The Washington herald., 1921-12-23
LORD Lee SPEAKS.
Denies Value of Subma-
rine as Weapon of De-
fense in Warfare.
DELEGATES LEARN
VIEWS OF EXPERTS
All Agree Unrestricted
Use of Undersea Craft
Is Inhuman.

The United States naval arnia-
ment delegation, through it's ad-
Ysory committee, holds the fol-
lowing views on submarines:
The committee is of the opinion
that unlimited warfare by subma-
rines on commerce should be out
lawed. THE right OF visit and
search by submarines must be ex-
ercised under the same rules as for
surface vessels.
1T does. not approve Limitation
in size for submarines"
That was the great outstanding
feature OF the official statement :s-
sued last night covering yes."r-
days session of the conference ma
val committee. The conference
made public the complete text of
the argument of Lord Lee, second
in command of the British delega-
ton. demanding on behalf of Brit
ain the outlawing of the unlerseas
boat and the statements on behalf
of the United States. Franc. Italy
and Japan In opposition to the Eng
lish viewpoint. The whole made a
lengthy document covering the
complete status of the submarine
in the late war and what the dele
cations desired for il IN the future
Lee Cites Figures.
At the outset Lord lee cited the
original figures suggested by Chair
man Hughes in opening the ccnf.r-
ence last month Of 10000 tons fer
England and America; $4,000 for
Japan. and proportlonate allowances
for France and Italy. The British.
he said. consider submarines irore
Objectionable than s-rface capital
ships.
The view Of the Bri. sh Empire
was that what was required was
not merely restrictions on subma-
rones. but their total and rral
abolition"
Presents Technical Side.
Lord Lee then presented technical
arguments designed to show that
the submarine was not, in his opin-
ion. a weapon of defense for a
weaker nation against a stronger.
The submarines. he said, were
nearly worthless against modern
surface warships. Germany cm-
ployed 375 subs, of 270.0GG aggr2-
gate tonnage, in the war, ne said.
and of this number ca3 had been
sunk.
No less than $4,000, ,0e0 British
troops had crossed the British Chan
nell during the war" he continued,
'and not one man had been lost from
the action of the submarines, eX
cept on board hospital ships, which.
in the twentieth century. IL had
been deemed would have been i'm
mune from the attacks of subma-
rines, and. therefore, were not es-
corted During the latter months
of the war some 100000 United
States troops had been brought
across the Atlantic, and submarines
had proved equally powerless in
their case. In fact. the U-boat,
whether considered as an offensive
or defensive weapon against any
sort of organized naval force, had
proved almost contemplate"
Denies Use Of Subs.
In an extended argument, Lord
Lee denied that submarines were
useful for the defense of coastlines
and for communication with colonies.
British experts had examined into
this contention. he >said, and could
not agree to it. although, because
of the British Empires coastline
they had been anxious to be i'm
pressed. The submarine constituted
the greatest peril to maritime COM
municaeions. he declared. and this
he thought should be a reason why
most nations would want to outlaw
them.
Continuing, he said:
TT would be as well to recall
what the German submarine fleet
had accomplished against mercan-
tile marines. No less than IL, ,0oO. 600
tons Of shipping had been sunk, of
value of $1,100, 900, 600. apart from
their cargoes. over 10000 noncom-
batants. men, women and children.
had been drowned. 1t was true
that this action had been under
taken in violation Of all laws. both
human and divine. The German ex-
cuse for 1t had been its effective
ness. The menace of the submarine
could only be got rid ofSby its total
Punishment from the sea.
That was the intention of the
treaty of Versailles, which had for.
hidden Germany to construct sub.
.h0ri ihcS, WHetuer IOF military or
mercantilep purposes. Were we to as
sumo that Germany was always to
be bad and the other powers were
always to be good, was there to be
one rule for Germany and another
rule for the rest Of the worids In
saying this. he was not casting any
rejection on any nation, and least
of all on the officers and men of
the submarine fleets. These men
were the pick of their services,
gallant and high minded men. but
they were obliged, to- obey orders;
and experience had shown that oc-
casionally governments could go
mad. The view of the British Em-
pire delegation. therefore, was that
the only proper course was the abo-
lition Of submarines. Their linf1fa-
tion WAS not sufficient His objec-
ton to Limitation was that = sub
marine feet could so very rapidly
Be expanded in time of war. Sub
marines could only be haailt II the
industry were kept slives0and q per-
scuhel could only be provided II q
trained nucleus existed.
The British Empire delegation Is