German entrance into the league next September may mark the end of still another chapter, conceiv- ably the last in post-war history, for every solitary sign in Europe im- presses the same notion that the war is over and noboedy now wants another. (Copyrizht, 19289 must be peace all over Europe, and France accepts | ord EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunday Staf ‘WASHINGTON, D. C, Senate Secret-Session Peril Cited§ Curb on Presidents’ Power Upheld Recent United States Se S the United States Senate losing public favor? Shall radical changes be made in the exist- ing rules of the Senate, which permit a minority to defeat the will of the majority? 1Is the personnel of the Senate deteriorating? These and questions of similar im- port have been conspicuously in the public mind of recent years. Vice President Dawes in a fiery and chal- lenging inaugural address dramatized the issue and stimulated the debate over the Senate's usefulness. After six years of membership in that body, I have formed certain opin- ions of my own regarding the Senate, and 1 now feel free to join in the discussion. Before venturing into detailed an- alysis and criticism, it is not inappro- priate, perhaps, to define the position the Senate occupies in our system of government. A seat in the United States Senate is the most important and responsi- ble office in the gift of the American people, excepting only the presidency. I can conceive of no public official who might challenge that statement junless it were a justice of the United States Supreme Court, and, after all, though the duties of a Supreme Court justice are most important, they are restrictec. The Supreme Court in- terprets the law and is confined to well established principles and a large bulk of precedent. There is not in the Supreme Court or in any other office the free scope of action enjoyed by the Upited States Senate. i * ox ok % { Position of President. iven the President is deliberately {left .by the Constitution dependent upen the sanction of Congress for the performance of every duty intrusted to him. The President is Commander- in-chief of the Army, but he has no army except what Congress gives {him. While he is the Chief Execu- j tive officer of the land, Congress has to provide the money to maintain all the active executive departments. He can appoint no one to important office without the approval of the Senate. While the President may initiate and negotiate a treaty, he cannot make it { binding upon the country without the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. | Wihile he is given power to veto the | enactments of Congress, his veto is in- | effective unless two-thirds of the mem. bers of both houses of Congress ac- cept his reasons. There is a why and a wherefore for { this. Our forefathers did not want a jone-man government. Indeed, so | strongly was this ideal lodged in the | minds ‘of our eolonial predecessors |that several States consldered the | writing of a constitution that pro- | vided for no governor or executive | officer. Above everything else, they placed the dead and incapacitated of | were determined that America should There has even been an|never have a excess of births over deaths greater!world of ours is being perpetually in- “king.” This modern fluenced by currents of subtie propa- ganda. -The American people must keep alert, or they will wake up some | | Wi DAVID I. SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL HARR IS = EWINC™ WALSH. fine morning and find their liberties gone. Congress exercises its consti- tutional prerogatives and dares to do its duty, dares to oppose the will of a president. So there has arisen a persistent propaganda against Con. gress, especially a nst the Senate. If this propaganda were successful, Congress would be shor! and we would have in the States ne-man government very worst fear of our would then be realized. * *x ¥ % Would Curb Executive. The whole fabric of our Constitu- tion reveals the determination of the United the 'COOLIDGE ECONOMY NOW - GOOD POLITICAL POLICY| | Heavily ‘Standards Set by President to Weigh in New York City’s l Mayoralty Fight. BY N. 0. MESSENGER. OOLIDGE economy” is be- | ing recognized in politics as a political polic; theory and practice. i being promptly comman- deered by the Republicans as a Re- | publican asset. The Republicans have |a way of taking unto themselves any {line of action which looks promising | to furnish political results. Long time i have they claimed to be the only ex- | ponents of prosperity, insisting that good times in the country are to be credited solely to Republican legisla- tion and policles of administration. The Republicans —are considered lucky in finding themselves in posl- tion to emphasize the practice of econ- omy in the most spectacular way it has ever been employed. The Demo- crats in the past have often stood for “retrenchment and reform,” but none of their leaders has ever carried it out in such limelight of approving publicity as that in which President Coolidge now stands. With small and unostentatious beginnings, he initi- ated the practice of economy, gaining speed and volume as he progressed, until now the eyes of the Nation are fixed upon him, and in carrying out his policy he has come to be the cynosure of all eyes. Consequently, Republican politicians