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Show 1 Secretary Hughes addressing armament conference at Us opening session. Capitol illuminated by the "Light of the States" for the conference. 3 Illuminated Jeweled portal erected for the conference, showing Washington monument In center. NEWS REVIEW OF CURRENT EVENTS Conference May Agree on Naval Armament Reduction Plan Within a Few Weeks. HUGHES' PROGRAM APPROVED Suggested Minor Modifications Are Being Discussed China Pleads for Recognition as Independent Nation Na-tion League Council Gets After Af-ter the Serbs Progress on Tax Revision Bill. By EDWARD W. PICKARD. IT APPEARS that the prophets In Washington were all wrong. The great conference seemingly is going to reach and sign an agreement on limitation limita-tion of naval armament without waiting to settle the problems of the Pacific and the Far Fast. This tendency is a result of Secretary Hughes' downright down-right action In laying before the conference con-ference in Its first session the American Amer-ican proposal as to navies. Briefly, that proposal Is that the United States, Great Britain and Japan agree to suspend naval construction for ten years, and during the succeeding ten years build only for replacement; that all uncompleted capital ships and many other specified capital ships be scrapped at once; that the aggregate capital ship tonnage be limited to 500,-000 500,-000 each for England and America, and 300,000 for Japan ; that the sea power of the three nations be maintained main-tained on this basis. There are other features of the program, but everyone every-one Is familiar with It by this time. The conference, and the world, w-ere at first astounded by this unexpected laying of the American cards on the table, and then the plan was greeted with loud and universal acclaim. The delegates of the other nations could not. il" they would, refuse to Indorse it. and at the second open session Groat Britain. Japan, Paly and France, formally accepted It "in principle." prin-ciple." with minor modifications. These, as set forth then and later, were as follows: By Great Britain Limit size and tonnage of submarines; permit construction con-struction of one capital ship a year during ten-year period to retain shipyard ship-yard facilities; permit retention of with a program. But China, whose status Is the crux of the situation, set before the committee on far eastern affairs the demands of the Asiatic republic. Dr. Alfred Sze, head of the Chinese delegation, was the spokesman and he held a preliminary pre-liminary conference with American officials and In his demands followed their advice in all except one point the creation of a permanent court of arbitration in the Far East. China asks respect for her territorial Integrity, Integri-ty, restitution of seized provinces and legions, abandonment of special rights, monopolies, privileges and extraterritorial extraterri-torial rights, and withdrawal of foreign troops from her soil and permission to direct her own domestic affairs and govern her own internal and foreign policies. She does not demand that all foreign monopolies and privileges In China be abandoned at once, but that she be given a chance to put herself on a level with other powers avd that as time goes on and conditions warrant the economic and political fetters on her be loosened. The British delegation approved the Chinese demands in general, especially the open door policy and the abandonment abandon-ment of "spheres of influence." The Japanese, It was understood, accepted the Chinese program in principle but would insist that withdrawal of interest in-terest In China should include all foreign powers. The Chinese delegates dele-gates say they make their demands in behalf of nil China, including the southern part where Sun Yat Sen holds somewhat precarious sway, and that Manchuria, inner and outer Mongolia, Tibet and Turkestan are included in-cluded in "the Chinese republic." It is believed one result of the discussion dis-cussion of China's program may be the friendly abandonment of the Anglo-Japanese Anglo-Japanese alliance, and '.he British would be glad to see this source of trouble replaced by some form of agreement agree-ment by the great powers. FitANCE, as has often been pointed out, is especially interested In the mutter of reduction and limitation of land armament, and Premier Briand took the lead In this, though he had no concrete plan uor any working agreement with the United States delegation. dele-gation. In his speech be discussed the military situation In Europe, particularly as it effects France, set forth the number of men under arms In the various European countries and made plain the menace of the lied forces, especially in Russia. Nor did he neglect to call attention to France's peril from Germany which, he noted, is a nation of 05,000,000 while France numbers but 35,000,000. It is plain that the French will not consent to of Gottlngen, Berlin and Paris, and speaks German and French. Next January Germany Is due to pa a reparations installment of $100,000,-000, $100,000,-000, and In February a quarterly payment pay-ment of about $60,000,000 on exports Her financial experts are wondering where it is to come from and the allied reparations commission In session ses-sion in Berlin is working over the problem. The commission believes the Germans can raise the money for those two payments and urge them to do so as a show of good will. There was reason to believe that If they did, the French delegates would consent to grant concessions for the rest of the year. The commission rejected a plan of the industrial leaders of Germany to pawn the country's industries as a guaranty for the reparations payments; pay-ments; instead it suggested that the industrial interests make sacrifices foi their country instead of trying to profit prof-it from its misery. That Germany Is miserable In some respects is made evident by the riots In Berlin caused by the increasing cost of foodstuffs. Many shops were looted. High prices, of course, are caused by the decline of the mark. I T LSTER still stands firmly, or stub-bornly, stub-bornly, as you choose to look al it, in the way of settlement of the Irish trouble. Craig and his