The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-11-13
AMERICA WILL 60
 MORE THAN HALF
 WAY IN DISARMING
Kato Characterizes Proposal as Very DraStiC-BaIfour Says Statesmen Like
 Utterance
By Associated Press


 Washington, November 12.-More drastic and far-reaching than the most ardent advocate of disarma- ment dared to hope, America's pro- posals were suddenly laid before the arms conference today in it's first session by Secretary Hughes.
 A 10-year naval holiday is the proposal in short, and the United States, Great Britain and Japan shall scrap 66 capital ships, aggre- gating 1,s7s,043 tons.
 Within three months after the
 conclusion of an agreement the
 United states would have IS cap
 itaI ships, Great Britain 22 and
 Japan 10. The tonnage of the
 three nations, respectively, under
 such n plan would be 5OO.05O.
 GO0,45O and 2oo,7oO.
 Ships when 20 years old might be replaced. under the plan, and the re- placement scheme Is 500,o00 tons for the United States, 500,000 tons for Great Britain and 100000 tons for Japan. No replacement ship could exceed sS.0o0 tons.
 The United states would scrap
 90 capital ships, aEKregating s4s,-
 TAO toms, Great Britain 10. aEEre-
 EatIng 5S3.3775 tons. and Japan
 17. aggregating 44s,92s tons. scrapped. ships building or for which material has been assembled
 Very Drastic
 Characterised by Baron Kato. the chief Japanese delegate. as very drastic" but probably suitable as a basis for discussion, and by Mir. Bal four. head of the British delegation, as "a statesmanlike utterance, preg- nant with Infinite possibilities and most hopeful of satisfactory results" The American proposal. concrete and detailed. fell on the opening moments of the great conference like a bomb shell. The foreign delegates were stunned No other word describes their feelings.
 The principal features of the Amer ican plan propose this: That for not less than 10 years competitive naval building cease as between Great Britain, the united States and Japan. That all capital ships build ing or planned be scrapped and a few recently placed in the water be destroyed within three months after ratification of the agreement. That the older ships of cach
 fleet also be destroyed. reds.cing
 the British force of 22 battie-
 ships. the American to IS and fhe
 Japanese to 10. ench ship to be
 retained being specifically named.
 That, during the agreement, no capital craft be laid down except un- der a detailed replacement scheme included in the proposal, which would i provide for ultimate equality of the British and American fleets and for a Japanese force at 50 per cent of the strength of either of the other two.
 That all naval craft be similarly provided for in the same ratio, spe- tllAt il6 UT tS lOI dkBTtBdtt In each class being laid down.
 Naval Aircraft
 That naval aircraft be disregarded in the scaling down processes as a problem incapable of solution owing to the convertibility of commercial aircraft for war purposes. That no naval building of any char acter be undertaken in any of the three countries on foreign account during the life of the agreement
 That no capital ships hereafter laid down exceed 35,000 tons.
 That the life of a battleship shall be fixed at 20 years and that ships to be replaced be destroyed before the replacement vessel Is more than three months past completion.
 That no battleships replacement whatever be undertaken for 10 years from date of the agreement.
 That no combat craft be acquired except by construction and none be so disposed of that 1t might become the part of another navy.
 That regulations to govern con version of merchant craft for war ! purposes be drawn up because of the | importance of the merchant marine | in inverse ratio to the size of naval Armaments."
 These are the outstanding features of the sweeping challenge Secretary Hughes presented to the other naval powers. There was complete detail covering every phase of the question, but the essence of the proposal lay in this: That the United States off, fered to go far beyond what she ask ed Great Britain or Japan to do. viewed from the absolute financial losses in volved The whole American big shipbuilding programme is on the stocks. while Great Britain has nc capital ships under construction. and the Japanese eight and eight" pro gramme is as yet largely on paper. | UUnIeI