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Significance— Not since the Soviet Foreign Minister, Maxim Maximovitch Litvinov, threw at Geneva his first Peace Bomb* and his Second† had there been so profound a sensation among professional Peace workers. Instantly the French Plan, like the Russian Plan, was damned and doomed—though, of course, everyone had to be infinitely more polite to M. Tardieu than they had been to Comrade Litvinov. The German delegation, frankly skeptical, protested that this was a disarmament conference, and where was there any Disarmament in M. Tardieu's words? They called the French security plan "a beautiful fable lacking a moral." With fine Roman cynicism the Italian delegation whispered around a witticism to the effect that M. Tardieu, facing 57 armed states, had proposed to create a 58th. And that great liberal, cultured Viscount Cecil, said: "The French proposition starts at the wrong end. Let them first tell us what measures of Disarmament they are willing to take."
Respecting the French proposal last week two major points stood out: i) The U. S. will never place its armed forces at the disposal of a League. 2) What France proposed was exactly what Soviet propagandists accuse the Capitalist pow ers of plotting, namely to create a Super- Army-Navy-Air-Force which could be hurled against Russia to crush Communism.
What measures of Disarmament Britain was willing to undertake were put forward by suave Sir John Simon in a long and unctuous speech in which were embedded two plums: the abolition of poison gas and the submarine. Looking directly at the French delegates Sir John added: "That the peace of the world is to be secured by preparing for war, is no longer believed by anybody, for recent history manifestly disproves it."
Other Conference doings:
¶ Only 20 of the 57 participating delegates were found to hold plenary powers from their governments. This meant that they might as well be at home playing tiddlywinks. Indeed so ludicrous, so fundamentally absurd seemed this situation that Conference President Arthur Henderson, big, Scottish and pompous. expressed hope that by the time the conference came to its first vote all the delegates would have powers from their governments.
¶ Exactly as though organizing a bank. 14 vice presidents were elected, some of whom were delegates with no plenary powers at all.
¶ French journalists, whose deliberately provocative and skillfully insinuated ideas are apt to upset any Conference, got the statesmen at Geneva into a lather by "announcing" the "un-offcial suggestion"' from "high sources" that Japan be entrusted by the League with a mandate over Manchuria. Such journalistic ideas sometimes become facts. But the French press-playboys were so delighted with their furore that they next announced: "Japan is going to be given a mandate over all China!"