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Show THE CITIZEN between two of the most powerful of the belligerents in the late war. President Harding has given publicity to his long contemplated pro- gram for a. worlds conference on limitation of naval expenditures and has wisely extended the invitation to participate in this most important conference, to all the larger naval powers engaged on the side of the allies during the waf. To have confined the conference to the boundaries set by the Borah resolution would have given color to the belief that was growing in certain quarters, that the United States, England and Japan were to construct a triumvirate to rule the destinies of the world in the matter of armaments. The inclusion of Italy and France within the scope of the discussions on naval construction and limitations, will do much to dispel this growing deter-- , mination on the part of small nations. In the proposal as extended to the naval powers by President Harding is seen further evidence that this country has definitely decided to have no part in the League of Nations. It has been proclaimed many times that without the United States as a member, the League of Nations could not successfully function. That has been amply demonstrated, but along with the demonstration has gone 'the realization that if the United .States were to become a member she would be called upon to carry into execution, herself, all the onerous duties imposed by the provisions of the league covenant. Those nations that have been so lax in carrying out their own obligations under that instrument, to the point Where it has become a world-wid- e joke, would be the first to hold the United States to strict accountability for the fullest performance of her !T!!!,rpr! obligations. .2 The ultimate purpose of the league was to put an end to It has abjectly failed to take a decisive step in that direction the most insignificant of clashes between the small Balkan naft have not even been checked. Acting alone the United States ended its war with Germany without incurring any of the tions of the Versailles treaty and it has. effectively prevented between Panama and Costa Rico without recourse to the machin, of the league or its supreme council, has subdued the warlike ele: in Haiti and San Domingo, removed the cause for a possible bL revolution in Cuba, taken steps to arbitrate racial and economical ference with Japan, and in many other ways contributed materij? to world peace and understanding. Finally the president has tak tentative steps to sound: out the big naval powers on the quest of naval limitation, which may eventually .be extended to all mattt ? pertaining to world armaments and to standing armies. The reaching effect of the presidents proposal cannot be told at tj time, but it shpuld tend to silence the effect and force of the peajjj v campaign now being waged in this country by adhJL ents of the league, both in this country and abroad. And all this has been done without sacrificing national sovereigr in the. slightest degree; in fact, the. world has been made to sccfjj the supine attitude which charatcerized the conduct of our foi&nn relations during the Wilson administration, has been scrapped-41- ( aside once. and for all and that America declines longer to play t J role of a supreme sacrifice on the altar of world dominion by -- . fe at-any-pr- ice -- -- t i ;; for foreign powers. . THE CACOPHONY OF THE KIKI CHORUS IS HEARD AGAIN It appears that it will require their rights as free men were menaced, and for these they wrl forth to battle. There was no thought of crusading for the free&jgjj larger type of statesmanship than that possessed by many of the detractors of our ambassador to the British Isles and a more truthful and trenchant style, of editorializing than that displayed by the daily press who are in sympathy with the Wilsonian plan to scrap the constitution of this nation and substitute therefore, a government of the world to be ruled from a a foreign capitol and by a council of nine, made up of eight foreigners and one American, to stultify George Harvey, much as they wish to lash the shoulders of President Harding and to asperse the characte-an- d Americanism of the man he selected to represent the United Stales at its most important post. Touching upon this vilification of Harvey and the evident attempt to discredit both President Harding and his ambassador in the eyes of the world, President Jonathan Bourne, Jr., of the Republican Publicity Association, recently said : Since Mr. Harvey made his address, not a remark has been made by President Harding that these unconscionable critics have not attempted to compare the attitudes of the two men to the detriment of the ambassador. It used to be a political maxim in this country that politics ceased at the waters edge, but the Harrisons and the Heralds know not such decent limitations. Possibly, to their internationalists mentalities such boundaries are wiped out with the rest. Slinking from attack of a statesman who has a forum for his defense, they stand at a distance and hope that their yelps may be heard across the sea. Announcing that Democrats, under the leadership of Senator Pat Harrison, of Mississippi, arc preparing to make further attacks on George Harvey, ambassador to Great Britain, and that they expect to have a sort of field day for assaults on the colonel, the Washington Herald, in an article captioned, Harding Denies Selfish War Aim Stated by Ilarvcv, seeks to lay a parallel in the Memorial day address of the President and Mr. Harveys pilgrim dinner address, between the columns of which lies, we arc assured, the repudiation of the ambassador by the president. Speaking of the war. President Harding said: In its beginnings, men fought to protect what they already had. Their countries and lives were at stake ; of the world, of emancipating distant peoples, of rendering a wj? service to the enemy who had attacked them. They had no ttj and small disposition to indulge in altruism. Yet, they wonij more than they had sought in the beginning. In his message London he said: They learned how great a responsibility shared in the world, how greatly they might discharge it when se$5 ing in complete accord and in alliance with other peoples likeir J001 devoted to human liberties and welfare. Nothing in this runs counter to Harveys speech. The allia& was a war alliance; the league alliance was repudiated by Tlardi! The soldiers of Charles Martel had no idea they were saving Christej11 dom and the future course of history when they broke tne Mosfe0! power in the Battle of Tours. They fought to save themselves, jt?1? as we fought to save ourselves, and what good came out of itir f? the gift of Providence for courage and devotion to the oauscJ free men. Furthermore, to put an end to the argument, it t announced two days after the Harvey speech that it had the ripprof-oHarding and Hughes. PEACE AND DISARMAMENT. C It will be time enough to declare that the world is oiib threshold of an epochal era when the results of the move t csfc ale ,r lish peace between Ireland and England become known, ai d. effects of the proposal by P csidf; wise, when the Harding for a disarmament conference of the worlds nowTS. k..she been written down, signed, sealed and delivered. rin i1' t For the present mankind can only hope for the best, assuring to learn that France, Italy and England have signifi d tK with the United States in lessening t c willingness to I if is aK land of load both on and war scarand preparations, gcring quite reassuring that so bold and defiant a leader as Iaii oiin Valera, who has inspired the Irish people in all lands to fr d and fight over again the year old battle for a far-reachi- . ng co-oper- ate seven-hundre- ! |