of high and low degree are quickly falling in step with him, and pretty soon we will see them clapping them- selves on the chest and speaking of “our policy,” seeking to give the im- pression that it has the hallmark of the Republican party. Bflieve! in Own Policy. | President Coolidge, it can safely be sald, is not urging economy in public expenditures solely for political bene- fits his party may be expected to re- | ceive, but because he thoroughly be- lieves in it, not only as a public policy, but as fit for daily use as a State, municipal and individual policy, He and his family practice it, and he thinks that it should be a national | practice. It is a little difficult to understand how Republicans can expect to “get away” with the undertaking of affix- ing the Republican stamp to economy as a peculiarly Republican asset as long as Democrats, as well as Repub- {licans, are called upon to.put it into | effect in governmental affairs. Vigor- ous protest in this assumption of own- ersnip_may be expected to be heard from Democratic sources in Congress in_the next session. Republicans.in New Yorw City are planning to make economy and effi- cient administration the keynote of the Republican campaign in the New York City mayoralty fight next Fall Already they are instituting a drive against the Democrats on the charge of extravagance by the Hylan city administration, feeling assured that Mayor Hylan will be the Democratic candidate for re-election as mayor of { the city of New York. Assault Upon Hylan. Representative Ogden L. Mills, ad- dressing the Women's National Re- publican Club one day last week, vig- orously attacked Mayor Hylan foi his extravagance, and Insistg the people of New York should their choice of their next mavor bear in mind the contrast between Presi- dent Coolidge and Mayor Hylan—their methods, their theories of public serv- ice and their achievements—with a view to the selection of executive of the type of Executive of the Nation. Mr. Mills pointed out that President Coolidge has spent his life in learning the business of government. He has been promoted steadily from a posi- the Chief tion of lesser to one of greater impor- | tance. Mr. Hylan, he said, brought to the office of mayor no experience, no background, no executive training, either in private or public capacity. In approaching the public business, the Coolidge method, he said, has been one ofgpainstaking study and calm judgment, followed by action characterized by the courage and will to do what he conceived to be right, irrespective of the political conse- quences. Record Is Assailed. In Mr. Hylan's seven years as mayor, Mr. Mills asserted, there has beén no evidence of study, of thor- oughness or vision in his handling of major questions, while even his best triends will have to admit that in reaching his conclusions political con- siderations have exercised an over- ‘whelming preponderancy. Asserting that undoubtedly thousands of voters in New York of Mayor Hylan's own party voted for Coolidge for President, he wondered how the citizens of New York can be so indifferent to their mayor while so careful in their cholce | for President. Asking why the peo- ple take Calvin Coolidge's economy so seriously, he said it was because Cal- vin Coolidge's method of living, his examples, his every act embody what he preaches. v It is known to politicians that the Republicans are planning the greatest drive in many vears next Fall to try to wrest the government of the city of New York from the hands of Tam- many Hall and Mr. Hylan and to vest it into control by a_ combination® of | independent and non-Tammany forces, headed by a candidate of outstanding and commanding figure, with a new slogan of efficiency in administration and of economy in the disbursement of the taxpayers’ money. It is recog- nized that it will be a fight of titanic proportions, and would require some- thing approaching a revolution in poli- tics to accomplish. Tammany Hall is so thoroughly entrenched in city poli- tics that nothing short of political convulsions can uproot it. The trend of current developments would seem to indicate that Coolidge economy as a policy will be sought to be adopted by the anti-Tammany forces for use in that campaign. Frau Ebert’s Pension. Less than $140 a month is the pen- sion granted by the German govern- ment to Frau Ebert, late President. left. This is the highest pension pald (o the widow of any German officlal. of its power | forefathers | in | U the city’s | widow of the After she pays her taxes she will' have less than $125 fathers to curb and restrain Executive authority, and, while recognizing its necessity, their chief purpose was to establish representative government as the final authority in the land. The individual authority of the President was made subordinate to the collective intelligence of Congress. and In the Congress itself the greater powers were delegated to the Senate. A United States Senator is given by the Constitution an independence in tenpre of office enjoved by no other elective officer of the Government. A Senator is elected for six vears. Even the presidential term is only four, while a member of the lower house of Congress is elected for two. 19, 1925. ‘Society Newst ‘ Personally, I believe that the Sena- tor's term is too long. I would make it four