The Washington herald., 1921-12-15
FOUR TREATIES on
Nine-P0wer Pact, Assrlr-
ing China's Independ-
ence, Expected.
"BIG THREE" KEEP
PROGRAM MOVING.
American Naval Experts
Sympathize With
Jap Desires.

A<A"iNohiOh VI naval
officially will be settled 10y the ar.
mament conference. in session here
in the very near future
Highest official authority for thi.
announcement was Forthcoming
last night
There is now only one hitch. ia
pan. as The Herald has explained
has accepted the Hughes naval ra.
tio as a fact. From now on all ne
gotiations will be with. that def
nitely understood.
The $50 ratio for capital ships
is assured. Japan wants TO keer
the Mutsu. completed. and the
Kaga, launched. as integral part,
of her navy. She willingly will
scrap tonnage and gun power from
the bottom of the Hughes lis: q
meet this request At the same
time she will agree to the United
States retaining commensurate cap
ital craft, now building. and would
authorize Great Britain to con
struct two Hood-type fighting ves-
sells to bring her list % modern sea
monsters up to the ratio OF ;he
other two countries.
Wants No More Hoods.
But there is rather serious
hitch. Great Britain has no de sire
to build her two Hoods. They cost
too much. This is the zeal reason
why negotiations are prolonged
Secretary Hughes desires very
sincerely to have his colleagues of
the Rig Three Admiral Raron
Kato aud Mr.. Balrou-, united on
the comparative points as well a.
on principles So sooa as this IS
possible, and last night best
Informed members 81 the confer
ence suggested that taa agreement
is after all "a matter Of hours
then the Representatives of the
United States. Great Britain, Japan,
France anad italy will get together
as members of the ENLARGED naval
committee and adjust all other out
standing matters. A pIena.y ses-
sion will follow, and public ap-
proval will be given by the dele
gates to all that has been arranged
IN secret.
Four Treaties Probable.
1t was stated last night that
there will develop. as a result OF
the conference. four treaties that
will be submitted to the Senate by
President Harding. They are:
The four-power Pacific pact.
The naval ratio treaty. including
Limitation OF naval armaments by
the five powers, the United States,
Great Britain, Japan. France and
Italy.
The Yap treaty, guaranteeing the
United States rights Of communi-
cation, cable and wireless, in that
far off Pacific island.
A nine-power treaty, guarantee
ing China's integrity and independ-
ence.
According to Senator Lodge. the
first Of these treaties to reach the
Senate will be that dealing with
the naval ratio and its allied sub
jects. The British delegation, TAX
ing the initiative following yester-
day afternoons meeting of the big
Three" communicated to the
French and Italian delegations the
British viewpoint as TO what their
ratio should consist of. An agree
ment on this presages an early
plenary session on this subject.
aBis Three Meet.
Late Yesterday the big Three
were in session. Leaving. all smiled
happily, but said that il was i'm
possible to make any public an
nouncement at this time.
Previously. in order to clear the
decks for completion of the naval
program, the scheduled meeting OF
the Committee on Pacific and Far
Eastern Affairs adjourned almost as
soon as it got together. Chairman
Hughe. told the delegates that in
his opinion. and in that of other
members of the committee, there
was danger that matters would get
out of hand IL too much business
was initiated. He suggested that
the Japanese and Chinese delega-
tions had their hands full in nego-
tiating q settlement of the Shantuns
situation. He explained that the
naval negotiations now\had reached
a point where action was necessary
The big Three" had their program
moving fast and il was desirable
that they attend to the develop
ments under that head before TAX
ing up additional questions. BY do
ing this discussion of the twenty
one" demands was avoided. The
enlarged naval committee, which
probably will go down into history
as the big Fifteen" or some such
designation, was anxious to get
busy and Mr.. Hughes was very will
ing that 1t be afforded an opportun-
ity to do SO.
France and Italy.
1t all along has been accepted that
the problem of the naval relation
ship, as II affects France and Italy
will be easy Of adjustment so soon
as the British, japanese and Ameri-
can decision is complete. But II
was necessary to get the Japanese
viewpoint reconciled with that OF
the United States and Great Britain
| before the other two powers could
be brought into the picture. That
| Is In process OF accomplishment.
American naval experts rather
sympathize with the position Of the
Japanese. There are some subma'
rine and torpedo proofships build
ing that carry into execution the
views Of Admiral David Taylor, the
chief constructor Of the navy ant