America and Disarmament The unexpected speech of the American delegate,
Mr. Norman Davis, at the Disarmament Conference on Wednesday meant a momentary check in the pro- ceedings, but it is of good omen rather than bad. What Mr. Davis said was that his country was not yet quite ready to declare definitely how far she would bind herself to join in general consultations in the event of a breach of the League Covenant or, the Kellogg Pact, but that he would make a statement on that shortly, and he implied that if Europe was prepared to take vigorous steps in the direction of abolishing offensive armaments and instituting an effective international supervision of armaments America would associate herself fully with any agreements reached. The American intervention upset the order of debate, for' security, at the instance of the French, was being discussed before disarmament, and Mr. Davis, not being ready to declare himself on security, was' anxious to• push ahead with disarmament. This is a relatively small' matter, and it is intelligible enough that Mr. Roosevelt should need a few days to give effect to the conclusions he • may reached in his talks with Mr.' MacDonald on dis- armament and security. Mr. Davis' speech must be regarded as fundamentally an indication of increased American co-operation.
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