years. My observation has been that Senators are more atten-| tive and more. industrious and more careful in the last session before elec- tion than during the first session fol- lowing thelr election. Furthermore, I believe that In fixing the term of office for Government officials we should consider not the necessity of keeping a good man in office—for, after all, the integrity and sincerity of most offi- cers is mot open to question—but rather should provide the people with reasonably frequent opportunities to remove public servants whose services are no longer deemed satisfactory. However, regardless of my own views, the very length of the term given a United States Senator by the Constitution emphasizes the intent of the framers of that document to rec- ognize the importance of the office and to make the Senate independent of the House and the Executive. * K k% Powers Of the Senate. It is well also to bear in mind that the Senate is not, as many people are inclined to think, merely the up- per branch of a legislative body. In addition to all the powers and rights of legislation, with the co-operation of the House, the Senate has other distinct and most important functions peculiar to itself. It has powers of an executive character. It shares executive authority with the Pres dent. 1 have already referred to the fact that the President does not make executive appointments alone. He se- lects persons for various positions in the public service, but his selection is nullified when a majority of the Sen- ate refuses to approve of that selec tion. The Senate has very recently exer- cised its control over presidential ap- pointments. It absolutely refused to give its approval to President Cool- idge's first selection for the office of Attorney General of the United States after Mr. Stone had resigned. It de- nied the confirmation of the appoint- ment of Charles Beecher Warren of Michigan for that office. Many per- sons were apparently surprised to learn that the naming of Cabinet officers is not the exclusive preroga tive of the President. While for years there has been a tendency for the Senate to ratify after merely perfunctory considera- tion the appointment of secretaries of the important executive departments, I am inclined to believe that “those £0od old days"” are over. In my opin- ion. in the future the United States Senate will insist upon thorough scru- tiny of important presidential appoint- ments. % ¥ % Not Usurping Authority. Certainly this, if net mere partisan ship, is in the public interest and ought to receive the commendation of every thoughtful eitizen. The Senate in so acting is not usurping authority. It performing one of the (Continued on Thirteenth Page.) WHITE HOUSE SILENCE FIRM AGAINST ATTACK| “A Spokesman” and Not President Cool-| idge Will Continue to Sponsor News for Nation’s Press. BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. NBEK) and the country, a bloodless “revolution” has been raging around Coolidge. batter down the *“‘tower of silence, which a section of the Ameri thinks the President inhabits. The attack has failed. The status quo is maintained. Mr. Coolidge declines to be direeily quoted when he talks to the Nation through the Washington correspondents. to quote only that exalted personage who may be seen and heard, but never mentioned by his real name, known to fame as “a White House spokesman.” The purpose of the “‘revolution” was to dethrone the “White House spokes- man” and enthrone in.his stead the President of the United States as his own, direct. quotable spokesman. Mr. Coolidge, repelling the onslaught against the news system which Presi- dent Harding bequeathed him, has de- termined to perpetuate it. Corre- spondents may call upon him twice a week, after cabinet meetings, submit written questions and use his replies in the third person only. They may not in any form whatsoever put words into the President’s mouth or put him in_quotation marks. They may only reflect and_interpret what “a White House spokesman” says or thinks, without ever intimating that it is Calvin Coolidge who says or thinks it. Choate Fires Opening Gun. The opening gun in the “revolu- tion” was fired from a quarter as friendly to the President as Frank W. Stearns himself. On April 8 the Boston Herald, staunch G. O. P. organ, and loyal Coolldge supporter, published a remarkable dispatch from its Washington correspondent, Robert | Choate. Among Mr. Choate’s observations were these: “No one who attends the semi- weekly conferences of the news- paper men at the White Houss would be frank if he did not say that they are misleading, produc- tive of little information, and wholly inadequate. But they are are the best that can be obtained, &nd so they continue, rather bor- ingly * * * The White House is less a source of real news than it has been in many years. A pall of silence, even over such trivialities as the Summer vacation, en- shrouds everything. It is Mr. Cool- idge's habit to, make announce- ments when he is ready, and be- fore that time to maintain com- plete silence. Those around him are terrified by his injunctions to silence, and often their repliessto questions are misleading in their desire to be helpful and at the samé time maintain the silence en- forced by their chief.” Other Papers Aroused. About the time Mr. Choate was thus