cabinet after studying the English plan, rejected re-jected it as unfair to their part of the island and offered some kind of a substitute. This the British cabinef in turn rejected, and an exchange, ol notes between Lloyd George and Craig left the status unchanged. The Ulster-ites Ulster-ites reiterated their determination nol to submit to anything considered 8 violation of Ulster's rights. The British premier's stand was strengthened strength-ened by the action of the Unionisl party in convention in Liverpool. The Irish negotiations are dragging oul so that Lloyd George may have to abandon his contemplated trip to Washington Wash-ington to take part in the armamenl conference. THE congressional conference committee com-mittee on the tax revision bill has been ironing out the differences be tween the house and senate measure! with considerable rapidity, both sides making concessions. One of the Important Im-portant actions was the elimination of the house bill provisions for the exemption of foreign traders and foreign trade corporations. On Thursday Thurs-day the conferees suspended theii meetings to allow the house to vote on the question of surtax rates. The senate had fixed the maximum rate at 50 per cent and the house at 32 nfir r-ent Ttlo "inynrirunt" Barn 1 1 ,1 1. more light cruisers and gunboats to police the high seas; reduction in uumber of naval ship building yards. By Japan Increase of Japan's naval na-val strength to 70 per cent of British nnd American ; cessation of construction construc-tion of naval bases and new fortifications fortifica-tions In the Pacific. By France Allowance of eight capital cap-ital sh;ps to safeguard French colonies. col-onies. By Italy Allowance of six capital rhips to protect Italian interests. A committee, of which Col. Theodore Theo-dore Roosevelt Is chairman, set to work at once to study the plan and proposed modifications, and by the end if the week it was predicted an agreement agree-ment would be reached within two or three weeks. Among the American experts there was considerable opposition oppo-sition to the British suggestions, aril the Englishmen dropped the idea of tie battleship a year. Japan's proposition that there be no more naval bases or fortifications constructed con-structed in the Pacific was expected, and perhaps proves a bit awkward for the United States. It means the abandonment of work and plans In the Philippines, Dutch Harbor and 'sewhere which have been considered most necessary for the safety of our possessions in the Pacific If not for tha of our Pacific coast. But If Mr. Hughes' general program Is accepted by the other powers It would seem I be United States cannot well decline to accept this plan of Japan. In the mip scrapping proposal America has een most unselfish nnd perhnps she can afford to be as generous In other matters. WHEN the time came to put forward for-ward plans for settlement of the problems of the Far East none of (he great powers seemed ready plans for radical military urmament reduction until the Russian and Teutonic Teu-tonic threats are removed. OVER in Europe the League of Nations Na-tions feels that its authority is being be-ing flouted by Jugo-Slavia, and it has determined to show that it can stop a war. Therefore it advanced the date of its Paris meeting and took up the matter of the invasion of Albania by the Serbians. The latter had been ordered to get out of Albania and to observe the boundaries of that state as established by the allied ambassadors, ambassa-dors, but in effect, at least, they disregarded dis-regarded both demands. They did, however, disown the troops in Albania, Al-bania, claiming they are irregulars over which their government has no control. Meanwhile those "irregulars" are said to be threatening Tirana, the Albanian capital, and the situation is about the same as at Yilna where the league scored a failure. KARL and Zlta. ex-rulers of Austria-Hungary, Austria-Hungary, have been landed on their island of exile, Madeira. Portugal Portu-gal consented to care for them there but the expenses, reckoned at about $80 000 a year, will be paid by the states which formerly made up their empire if the plan of the council of allied nmhassadors is carried out. PRESIDENT Harding last Monday signed without any ceremony the proclamation of peace between the United States and Germany and there Is much debate as to whom he will select for ambassador to Berlin. First choice among the guessers is Congressman Con-gressman Alanson B. Houghton of Corning, N. Y. He was born In Massachusetts Massa-chusetts fifty-eight years ago. graduated graduat-ed from Harvard and the universities cans of the house were determined to carry through the senate plan so the leaders turned to a compromise. Just before the house met President Harding Har-ding took a hand in the affair by informing in-forming the house conferees that a maximum surtax rate of 40 per cent would be agreeable to the administration. administra-tion. The house, however, by a vote of 201 to 17.1. instructed its conferees to accept the 50 per cent rate. THE week in America was not without with-out its serious labor troubles few weeks are. The garment workers of New York went on strike in protest pro-test against the restoration of the piece work system. Their leaders said most of the CO.000 workers quit, but the employers asserted that 00 per cent of the workers had refused to go out. In Chicago there was a short but lively strike of the teamsters accompanied accom-panied by some violence. The men refused to accept a wage, cut of $3 a week ordered by an arbiter and accepted ac-cepted by the union officials. After being out two days they returned to work with the understanding that they should have a rebeariug before the arbiter. Alexander M. Howat. for twenty years a leader of the Kansas miners and now their president, was expelled from the United Mine Workers of America for ids refusal to obey the order of the international officers to end the strike In that state. About 4.001 Kansas miners also were suspended from membership. Howat and his crowd have fought uncompromisingly against the Kansas industrial cour; The Colorado Fuel and Iron company miners in Colorado struck and sta troops were called out. |