Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-02-05
CONF ERENCE ON
DISARMAMENT To.
Be CALLED SOON
Harding Is Expected to Ar.
range for an International
Farley Shortly After lie.
Takes Office.
rRr The Assncinted Pressl


washington. Feb. satisfied
from testimony of a large number
of witnesses that calling of an IN
ternational conference to discuss
disarmament would meet with gem
eral approval, the house naval COM
mittee today called before 1t ten
high officers of the navy and one
of the ARMY and heard a vast
amount Of divergent and confusing
testimony as to whether aircraft
had made capital naval vessels
useless.
Before the committee settled
down to listen to the officers, how
ever. Chairman Butler announced
positively that an international
disarmament conference would be
called by this country. He did not
say when the call would go out but
it was assumed from his line OF
questioning that it would be short
" after President elect Harding
with whom Mr.. Butler recently con-
ferred, takes office.
Sims Favors the Capital Ship.
Rear Admiral william S. Sims,
wartime commander of all Ameri-
can naval forces in European
waters and present head of the
naval war college, the first witness
called, counselled against imme--
date abandonment of the capital
ship. He added, however, that il
aerial forces demonstrated the
value he expected them to in the
near future they would soon make
major surface craft useless. He
opposed disseminating work on the
great 1916 naval building program
and declared nobody Is going to
take his hand off his gun" until
conditions become settled in Eu-
rope.
The superiority of the battleship
over either the airplane or subma-
rine was defended by Rear Admi-
raj Charles j. Badger, head of the
general board and former COM
mander of the Atlantic fleet, who
declared the battleship and battle
cruisers would remain the back
bone of the fleet for years to
come. He did not believe, he said,
that anything very definite would
come dut of the proposed disarma-
ment conference but said it was a
worth while effort.
Still another view was presented
by Rear Admiral Bradley A. Fiske,
retired, former member of the gen.
eral board and inventor of the tor
pedo plane. who told the commit
tee that aerial dreadnaughts would
be the capital ships of the future.
Surface Navies Are Obsolete.
Brig. Gen. William Mitchell, chief
Of training and operations of the
army air service. called to the
stand. told the committee that 1t
was simple matter for air forces
to hit and destroy a hattleShiD and
repeated hts testimony of last week
before the appropriations commit
tee to the effect that aerial deVel-
opments had made surface navles
obsolete.
General Mitchell cleared up one
point that had been causing the
committee some wonderment all
day when he declared that data,
supposed by naval officials to be
secret, but disclosed by him before
n senate committee, had been Sc
cured by army officers who at
tended the bombing Of the old bat
tleship Indiana at the invitation of
Secretary Daniels.
General Mitchell was on the
stand when the session adjourned
and will continue his testimony to-
morrow.
All Of the naval officers who tes-
titled stressed the necessity for the
immediate construction of high
speed airplane carrying ships.
While the house committee heard
this testimony, the senate. naval
subcommittee drafted an adverse
report on the resolution presented
by Senator Borah. republican of
Idaho, providing for a six months
suspension of naval building while
experts study the best types of
ShiDS