Great Falls tribune., 1921-12-24
PIRACY IS ISSUE
IN SUBMARINE s
FATE IN PARLEY
Britain Regards Subs
as Failure Except in
Raiding Peace Craft.
Other Powers Declare
They Need Them as
Defense for Coasts.

I washington, DcC. Ao.--tDy Lie a
sociated Press. An S,0O0word com
of the Washington conference after
| Thursdays meeting was in the form
| of q paraphrase of the statement made
! for the delegation of each power with
respect to the British proposal that
|.submarines be abolished as naval
! weapon. The argument of Lord Lee,
of the British admiralty, came first.
It stated the view Of the British gov
ernment to be "that what was re-
quired, was not merely restrictions on
submarines, but their total and final
abolishment."
Lord Lee presented the following
estimates Of existing submarine ton
mage: United States, $500; Great
Britain, SO,50O; Japan, $1,000; France,
2S,36O; and Italy, 1880.
He pointed out that under the
American proposals of $4,000 tons
each for Great Britain and the United
States and $1,000 for Japan, the
United States could build 6,60O tons:
Great Britain $500, and Japan Il 500
with the other two countries in pro-
portion.
Worse Than Capital Ships
'He felt bound to say" the para
phrase continued, that it seemed to
him very strange to put before con-
ference on the limitation of naval arm
ament proposals designed to foster
and increase the type of war vessels
which, according to the British view,
was open to more objection than
surface capital ships"
Lord Lee said friends of the sub
lad hat q ipUIft-
mate weapon Of weaker powers and
an effective and economical means Of
defense for coast lines and maritime
communications. Both contentious
could be challenged on technical
grounds and "were clearly disproved
by recent history" the paraphrase
said.
Great Pace In Destroying Them
Lord Lee declared that methods of
location, detection and destruction of
submarines had proceeded much fur
ther than the development of sub
marines themselves, and greatly re-
duced their value. He said he believed
Germany had used 375 U-boats in the
war. Of which 2O3 had been sunk.
"No less than 15,0O0,0O0 British
troops had crossed and re-crossed the
F1URfSH tiIbiE thc "oh a.'A
not one man had been lost from the
action Of submarines except on board
hospital ships" the paraphrase con-
tinued.
Later, some 100000 troops had
been brought back across the Atlantic
and the submarine had proved equally
powerless in their case. it added.
I'm fact" the communique contlp-
nod in nresenting Lord Lees argu
ment, ''the U-boat, whether considered
as an offensive or q defensive weapon.
against any sort of organized naval
force had proved almost contempu-
ble."
Lord Lee pointed out that Great
Britain alone had almost as much
coast to defend as all Of the other
powers at the conference combined, or
flour times the circumference of the
globe He added Great Britain had
the longest trade route to protect.
Peril Only If Big Ships Lack
at was partly because our expert
ence had shown that they were not ct
fective, thar we were ready TO abandon
submarines, Lord Lee said. THE late
war had made it abundantly clear that
the greatest peril to maritime com
munication was the submarine. ana that
peril WAS especially great to country
which did not possess command or fhe
sea on the surface. Hence, it was to
the interest Of any such power to get
rid Of this terrible menace"
Lord Lee asserted that submarines
had achieved real success against
merchant ships only.
In closing, Lord Lee said It was not
the intention of the British delegation
that the settlement as to capital ships
should be affected if they failed to
cary their point in regard to the aboli.
tion ~ submarines The British would
welcome. however, he said, any sug-
eest,ons for restrictions or reductions
of submarines and awaited with inter-
est the proposals of the French dele
gates.
Hughes Corrects Tonnage Data
Secretary Hughes, as chairman, in
to say that figures Of Amer
lean naval experts as TO existing sub
marine tonnage built and building for
each power differed from those pre-
sented by Lord Lee. The American
figures were. he said, u. s., $4,000
tons: Great Britain, S2,464: France,
1850; Japan, 31,400, and Italy, 20,-
22S.
''The United States has, therefore"
the communique continued, in quoting
Mr.. Hughes, NINETY thousand tons
which it is prepared to reduce. The
reduction is slight, but it is reduc