The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-12-27
JAPS AND FRENCH REFUSE ID YIELD
 ON SUB TONNAGE
General Submarine Building Holiday May Be Proposed If Powers Fail to Agree
 on American Plan
By Associated Press

Washington, December 26.-The arms conference naval committee, which faces perplexing situation in its effort to agree on limitation of submarine strength, tonight post poned its next meeting until We'd nesday so that the French and pos sibly also the Japanese. might re- ceive from home more definite in structions regarding the conference proposal of the American govern ment.
 All indications here. however, pointed to continued objection to the American plan by both the Japanese and the French groups At the same time, the Americans and British ap- peared to feel that in offering to scale down their submarine fleets to 6o,OO0 tons each they had made maximum concession in the interest of an agreement.
 fn these circumstances more defi- mite shape was assumed by the move ment for later conference, to be attended by larger number of na- tions, for another discussion of the whole submarine problem and for a future meeting of the great powers to assess the general possibilities of further armament limitations. There We're indications that the plan for world submarine conference would be put into concrete form very quickly. The proposed new conference of the powers on the general subject prob ably would be held in 1928 or 1929 and provision for it would be made in the treaty that is to embody the decisions of the present meeting.
 French Ask Fostponement
 iostponement of the naval commit- tee meeting from tomorrow to Wednesday is understood to have re- suited from d request from the French delegates, who have not yet heard the formal verdict of their home government on the American plan to fix American submarine strength at 60,000 tons and to make a status quo arrangement for France Italy and Japan. The impression among the members of the French delegation tonight was that the plan would be wholly unsatisfactory to
 
 has been suggested for France by her naval experts, and under the Amer jean proposal she would have only about 31.000.
 The Japanese maintained silence as to their future course In the negotia- tiOns, but there was no evidence that they intended to recede from their flat refusal to accept the American compromise. The Japanese delegates have told the conference they con slider 1000 tons of submersibles nee essary to their national security in place of the ,00o allotted them in the compromise arrangement. In some quarters, however, it is hoped that further advices from Tokto may soften somewhat their position.
 May Propose Holiday
 Should the American plan fail to bring the powers together. it is sug- gested by some of those connected with the conference that eonsidera- ton may be given to proposal for a general building holiday in subma- rines, under an agreement that all five of the powers would leave their submersible strength distributed as at present in the various sea areas. Un der this suggestion, which has so far received no formal indorsement from any of the delegations, the United States, Great Britain, Italy and France all would undertake to main tain exactly the tonnage of subma- rinss they now have stationed in the respective regions of the Atlantic the Pacific. the Mediterranean and the Adratic.
 The proposal to write into the na- val limitation treaty an agreement for reassenbling the conference of the powers, probably seven years hence, has begun to take more defi- uite form over the Christmas recess. .Nu informal exchange of views
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