New-York tribune., 1921-12-16
U.S.to Complete Colorado
and Washington and
Britain to Build Two
Vessels of Hood Class
French and Italian
Navies Next Issue
Shantung Now Only Ques-
ton of First Impor-
tance To Be Adjusted
By Carter Field

by (artcr Field
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15.-The
three naval powers finally have
agreed to scrap 1,775,00O tons of
their warships. After weeks of ne
gotiation the SOB ratio laid down
by Chairman Charles :. Hughes has
been acceded to by Japan, and as
soon as the extent of reductions in
the French and Italian navies is de-
termined the entire program of ar
mament limitation viii, be embodied
in treaty among the five nations.
Under the agreement Japan will
be permitted to keep the pride Of her
navy, the Mutsu, scrapping in its
place the much older Satsu.
The United States will, following
the same line, retain the new battle
ships now almost completed, the
Colorado and the Washington,
scrapping the Delaware and the
North Dakota.
Britain Gets Two Hoods
Britain will be permitted to build
two new Hoods, with tonnage not to
exceed $4,000 tons each, American
computation, $4,000 British compu-
tation, and must scrap in their place
four Of the King George V type Of
ships.
Coupled with this agreement on
capital ships was an agreement ap-
plying to all island possessions Of
both Japan and the United States in
the Far East, with Hawaii specifical-
ly exempted, not to change the pres
ent status quo of fortifcations. No
new Notifications will be construct
ed and no old ones will be replaced
by modern ones.
Every detail OF the agreement was
made clear in an official statement
read to the new subcommittee on naval j,
armament limitation plans by Secre
tary Hughes just after o'clock this
afternoon and given to the press at
the State Department soon after 6
o'clock.
Program Slightly Revised
The revisions made in the original
Hughes program affected slightly the
number OF ships and the total tonnage
to be scrapped by each nation. The
figures proposed by Secretary Hughes
and those fixed by the revision are:
Hrs Mq hss of ss1Iss snips .s Tonnsge Tor ss,,ss
Great Britain. 10 % 5ss.375 so5.s7s
Japan ........ II II 4SS92S 435.32s
The number of ships to be retained
by the three powers and their total
tonnage under the Hughes and revised
plans are:
No. of Ships Total Tonnage
Hughes Revised Hughes Revised
nsfa BEissa S'sts= n s sss ssssS sssssS
At the expiration of the ten-year
construction holiday the tonnage of the
three fleets will stand: United States,
$4,000; Great Britain, $4,000, and
Japan, 315 5000.
For the time being the questions in
volved in subsidiary craft, as, for ex-
ample, the appeal of Japan for more
airplane carriers than she is allotted
under the Hughes plan, and of Britain
for the abolition of submarines, will
be sidetracked to permit the new naval
committee to take up the question Of
the French and Italian navies.
British Objection Met
The decision to permit Great Britain
to build the two new Hoods, which
probably will be carried out during
the ten-year holiday period, will auto
maticalJy remove one of the British
economic objections to the Hughes pro-
gram as first advanced. This was that
on account of the injunction against
building ships during this ten years
the British would have large num-
Der of requirements falling due at the
end of the ten-year holiday and that
thereafter their navy always would
consist of large number of new ships
every twenty years. This would be be-
cause they would build these ships i'm
mediately at the end of the holiday,
and for time after that the British
would have a navy much stronger in
modern ships than the United States.
They would gradually lose this ad-
vantage during the twenty years, at the
end Of which, under the Hughes plan
of replacing a ship twenty years old,
they would have a preponderantly new
navy again.
To-day decision about building the
Hoods during this holiday meets that
point, in which was involved also the
question of how to keep the British
shipyards occupied during the inter
walls between building patches of big
ships every twenty years.
Changes Promote Economy
There are variations in numbers Of
ships and tonnage in the agreement
finally reached to-day, but the fact
stands out, in the opinion of observers
here that a great moral victory has
been won. The changes in the Hughes
program are all in favor of economy
in the long run, it was pointed out, un-
less one assumes that the battleship
is obsolete, which the experts con-
nected with all three Of the big power
delegates here refuse to admit
Announcement OF the agreement on
the 5-5-s ratio, held back for mcrs
than two weeks after it was actually
reached. during the discussion and sst.