The Washington herald., 1922-02-02
MSCONFERElCE
HEAVERTD WAR.
SIM0NDS ASSERTS
End of Naval Corspeti-
ton Held Also rs Great
Achievement.


Comtfmued FROM Page O~e.
great power. FRANCE and Italy. on
their part, have also accepted ra-
tios which correspond with their
present strength
Achieves stable Balance.
In sum. then, we have achieved In
naval strength and insular posses
sions a stable balance. not alone In
the Pacific. but also in the Atlantic,
| so far as offensive warships are
concerned. We have achieved this
by designations which We announced
! In advance we were prepared TO
make. both in actual ship tonnage
and In rights to fortify. And this
result is written into those treaties
which have been described as the
four power and hve-power pacts.
Criticism in the United states 50
far has been concentrated upon, the
four-power treaty exclusively. and
upon that portion OF the treaty
which seemed to carry with II COM
mitments with respect to France,
Japan and Great Britain in main
land questions, On this issue much
debate in the Senate Is promised
and many reservations are proposed,
but II one accepts the statement
made by the negotiators themselves.
that the treaty carries no such obli-
cations. and IL one conceives that
as IL finally energies from the Sen
Iate 1t will be fortified in this re-
spect. then IL Is quite plain that by
conference we have abolished peril
in the Pacific without going beyond
the limit proposed by our own ira
ditional policies.
Binaits Only Battlcships.
Insofar as naval armament in
concerned, the failure Of the con-
ference and tho failure IS not
cbargeable to America representa-
ltives-coVers all lines of war craft
save only battleships. The simple
fact has been that il was not pos
sible for France and Great Britain
| in advance of this conference to
reach such a political adjustmer'
as we have ourselves reached with
Britain and Japan, therefore the
French have declined to agree &c
accept any ratio in the matter Of
submarines. and the British hP
also refused all limitations in aux
Hilary ships. which are the weapons
against submarines.
1t is not true. then, that this con-
ference has abolished naval COM
| petition outside of the battle ships,
although In certain respects 1t bias
regulated the size and armament OF
! the so-called secondary cruisers.
| 1t remains possible that there will
now be an intensive competition In
the submarine and auxiliary ships.
But il is quite as possible, indeed
| think probable, that when the
British and the French have reached
a political understanding. the work
begun In Washington may be re-
sumed and the whole field Of naval
armament covered by restrictions.
Ferkids Ruthless warfare.
Meantime international Law. as II
existed before the last war. has been
reaffirmed and operates to forbid
| that illegal use of the submarine
made by the German.
Like the submarine. aircraf,
energies without restrictions, but
this was Inevitable, since to trans
form commercial airplanes into
fighting craft is today too simple
to make any regulations possible.
We have. then, not succeeded. for
reasons which I have recounted, In
regulating or restricting armament
save in the case of the possibly
obsolescent battle ship. But even In
this field we have laid down q
method and taken a first step.
In any event. and the fact is cap
ital. We have abolished at best and
at the worst indefinitely postponed
war between the United States and
Japan: we have Enthusiastically
avoided further naval competition
between the United States and
Great Britain. and we have effected
a moderate saving in money afread,
appropriated and vaSter sums in ex-
penditures whic hwould have been
required to complete programs al
! ready undertaken. The money saw
ing may be slight, but the gain for
the peace of the world may be far
more considerable.
Promises to Restore shsntuns.
| Now there was in the Pacific stu.
alton still another aspect. The Unit.
ed states desired to follow its his,
toric policy as a friend to China
II was resolved to combine with il.
limitation Of naval ornaments a
program Of relief for China and
above all. to restore to China thai
shantung area taken by Japan and
recognized by the treaty Of Yer.
sailles. In this field the success ha.
been considerable. but. on the whole
less unmistakable I'VE have OBJ.
tanned restatement of those prin.
ciples which constitute the doctrin.
OF the open door: We have obtained
I certain minor concessions In the
matter OF tariff and Of postal ad.
mtnistration. but the major achieve.
ment has been the promise of Japan
under conditions which are in the
main simple. to restore both Shan.
tung and the all-important railway
This latter achievement-and /,
must rank as such, provided only
Japan shall display ordinary good
faith-is due directly to the inter
Yention OF the President of the
United States. I shall not here dis
euss the terms of the japanese re.
tlrement; they have been accepted
by the Chinese with very precise
words OF approval. The fact that Mr.,
harding has interviewed quite obyi-
nasiy engages our honor to see that
they are carried out, even II we have
no legal obligation. This represents
very real contribution on our own
part II 10 gain for China and wipes
OUT blot upon our own record al
II EaA