Salt Lake Telegram | 1921-01-02 | Page 4 | Denman Charges Deception to Balfour

DEN1IJ CHARGES DECEPTION TO BALFOUR Active Deceit It Alleged on Part of British Secretary WASHINGTON. Jan. 1. William Denman of Ban Francisco, first chairman chair-man of the shipping board, declared today In an open letter to member of congress that the reason Arthur J Hal four, former Dritlsh secretary of state for foreign affairs, failed to disclose dis-close to American government officials offi-cials the existence of the secret treaties between Croat Britain and Japan re-1 quired "no further explanation than i his quest for the four billions tf dollars," dol-lars," which the I'nlted ritates loaned Great Britain early In the war. Mr. Denman said Mr. Halfnur ar- J ranged "for these moneys" In May. 1917, when he waa in this country as head of the British war mission. "Hla protestations of deep friendship for the interest of the I'nlted Htates," Mr. Denman wrote, "filled our press and warmed his auditors In the halls of congress and at the tables where our hospitality was extended to him. I While he was making them the Ink was scarcelydry on rhe last of the three-hot, -s constituting lhe aocalled secret Mhantung treaties, which, from a naval standpoint, destroyed the Island Is-land of Ouam. probably our most valuable val-uable naval base in the raclfic. RITI8H CREED. "Japan, our rival In the Pacific, was' b agreement with Great Hrltaln, confirmed con-firmed In the possession of the Marianne Mari-anne group of Islands, which placed an unsurmounlable barrier between ua and the north Asiatic coast and the Japanese Islands. tlreat Ilrltaln'a price for this was the British control of the Islands of the South Pacific group. I which In the event of hostilities to which such diplomacy Inevitably tends, Isolated Guam from the Philippines.. "It Is obvious that Mr. nalfuur owed to us the disclosure of the existence of these agreements. Why he did not requires no further explanation than his quest of the four billions of dollars. FACTS SUPPRESSED. "It will help liberal Kngland to understand un-derstand the growing mistrust of America toward her to know that there waa active -deception in addition to suppression of the facts, at the time the loan waa negotiated." Mr. Denman then charges that at a conference between the Ilalfour mission mis-sion and himself and Hecretary Lansing Lans-ing and Assistant Hecretary Polk of the atate department, Mr. Ha I four stated that "all the agreements between be-tween the allies affecting the Interest of the United ritates and general world ' shipping conditions" would be "fully disclosed to the American conferees, "but that ha had never redeemed his prom is."