"Not Yet"

Delegates from the U. S., Britain and Japan are expected to convene in Geneva next month for the Naval Disarmament Conference sponsored by President Coolidge (TIME, Feb. 21, March 7, March 21); but last week an event occurred which reminded Europeans sharply how large a portion of the War was fought on land or in the air, and by nations other than the U. S., Britain and Japan. . . .

This reminder came ominously when there adjourned indefinitely at Geneva last week an august body representing every Great Power (except Russia) and most of the smaller nations. For a twelvemonth these statesmen and numerous experts have been at work, dignified by a 22-word title: The Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference, being a Commission to prepare for a Conference on the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments.

Misapprehension. Since the Preparatory Commission first assembled

(TIME, May 24, 1926), headline writers and cartoonists have tended to give the impression that the delegates were quarreling and stewing in their own broth instead of getting down to business and disarming the world. Actually the task entrusted to the Preparatory Commission was to answer, "yes" or "no," to the question: "Can all the nations get together at a Disarmament Conference with sufficient chance of ultimate success to make it worth while for the League of Nations to call such a conference?" From "No" to "Not yet." A few years ago the only possible answer to the question faced by the Preparatory Commission would have been "No." When the delegates convened, a year ago, humans dared to hope their answer might be "Yes." Last week the Commission answered in the words of its President, "Not yet." Said President Dr. Jonkheer J. Loudon, sturdy Netherlander: "It is evident that the world political situation is not yet ripe. . . . We must prepare public opinion not to expect wonders at once. . . . Discussion has shown that an agreement cannot be reached until public opinion in many lands has drawn nearer to a common focus, permitting governments to modify their positions. . . ." Progress. Viscount Cecil of Chelwood, recipient of the first Wilson "Peace Prize"* (TIME, Dec. 15, 1924) and British delegate on the Preparatory Commission, described the Commission's "progress" last week in optimistic terms. Said he: "The Commission has carried out its assignment. ... It has drawn up a scheme [the "Draft Treaty of Disarmament"] for the reduction and limitation of armaments. . . . While it is true that the figures quantitatively representing armaments remain to be filled in; and, while this must prove a task of great difficulty, still broad outlines have been established. . . . Reservations have been made by various countries and alternative texts provided, but the differences yet remaining have been defined and restricted. There is little doubt that the remaining differences will yield to treatment. . . . The issue now passes from the league into the hands of the general public to which appeal must be made."

*$25,000, awarded by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, which bestowed a similar award last year on Elihu Root (TIME, Dec. 20).