Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-02
REAL DISARMAMENT


THERE is cold comfort for quibblers and
i hair .splitters in the Five-Power Naval
Treaty which Secretary Hughes submitted
at the plenary session Of the Washington
Conference yesterday. Stylistic adornment
is not discernible in this momentous instru-
ment.
The document is an explicit record in
the paincst language of an epochal transac-
ton. General principles contributed pow
erfully to its making, but no ink is wasted
in grandiloqucnt repetition. Of the perfectly
obvious causes behind the agreement. The
treaty is a compact Of disarmament, with
every term scrupulously specified.
In business-like and detailed decisivcness
it is unique in the history Of diplomacy.
The possibilities Of honest doubts about in
depreciation have been Offset by glossary
Of definitions. There is, Of course, no in
falliblc antidotc against wanton wrangling.
but the radius Of vain speculation and dis
tracing hypothesis has unquestionably been
shortened by the covenant.
The principal terms of the contract were
generally known before the formal revela-
tion Of Mr.. Hughes, The settlement of the
fortifcations problem in Pacific islands re-
moved the last barrier in the sessions to
the proclamation of q ffteen-year naval
holiday.
As was expected. the total displacement
tonnage of capital ships permitted to the
United States and Great Britain is fixed ut
80. 900. The total for France and Italy is
900 tons. and for Japan 315,00O tons.
No capital ships shall exceed $4,000 tons.
I .,,l i,, nE
sixt"cn-inch calibcr.
Equally definite are the provisions re-
Spccting aircraft carriers. with the cxccp-
ton that the present tonnage may be re-
garded as experimental and may be replaced
without regard to its age.
The scrapping program is outlined in
way permitting no misconccption. There
are no loopholcs in these regulations. which
even specify that not more than one old
vessel Mt time shall be used by any Gov.
crnmcnt in target practice.
Save by an outright breach Of faith there
can be no wriggling out of n thoroughly
tangible and realistic schedule OF disarma-
ment. The dates for disposing of ships
under the ban are sct forth with the in
fcxibility Of a time table.
nose 1cHlNT"S OF tHe treaty Will "HlCn
the public has not been previously ac-
Quainted enhance its vitality and point the
way to a pcrpctuation of the disarmament
policy in international relations. 1t is
highly significant that the agreement. which
will automatically remain in force until
December 81, 1896. will not cease to be
operative oven on that date unless, two
years previously, at least one of the five
Powers has given Il notice of termination.
In case no notice Is filed in the two. year
period the pact shall continue in force until
the expiration Of two years from the day
on which Il later termination notice was
registered One year after n termination
notice all the contracting Powers shall meet
in conference. BY this machinery naval
disarmament may be continued indefinitely,
and there need never be an interval for lapse
of limitations program.
With view to enviSaging all contin-'
gencrs. Articles XXI and NXIT Of the
treaty establish rules to be observed in case
any Of the principals is involved in war.
Provision is made for suspension of oblisa-
tions during the period Of hostlites in case
n special conference Of the signatory ma
tions produces no agreement.
Tho clumsy trick of constructing war
vessels ostcnsihly for foreign navics. with
view to convenient use by the. builder
nation. is frankly forbidden.
The safeguards for actual disarmament
cover what aSsuredIy seems to be the whole
field of possibilities. The Power
Treaty is consistently practical in its ma
chnery and yet enriched with the highest
spiritual values. 1t prcscribes disarmament
not in plous gcncralities, but in mandatory
terms.
The observation has frequently been made
that 1.-THE way to disarm is to dsarm."
The text Of the contract clearly shows how
each mfse in an unprecedented re orm is
to be executed