taking his courage in both hands—a sort of Paul Revere awaking the journalistic countryside to what he re- garded a professional peril-—metropoH- | tan journals Yke the New York Times. New York World and Christian Science Monitor were discussing the the head of Calvin | Its purpose was to| an press | They will continue | | White House news system. Thelr in- OWN to Washington | [erest was aroused.by a succession of | events which found “a White House spokesman” saying something at one conference and at the next conference, or hefore, denying or rorrecting what he had just been reported as having said. One New York newspaper pointed out that five different Wash- ington correspondents Jeft the White House the same day with five differ- ent Interpretations of what “a White House spokesman'’ had said, or meant to say. Some of the more recent episodes which gave rise to these dis- cussions were the celebrated Jusser- and speech, presidential views about allied debts, Mr. Coolidge’s disarma- ment conference plans, the administra- tion’s thoughts anent the fall of Pre- mier Herriot, and, within the past few days, the President's misunderstood comments on fishing. On each and every one of these occasions the “White House spokesman” was quoted, or misquoted, in a dozen dif- ferent ways. President Is Defended. Another pro-Coolidge Boston paper, the Evening Transcript, through its Washington correspondent, Theodore G. Joslin, took issue with the critl- cisms of the Boston Herald on White House news methods. Mr. Joslin wrote: “A great hullabaloo has been set up by a section of the daily press over the methods employed by President Coolidge in conducting the semi-weekly conferences with the Washington correspondents. Evidently these newspapers have made the discovery that the Pres- ident does not talk as much as they think he should. Inability to quote the President directly, they claim, results in the public getting wrong interpretations, and Con- gress becoming bewildered. * * * But, after all, this is Mr. Coolidge's administration. Whether it is to be successful or unsuccessful de- +pends in the main on what he does or does mot do. He has all the facts.. The information of others is limited. He can best judge whether a given moment is an oppartune time to make the facts known.” The Boston Transcript's, not the Boston Herald's, views have triumphed at the White House. But the “revolu- tion” ends, leaving two opposing schools of thought still holding tenaciously to their opinions.’ Many correspondents feel that some system should be devised of quoting the President directly, at least on major occasions like important inter- national questions. They do not think they should be called upon to shoulder the responsibility of ‘‘interpreting’ the President on such occasions. They believe he, not they, should bear it. If he does not, these correspondents contend, they remain in constant dan- ger of repudiation by the White House in consequence of giving pub- licity to what they conscientiously thought was legitimate interpretation of Mr. Coolidge’s remarks. _ Other correspondents oppose direct quotation of the President. They pre- fer the present system. both in th (Coutinued on Third Page.) HE United States within quarter of a century has grown from a minor nation into the greatest of world powers. Its policy with re gard to war and peace is of enormous importance, not only to itself, but to the world at large. Two paths are open to the American people—isola- tion or co-operation. For the last few years we have flirted with both poli cies and definitely adopted neither of them. In the Forum for May this allim- portant question is debated by Rear Admiral William Ledyard Rodgers, former commander-in-chief of the Asiatic fleet and technical adviser to the Washington conference on the limitation of armament, and Gen. Tasker Howard Bliss, chief of staff of |the United States Army during the World War and one of the American | plenipotentiaries who negotiated the peace of Versailles. ‘Admiral Rodgers is for isolation and dependence solely upon our own armed might. Gen. Bliss is for co operation with Europe. Says Admiral Rodgers: “While this country has been growing up it has been isolated from | the rest of the world, both in thought and in fact. As we had lands bevond our needs, the struggle for existence soon lost its bitterness, and we set ourselves a standard of easy, mutual helpfulness and generosity, and of | wastefulness of natural Tresources { which is now becoming embarrassing to us. Our country once had an ad- vancing frontier on the wilderness; that wilderness is now occupied—the high standards of living which this country has enjoved since the eighteenth century began, and which, until recently, depended upon great reaches of unoccupied land, must in the future rest on other bases. “We must realize that in Europe population has pressed more closely upon the means of support than with us; character there has been formed by fighting with man more than with nature. America Slowly Awakens. “As America has slowly awakened | to the situation, our original policy | as to immigration has altered from | one of unrestricted welcome to one of | denial of privilege. We have passed {our new immigration law to retain | our standards for ourselves, notwith- standing the arrogation of others to