THE NEW DIPLOMACY OF GOOD WILL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 400, 18 May 1922, Page 4

THE NEW DIPLOMACY OF GOOD WILL.

It mil be remembered that the sensation of the Washington Conference was the moment when Mr O. E. Hughes, American Secretary of State, rose in the Conference chamber and dramati-j cally laid before the delegates the proposals of the United States in'regard to the limitation of naval construction. By that one act Mr Hughes had violated all hitherto accepted rules of diplomacy and established a precedent in the future for nations to meet on matters of international importance with their "cards on the table." Tins action has been called the new diplomacy of good will, and it is the subject of a most interesting article from the pen of Mr A. Maurice Low, chief American correspondent of the London Morning Post. Alter pointing out how President Harding, in issuing the invitations to the Conference, bad "somewhat defied the established canons ol diplomacy" by doing so in a direct manner, instead of waiting until the matter bad been accepted in principle or rejected, as is the case m Europe, Mr Low explains how Japan, in an atmosphere of distrust because of .American feeling towards the AngloJapanese Alliance, went to the Conference only to discover that she was to be treated as an equal and not as*an offender against the peace of the world, "Friendship," he says, '•might have been blazoned on ihe walls ot the Conference chamber,''' and he emphasises this statement by .showing how England and the United States were drawn together by a bond of friendship which, he believes, will endure. The feeling of optimism that this new order of things will have an iniiitence'on the world is a strong point in the article. "Honesty has prevailed," he says, "where intrigue would have failed." It is regretted, however, that this magnificent example sot at Washington is not being followed in Europe, tor, within quite recent time, we have had two shining examples of the underhand intrigue which has for centuries characterised European diplomacy. We refer to the German-Russian pact which threatened to wreck the Genoa Conference, and the agreement reached between Italy and Turkey, to which reference was made in the cables some days ago. Both documents have caused a painful impression in England and France, which are vitally concerned in each case. Thus it would appeal' that the new diplomacy of good will is at present distasteful to some, at least, of the Powers of Europe, which are quite content to adopt the policy of intrigue that has prevailed so long. Perhaps it is too early yet for the lesson of the Washington Conference to make itself fell, but the fact cannot be denied that open diplomacy) : » s practised at that great gathering, has certainly blazed the trail for peace more than any other conference of modern times.