| Show NO SECRETS IS NEW NAVAL THEME united states britain and france sign b pact to inform one another of annual construction italy may agree by WILLIAM C UTLEY the recent naval conference began t in in london it BEFORE streaty was a foregone conclusion that nothing in the way of a treaty agreement 1 between the principal powers limiting t or reducing the quantity of naval armaments would result prevention of a world naval race was the highest hope held out by any of the delegates conditions were uncertain with war clouds brooding over euro europe p e asia and africa arid and with japan already having announced her intention to break the 5 5 3 ratio of the old washington and london pacts predictions wore were correct old treaties were scrapped at st james palace but out of the wreckage of former treaties arose a new idea which gives fair promise of bringing a solution to the problem of meeting changing international conditions dit ions over the years a problem which all too often renders ion treaties with rigid limitations impractical even more important isilie tendency of the new plan to do away with nations inherent distrust of one another under its precepts the signatory nations rather than conceal their naval building programs often because such programs are out of line with treaty limitations furnish one another with complete information each year as to the entire building programs which they plan for that year no quantitative lim limits its under the informational plan there are no limits on the number of ships any nation can build although there are limits upon the size of the ships but when the building information Is submit submitted tea each year it is bell believed eved that the various nations will be able to effect annual agreements which will be e mu mutually bally satisfactory to the lay observer it might appear that the notification principle might hasten a naval race rather than det deter e r it but dele delegates gates to the london conference were inclined to the opposite view norman H davis the american delegate said that the foremost accomplishments of the new treaty were the provisions which for tile the first time introduce the principle of advance notification of building programs combined with a rigid and detailed system of elchan exchange ge of information the fear of what your neighbor Is about to do causes distrust and suspicion which may in turn lead to a competitive increase la in arm aments agents we hope to eliminate this fear in respect of naval armaments by telling each other frankly and honestly in advance of our intentions we belleve believe that such an act will tend so to regulate the rapidity F and development of the construction of one nation that it cannot be regarded as a menace to others hope japan will sign the treaty was signed by great britain france and the united states japan Is going to sign th the submarine protocol agreed to during the negotiations italy it la Is believed will sign the entire treaty before the year Is out it Is hoped that japan will also sign it assuming that the proper bodies in each of the signatory nations will ratify the treaty it will become eff effective ecaire january 1 1917 1937 which Is the day after the treaties of washington in 1920 1020 and londonjr london jn ln 1031 1931 expire ratification by the united states senate is expected although there was some alarm on this point because of notes exchanged by bri enins anthony edon eden and americas davis while the notes ostensibly are merely a agreement to maintain the naval parity principle between the united states and great britain they have in some quarters been suspected of being in effect an out and out alliance between the two countries it would he be a mistake naval authorities ties point out OIK to suppose that the treaty in itself will provide any important results its importance imp orance lies rather in the new trend of naval bargaining which chich it establishes because no ratios are defined and ri IN 41 0 XI i A 4 1 N 1 0 5 j i A 4 1 14 14 1 N F r I 1 it V N 1 new U S destroyers cassin and shaw being launched from philadelphia navy yards as fleet Is increased no quantitative limitations prescribed bed nations are not likel likely y to be by being regarded as inferior fenior neither will nations which sign the treaty be restricted from building over quantitative limitations should they find themselves suddenly plunged into a war under the washington and old london treaties the signatory sl batory nations were bound to stay within certain limits regardless of the way in which their relations nith non sig batory nations might change during the span of the treaties treaty lasts last six years year while the now new treaty will last for six years expiring on december 31 displacement dimensions speed designed type of machinery type of fuel accurate number and caliber of all guns over three inches approximate number of guns under three inches provision tor for mine laying torpedo tubes and the number dumber of aircraft which can be carried when tile the keel lg Is actually laid notice must lin immediately mediately bo be given as it must again when the ship Is completed if during the construction changes in design of any ship are altered notification must also be given for these changes notification Is not necessary upon ships of the auxiliary type such as hospital ships repair ships tankers transports and the like 0 or r upon craft of less than tons burden exchanges of lists of all such minor ships are called for however when tin the treaty goes into effect competition cost col reduced the limitations which the treaty imposes upon the sizes of ships and their runs guns are designed to reduce tile the cost of competition in naval building by making it more uniform these limitations are modified by a number of escape clauses which are inserted to make provisions for extraordinary cil circumstances cum such as war success or failure of the informational plan depends greatly zip upon on how well the nations even those who did not sign stay within n the qualitative limitations of the treaty should japan depart drastically from these dimita limita eions in her new naval building it is almost a certain that the worth of the treaty bould lie be reduced for the united states and great britain are not onty only agreed to maintain the 5 5 3 ratio by keeping pace with japans building but would have to design their new building programs to offset the competition in the for far east the size limit for battleships remains at tons because of the need for that type of ship in the united states navy with its extensive coast lines to defend minimum Is tons guns are limited to 14 inch size tentatively it if japans new ships carry IG inch guns tile the limit will move up two indies inches there Is 13 a second category of battleships which has been created for the nations whose purses will not permit the giant capital ships this B category comprises ships of not more than tons with guns of at least 30 10 inch dimension large cruiser holiday under the division of light surface vessels come three classes a ships up to tons carrying 8 inch guns b ships from to tons carrying not over GJ 61 inch guns and c ships under tons carrying not over 51 inch guns no construction will be per permitted mittic A between the minimum of tons for capital ships and the top limit of cruisers of tons since a holiday has been declared on the construction of ton cruisers for six years the construction non zone will actually exist between and tons the united states which prefers the larger type of cruiser will begin building some of the ton class when ta the holiday Is over tie the existing treaties declare a limit a of 1850 tons ions but this has been thrown r 7 7 7 4 4 1 I 1 I 1 w k 7 0 Z A tr eg jg W al I 1 11 I 1 R v rv r v V parade of british home fleet five miles long Is led by giant H al S renown 1012 it will provide for constant consultations between the powers during the first four months of each year each signatory notion nation is now noto required to send to each cacti of the other signatories signa tories a 4 complete list of all the naval building which it plans for that year it is to bo be expected that these lists aill be padded eiery year to so that thai the she a actual izuel loss in in aej any bargaining follows ivill be unimportant further four months before the keel of any fighting ship Is laid all signatories signa tories must he be rd duly illy noti led fled as to its intended category its into the discard because france and italy never did agree to that limit and have hare already built destroyers a of considerably larger size she aircraft carriers formerly limited to tons have hare now been cut down to with gl GI inch guns two thousand tons Is now the absolute limit of all submarines it would be hard to find any real merit in the new treaty other than the trend awny away from secrecy and the suspicion which nearly always arises from it western newspaper perUn union Iou |