share in it, even at a loss to us, the possessors. For the. present our { immigration policy is a | We cling to our abundance { for the greater prosperity of our | selves and our children, but we are | now the most peaceably disposed na tion on earth because the density of population is not yvet great enough to give us land-hunger. and so we desire | nothing of other nations beyond good ill and free commercial intercourse. But this complacent kindliness is no more than a popular mood of the day. We are not a military people and have never been sufficiently fore- sighted adequately to prepare our- selves in peace for future war: but | nevertheless we are both militant and sentimental. It is a dangerous, al, thovgh not a quarrelsome. tempera- ment. If either our sympathies or our of land | foreign power, we shall commit the | country to war rather than sacrifice sentiment. In 1888 the country chose war for a sentiment when it might have had peace. It is the duty of any good government to be more far-see. ing than the masses it represents and | rules, but in democratic societies the multitude will not permit it to exer- cise wisdom. Sees Loss of Altruism. ““We may expect, therefore, that as our descendants fill up this land of {ours and existence becomes harder they will lose some of the altruism | which the ease of our circumstances allow us now to cultivate. Abun dance of land and of natural resources is the foundation of our present mild {the rest of the world to better itself. We cannot expect economic and me: chanical improvements forever to keep in advance of the world's rise in population. As our growing numbers press more heavily on the means of livelihood, our view of war as an in- ternational struggle for national well being will alter. This statement is not to be understood as the expres- sion either of advice or of a wish. It is a prediction only, just as a man looking out and saying ‘It is going to rain’ does not utter a hope for rain while yet foreseeing it. “Our recent law checking immigra- tion ought to please every pacifist in the country, because it retards the growth of population, and in so far it hinders the formation of an aggres- sive spirit in our people. Instead the pacifists are shrieking that by this law we are sacrificing international good will, and they refuse to perceive that other nations ought to be willing to meet us half way to secure our good will. By turning the cheek to the smiter, as pacifists like to urge, we earn contempt only, not good will. So {by the time our population has dou- |bled, in two or three generations at most, no doubt our national policy will be profoundly modified by the mere fact of that increase. “It is probable that if our pros- | perity preserves our traits and those i of our ancestry, it will put aside its | present amisble policy and will arm to go out In the world to struggle aggressively against other nations for [1and and prosperity. subject only to | the ability of other nations to protect | thetr own. ~Provided always that we | have mot been struck down before- {hand by some more ready people. There 1a a vulgar parody on Shakes. peare’s well known lines whose doc- even If ours Is an exception— - “Thrice is he armed who hath his quarre! ust. “But four times he who puts his fist in fust. “Whatever the future may have in store, for the present we need to pro- tect ourselves against the other fel- low’s early fist. “Sacrifice of Independence. “To join the League of Nations and a world court exercising compulsory powers would be to sacrifice our inde- pendence, for we cannot expect such international institutions to be free from politics. As for the World Court, it is very doubtful if it proves to be such an instrument as most Americans assume, namely, something like the Supreme Court of the United States with international jurisdiction. ‘We must remember that such a type of court is familiar only to English- speaking peoples. The law of evi- dence as we know it is very different from that known to most European countries. We should be much dis- posed Lo question a decision against | quite passive one. | interests are adversely touched by a | | have ope: and peaceful outlook on the efforts of | | between trine finds acceptance in many lands, | SHALL U. S. ARM FOR WAR OR ASSIST CONCILIATION Admiral Rodgers Demandt J—ered Might, While Gen. Bliss Sees Peace hy World Co-Operation. @ | this country based upon a rule of evi- dence differing from our customary one. Moreover, Oriental peoples, com- prising a great part of humanity, as- sign an objective to court procedurs different from our own. We look for an honest decision based on analysis of the evidence and the as- certained facts. Orientals, however, seem to prefer a reasonably fair com- promise satisfactory to all—an arbi- tral decision rather than a Jjudicial one. So that, as was pointed out to the League of Nations not long ago (September 11) by the British repre- sentative (Sir Cecil Hurst), it is likely that the administration of law by an international court might be far from pleasing to us. We should not be too sanguine as to what we hear of the league and its court. “Let us keep sound our hearts and forget mot that we live in a world of jealous rivals for commerce and po- litical advantage, remembering that not in their good will, but in our own