Seek American Lead For Disarmament.

New York Times 100 years ago today, March 9, 1913:
Peacelovers Hope for Strong Anglo-American Effort at Hague Conference.
CALL FRANCE CHIEF MENACE
Her Eager Assumption of Military Burdens More Perilous Than the Arming of Germany.
Special Cable to The New York Times.
    LONDON, March 8.— European lovers of peace are straining their eyes toward the United States in the hope of lightening the increasing burdens which militarism is imposing upon the peoples of the Continent.
    "From the new President of the United States," says The Nation, "comes a saner and nobler vision of policy than Europe knows. With W. J. Bryan in charge of its foreign policy, it is reasonable to expect that the American journals will enthusiastically co-operate with Great Britain in an effort to save Europe from itself."
    This comment is the close of a remarkable article in The Liberal Weekly, the first number of which contained the statement by the late Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman setting forth the proposals toward disarmament which he made when he was Premier.
    The British initiative failed then because it was pushed half-heartedly and because English relations with Germany at that time were deplorable. Now that this particular antagonism has abated and mutual confidence is taking its place The Nation believes that there is some hope of fruition in a serious effort by Great Britain and the United States to bring before The Hague Conference, which meets next year, some plan to combat the present madness of competition in armaments.
    The Liberal organ laments the German explanations that the country's increase of military power is due to fear of the Slav peril.
    "It is probably because this reference to the Balkans supplies a reason for German armaments at which no neighbor can take direct offense, that it is put in the foreground of the case for a new army bill. The real reason is less remote and much more disquieting.
    "No one who compares the comments of the French and German newspapers upon the new situation can fail to note their striking difference of mood. The arming of France is part of a general reaction. A romantic cult of the army, preached in all the leading newspapers and presented by the Minister of War, preceded it. A trend toward the emotional view of life accompanies it in literature and art. A rejection of rationalism in abstract thought and an impatience at constructive efforts in politics are the fashionable and popular notes of the day.
    "France is arming gladly, and makes no attempt to conceal from her neighbors that, while she professes a defensive and pacific aim, she has not ceased to dream of the recovery of the lost provinces.
    "It is easy, because she is strong and because her habits of expression are brusque, to think of Germany as the power which aspires to dominate Europe. The real fact is that she is the only great power which is exposed on two frontiers, and her armaments have, on this occasion, the excuse that in both France and Russia the chauvinistic tendency is in the ascendant.
    "It is possible, though not certain, that, under the stress of seeming necessity, the military increases and the new taxation will be voted patiently by the Reichstag, but there is no pretense of enthusiasm or even conviction, and the newspapers, which voice the opinion of the business community, are already protesting against the proposed levy on property as a desperate measure which would be justifiable only in time of actual war."
    This apology for Germany in an English paper is noteworthy because of its plain speaking, but not less noteworthy are articles in The Times and The Spectator in which the implication is strong that France is menacing the peace of Europe. The Spectator says: "Though very little is said about it in the newspapers, there can be no doubt that at the present moment there is a good deal of uneasiness among the thinking men of England in regard to the European situation. The awakening of France and the evidence of her power and alertness have given immediate satisfaction to this country, but that satisfaction is tempered by anxious thought.
    "The French are at this moment very sure of themselves, very full of patriotism and martial ardor, and very certain that their army is in magnificent condition, not only as regards men but also, as regards material, and especially as regards that greatest of all the mechanic powers of war, artillery.
    "At the same time, France recognizes that for the moment Germany is at a disadvantage. Austria-Hungary has her legs caught in the wire entanglements of the Balkans, and if a great war came now she would require help from Germany rather than be able to give aid. But, if the fight comes with Austria-Germany thus entangled, can any one believe that Italy will run the appalling risks involved in adhesion to the Triple Alliance? "Germany, indeed, may be said to have admitted publicly that her condition is a disadvantage, for is she not asking her taxpayers to make an unheard-of sacrifice in order that she may remedy that condition and out of her own population create a new army which will make up for the aid that Austria-Hungary would have given her before the teeth of the dead Turkish dragon had grown its crop of armed men in the Balkans?
    "To sum up, there is a feeling here that France may find the temptation of 'now or never' too great for her, and may feel that her national interests demand that the European struggle be fought out this year."
    The Spectator goes on to intimate to France that, if she provokes war, Great Britain will not be found backing her.
    Similarly The Times's article deprecates the spread of chauvinism in France and draws a similar lesson for the benefit of the Gallic member of the entente cordiale.