The Washington herald., 1922-02-06
TO GIVE
FAREWELL TALK
TONNE POWERS
Will Close Conference
After Signing of
Five Treaties.
cntinned from pace one.

CHthhcd JFob fugc Uuc.
scrapped. Practical economy, is be-
ing sought and plans advocated by
naval experts for conversion Of
these funds so they can be used
to speed up work on the vessels
to be completed. or. IL Congress,
desires. for converting the doomed
BATTLE cruisers into aircraft car.
riers. for construction of subma
rines. aircraft. or fer other
Iharies needed to round out the
fleet.
There has also been suggested
that a portion of the saving ex-
pected in the naval appropriation
bill as a result of the arms confer
ence might be converted toward a
fund to pay the proposed soldier
bonus.
A second consideration IN uhess
conferences is the question Of per-
sonnet, brought to the front by pub
lie statements of Congressional rep
resentatives that drastic cuts were
contemplated both in men and off,
GERS. Information regarding the
nres"nt personnel, and the needs
of the new navy sought by mem.
hers of Congress is being prepared.
Comparative figures Of foreign ma
vics have been supplied.
Revives s-5-3 I,sue.
The personnel question has a d.
rect bearing on the $3.50 ratio es-
tabiished for capital ships. II ~
nointed out by naval officials tnat
drastic reduction in the peIsonrcI
would nccessitate a tie-up of many
ships in comm ssion and a relative
reduction in the efficiency OF or
heets-a getting away. in other
words. from the 5-5-3 basis I'M
less other navies made correspond
ing reduction.
Comparative figures Of the Amer
lean, British and Japanese navies.
compiled for the naval committees.
show that the British propose I"
keep their navy up TO the high
water mark of efficiency by recruit
ing up to the full strength needed
under their new navy program. on
cial announcements are available
from Tokyo that Japan's navnI
plans provide for no decrease in
the navy personnel.
Relative Personnel.
At present there are approximate
ly 100000 enlisted men in the
American navy with 400 commits
stoned and warrant officers. The
British navy has about I03, 900 men
with 1927 officers, not including
about 1000 aviation officers. TIL"
japanese navy has about 1880 men
with S.572 officers.
Another question involved in per-
sonnet now under leGislative con-
sideration, is the character q ma
val enlistments. In the United
states, enlistments are for two.
three or four years. These short
periods result in a heavy turn-o over
of recruits. 4 large portion Of the
enlisted strength is always green
timber" A recent compilation
showed that three-fourths Of the
enlisted men had had no previous
service and that many therefore.
were in the category Of virtual ap-
prentices
Britain's Long Eulistments.
Enlistments in the British navy.
on the other hand. are for n twelve
year hitch" with a ten-year pc
riod following to complete ;hc time
necessary for a pension. About
three-fourths CT the british naval
personnel is now serving the first
period of the twelve-year service
with $1,000 serving the second con-
tinuous period of ten years.
The japanese naval enlistment Is
patterned closely after the British.
and in addition, Jaran has a naval
reserve to fall back on in heir
merchant marine. Americas paid
naval reserve already has been vir-
tually wiped GU: as a result of
economies imposed by Congress.