Norwich bulletin., 1922-12-07

J [ A strong American plea for freedom of i the straits, with the right Of warships t. pass to and from the Black Sea was the i feature of the Near Eastern conference today, which received from the entente nations definite project for the future control of this great world | waterway. The Russian plan for the exclusion of all but Turkish warships | from the straits received Lad blow by ! the allied proposals.
 Richard Washburn Child, the Amer ican ambassador, adopted the broad | standpoint that the very interests ot | the countries bordering on the Black Sea l made it imperative to keep the straits open. The United States in common with every commercial nation wished ac- cess to every free body Of water in the world, and America would not be sat isfied if her ships of war could not pur- sue their peaceful errands wherever American cEizens and merchant craft were accorded that privilege.
 The entente nations presented a com prehensiye plan for restricted opening of the straits, which was designed to pre- vent any one body from acquiring mas tery there; they suggested demilitari- zation of the entire territorial zone and proposed the appointment of an inter- national commission to guarantee ob- servance of freedom of the straits.
 George Tchitcherin, the Russian so- viet foreign minister. ridiculed the allied proposals, saying it meant resumption of international rivalries, but Ismet Pasha, for Turkey, informed The As sociated Press that he considered the entente propositions suitable basis for further discussion, which will be re- stunned Friday.
 In addition to the plan presented to- day, the allies are arranging for the formation of committee of experts to work out detailed regulations for pro- tecting Constantinople.
 Put briefly, the allied proposition for controlling the straits is as follows: In time of peace there shall be complete freedom of passage for the merchant ships of all nations, but the number of warships shall not be greater than that of the most powerful of the littoral powers of the Black Sea existing at the time of passage.
 If, however, the Black sea powers | should abandon all their naval forces. in- dividual powers would still have the right | to send through the straits fleet Of three ships, but only one of these ships 1 could exceed tonnage of ten thousand. { If war occurred In which Turkey was neutral there should be complete liberty ! for the powers with the same limitation as to the number and tonnage of ships as | in time of peace. If war should break out and Turkey WAS belligerent, neutral warships could pass through under the same restrictions.
 1 The plan for demilitarization of the straits territorial zone prohibits fortihca- i tions on either side of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus. The zone includes the Ga,lipoli peninsula, which was the
 scene of the great English Turkish battle in the World war. and takes in the islands of the Sea of Marmora and the group of islands Tn the Aegean which lie at the entrance of the Dardanelies-
 A significant feature or the demilltar-
 ization project is interdiction of aH s'rb'
 marines in the territoria! waters of the demilitarized zones and islands.
 As a special protection for Constanti' nople. the project authorizes garrison not exceeding ten thousand men, but nc armed forces shall remain or move in the demilitarized zones.
 Lord Curzon, who iengthily explained the allied proposals in an address before
 the conference, said that the international commission of control would have a Fur kish permanent president. The United States would be a member. The exscI lprocedure whereby the commission vii
 be constituted and whether it will worl
 under the league Of nations has not ye
 been decided.
 In attacking M. Tchitcherin,s plan tC
 close the straits to all except the Turks
 Lord ,CurZon referred to the Panar1, lcanal. Under international law, he said
 Russian and Turkish warships have th,
 right Of free nassage Of the Panam;
 canal as well as the Suez and Kie
 canals and other straits. But N. Tchitch
 erin wanted to deny these rights to othe
 nations with respect to passage betweel
 the Mediterranean and the Black seas.
 He declared that the Russian schen
 for closing the Black sea would place tn
 other. countries bordering on that sea a
 the mercy of Russia because Russia pos
 sessed the strongest land forces. He in
 sisted that the allied proposals gave m special advantages to the allies. but wcr
 teamed to secure a durable and euuitabl
 solution of one of the most vexed an
 complicated problems Of internatiens
 policy.
 .'If we settle this problem. we wi merit the thanks of the world" he con
 cluded.
 The British and French military an
 naval experts held forth this afternoon a the conference hall. telling the delegate
 of all the countries just how the allie plan would work and answering a fire c , questions concerning technical details.
 The general impressioh tonight Is ths
 today's developments have given a dr
 tinrtly hopeful atmosphere to the confer ence. t