The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-11-15

While the foreign delegates de-
cided on procedure, the American
advisory committee alSo met and
arranged the methods by which Its
work shall be carried through.
This Il BaIfour Day.
Saturday was q Hughes day.
Tomorrow will be q Balfour day.
And In both. there will be no sug-
gestion OF conflict. Rather Ii VIII
be open announcement to the world
that on arms Limitation at least,
agreement can be reached Japan
can be expected TO add her word
TO the peoples of the world thar
she will not prove a hIndrance to
hopes for progress. and for an enc
OF pressing causes of war"
That was the suggestion put for
ward last night by a high oflcIaI
OF the conference on the Limitation
OF armament and It seemed to
summarize what may. be expected
on the oratorical side. As already
stated. there win be no finaI decI-
sion at tomorrow's conference. The
work Of the conference will 20 to
committees. But the decision Of the
Committee that framed the program
providing that delegations can dis
euss what the United States al
ready has proposed made certain
that Balfour. Britain's greatest
eommonsr, would have opportunity
to voice Britain's position.
British wOuId Out subs,
At the headquarters Of the British
delegation It was stated that the
address OF Mr.. Balfour would he
quite important" It Is expected.
as has been pointed out by The
Herald, that he will accept the gem
eral plen proposed by Mr.. Hughes.
On the submarine SIDE he IL likely
TO declare that the limit fixed by
the United States L. too high. The
British do not favor T4bmarInes At
all and they think that the Ameri.
can suggested limit > more than
will be needed.
On the question Of requirements,
the British will follow out the suK.
gestion that something should be
done to maintain naval construction
plants in such q way that the in
dustry will not be ruined and the
skilled personnel scattered. They
will agree that the limit Of tonnage
Is all right. But there will be q
technical suggestion in explaining
how, for instance. lost or wrecked
fleet units can be replaced.
What Kind Of Replacementsf
As one of the leading British ex-
perts suggested last night:
Suppose IL Is agreed that there
shall be replacemeLts of vessels
that are wrecked. What sort Of
craft will be laid down? Will they
be Of the most modern type, far su-
perior to the vessels that have dis
appeared? II they are. then why
notAaccept that there will be fleet
commanders who will be very glad
to wreck obsolete ships to get real
modern ones in their places?
That was one Of the things which
the United States expected would be
discussed And Mr.. Balfour is ex-
pected TO voice the British view
poiLt
The Japanese statement, II It
finally Is made, although It Is pos
sibIe It may be reserved until later
when the japanese experts will
have completed their entire report
will accept, as does Balfour's, the
general plan and then suggest the
Japanese notifications
All in all, the secoLd open session
seemed last night to be certain to
prove interesting.
Far East Question Remains.
While the Committees were con-
sidsrinE their plans yesterday the
remaining members Of the various
delegations were discussing among
themselves and with their experts
the likelihood OF the conference
splitting into hostile camps when
the Far Eastern and Pacific prob
lens actually get under considera-
ton. Under cover of the sensation
that resulted from the public an
nouncement of the American dis
armament plan. there has been de-
yelopIng a distinctly pessimistic
feeling that complete agreement on
the second phase Of the conference
may be impossible.
The distinctly opposing demands
Of the various nations vitality in
terested have not as yet been fully
set forth. Japan and China do not
desire to assume the initiative. and
the British representation would
greatly prefer that some concrete
proposition be set forth before they
display what is written on their
cards The various nations, as a
matter OF fact, are hoping that Sec
rotary Hughes will develop an
other American plan that might be
used as a basis of discussion and
possible final agreement
Two Questions Linked.
It would be idle to deny that the
Far Eastern and Pacific problems
overshadow in the minds Of the
delegates the naval disarmament
plan. They accept. Of course that
an agreement OF the Big Five" rep
resentatives would be entirely pos
sible on disarmament even though |
unanimity on the other matters
would be impossible. But while ad-
n 'tting that this would be possible |
they point out that It would be |
improbable.
Japan. for instance. hardly can
be expected to scrap fighting ma
terial unless she Is assured that |
there will be no setting Of a match |
to the Oriental tinderbox. And the |
Japanese can be expected to insist |
on the continuation of the Anglo |
Japanese alliance so long as their |
home problems remain menacing.
The Chinese delegation here in |
Washington has not receded in any |
way from the position that II as
suned upon arrival. 1t will raise |
its united voice in the demand that |
the territorial integrity of China be |
assured by the assembled repre-