All the same, the formal ignoring of the Washington Treaty,
to which the United States was, of course, a partner, is a very serious matter. We wish that the State Department had considered more carefully in what light its action must appear to other nations. One of' the clanks in the Washington Treaty of February 6th, 1922, concerning China, says that the Contracting Powers agree " to refrain from taking advantage of conditions in China in order to seek special rights or privileges." Another says that the Contracting Powers agree " not to seek or support their respective nationals in seeking any arrangement which might purport to establish in favour of their interests any. general superiority of rights with respect to commercial or economic development." The whole Treaty was designed to ensure consultation and co-operation between the Powers and to forbid independent action. It is a question for the United States to ponder whether her amiable intentions towards China will not be thwarted rather than advanced by destroying the solidarity of the Powers.
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