armed strength aione rests our security and our prospects of peace. Our present heedless attitude toward preparation, and particularly naval preparation, invites foreign contempt and at any moment may bring dis- aster. Views Bliss. On the other hand, Gen lieves that the world is an tion of states. It began to be with the beginning of international law, or perhaps the beginning of that lJaw was the recognition of the fact of association. In 1 tion no member can effect anything without the co-operation of the others. Therefore, my own view as to our military policy is that we should not disarm an American soldier nor lay up an American ship of war except as the result of such an agree ment among competing nations, loy ally accepted and adhered to, as will convince Americans that such reduc tion is safe. The world problem is identical with the problem between France and Germany—security. War a great evil general feeling in one state the last resort nothing is worth a war would, for that state, be a greater evil. War has destroved civilization, but has also preserved it. Our civilization a heritage bequeathed to us by for mer generations, by nature itself and nature’s God. to defend in last resort by whatever means are found neces- ary of Gen. ly do but a that in Jut in stating this as my do not intentionally deceive History will not show a one civilization deliberately forethought. without belief T myself where malice other many | impelling motives, set itself to destroy another civilization %y violence. destruction of war is The rights and liberties by incidental to other causes And the whole problem improved relations between the states grows out of these contributory causes and motives that tend to war. Therefore, an attitude of reasonable preparation. for national defense is perfectly consistent with an attitude of study and endeavor to check the operation of contributory causes. War Instinct Controllable. “These causes numerous and nd motives are very often very recondite. Every sentiment in the human minc which a few centuries ago impelled the most civilized individuals to pri- vate war will, operating in the aggre- gate minds of a nation, impel it to public war. And these sentiments ed so long that they have become like a blind, brute instinct. But instinct in man, who is a reason- ing animal, is controllable by the rea- son of man. When communities found that it was good to do they put checks upon the operation of indi- vidual motives that ied private war. Out of the surrender of the to | right to private war came the possi- bility of. the reign of law within state. Restore that right, and law will of necessity disappear “Why s it so difficult for men to understand that without similar checks states they are liable to recurrent outbreaks of savagery that endanger the civilization so carefully nurtured from within? It would seem clear that some reasonable check to the exercise of the right of public war is just as necessary for the de- velopment of a binding system of in ternational law as the total surrender of the right of private war was for the upbuilding of domestic law. Men can still fight, even if reasonably dis armed (and provided all are thus dis- armed), to defend their rights and lib- erties from wanton attack, and at the same time the operation of the motives that lead to many wars may be largely eliminated. Arms Check Arbitration. “If all armaments could be held at a reasonable minimum, sufficient for the maintenance of peace and order within the state, but insufficient to tempt a state almost without warning to attack a similarly placed neighbor, such armaments might play a reai part in the maintenance of peace. Then diplomacy, instead of being suc cessful according to the degree of force behind it. would have more chance of beinz successful on the merits of its case. When states are not ready to strike a quick blow in the hope of a quick victory it is possible that arbitration, when diplo- macy fails, may be more readily re sorted to. Then it is possible that the habit of such settlements may grow as men learn that they may receive substantial justice more certainly and with less cost. Even as it is, look at the long list of arbitration of iIm the all | portant questions. during the last one or two generations. All these tions had they not been thus settled, may well have resulted in war. how many cases would a competent international jury of unbiased men find that substantial justice was not done? 1 think not one. But unfor- tunately in practice, armaments check upon arbitration rather than upon war. No way has been found to prevent one and then another of the few great competing nations from increasing its armament. When the rivalry is on there is no limit to it but that of capacity. Enmities are created, fears are engendered to make the people endure burdens which, but for that fear, they would not tolerate. And each has the hope that in the end it will be able to settle its inter national differences by throwing its sword into one balance of the scale of justice. The difficulties of the world would be largely solved if these few nations would accept a uniform rule of arbitration among themselves except on questions arising out of the exercise of their domestic juris- diction. “Those who think that the remedy (Continued on Third Page.) ques.