The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-02-02
NAVAL TREATY
COMES CLOSE
TO PROPOSALS
Hughes Points Hold-Over
90 Per Cent of Plans in
Opening Speech Kept =
Scrap Same Total.
COMPETITION IS ENDED
BY MARK SULLIVAN

W JuNSc IAt dIuC Vi lItSb udNCl
treaties and Judge the success as it
has dealt with naval armament, the
best way to approach it is this: fiji st
TO go back to the opening speech Of
Secretary Hughes delivered on tho
first day of the conference. Recall
the feeling the world held on that
Saturday night. Then take that open
ing speech in which Hughes told what
it was proposed to do and compare it
item by item with the naval treaty
that tells what actually has been done
The only difference between what
Hughes said at the opening and the
naval treaty is that Japan has been
permitted to keep the Mutsu, and this
has made certain minor readjustments
necessary as regards Great Britain
and the United States. These read
iustments are less than a 5 ger cent
variation from the proposals in the
Hughes speech.
France Damaged Auxiliary Plan
Now ] do not want to be misleading
in the direction of optimism. / have
been speaking of the Hughes speech
that thrilled the world and the de-
Eltt vi Ito IL - u w NiNsN
the Hughes speech was about capi.
tai ships only. 1t is true that his
speech was accompanied by detailed
plan in which similar proposals were
made about auxiliary ships, subma
rines and the like.
It is true also, that this Hughes
plan about submarines and other aux
Hilary ships was pretty badly shot 10
pieces by the action of France, which
for a motive of forcing Great Britain
into a bargain tried, as Hughes said,
10 turn the conference into one not
for the Limitation of armament, but
for the increase of armament
France not only refused to accept
the Hughes proposals about submar
ines and other auxiliary ships, but
actually demanded the right to build
tonnage far beyond anything she is
financially capable of building. But
even though France was able and Will
ing seriously to damage this part OF
the program, il is also trHe that the
conference adopted certain limitations
on the methods of submarine warfare
which go far to offset the results OF
Frances wantonness Also the con-
ference set limit of 10000 tons to
the size of all auxiliary craft, and a
limit of eight inches to the size OF
all guns in auxiliary craft, and other
wise PIT severe restriction on auXil-
iary craft.
Jap Stipulations
On the other hand, it is also true
that Japan exacted certain stlpulauons
about naval bases in the distant
Pacific not included in the Hughes
proposals.
The whole comparison between the
Hughes proposals of the first day and
the naval treaty of today is pretty
complicated. The net of it is that
as regards capital ships the Hughes
proposals were carried Out practically
entire. but that as regards auxiliary
ships the degree of fulfilment is more
difficult to estimate.
| have asked many persons TO make
IN estimate of how close the naval
treaty today comes to the Hughes pro
prosals as whole The answers
vary all the way from so per cent to
90 per cent My observation is that
the estimates are determined more
by the temperament of the speaker
than by anything more exact.
The big thing-that is, competition
has been stopped. | have found no
reasonable person who does not say
that this one fact is more important
than all the complex details combined.
and is itself an epoch in the history of
the world.
Reads Resolutions.
Hughes began this mornings session
by going briskly through some routine
business. He read a number OF reso-
lutions about China which had already
been made public. when they were
1 IL. tI,n Fn-
East and called for ratification of them
by the conference as whole. As he
finished reading each resolution he
called the roll OF nations rapidly and
announced unanimous adoption.
Hearing these resolutions in a mass
gave the impression that a very great
deal had been accomplished in the
way of promises not further to impair
the integrity of China, and TO recede
from infringements already commit
ted
At the close of these resolutions
Hughes said he was happy to be in.
formed by the representatives OF
China and Japan that the controversy
over Shantung had been settled. This
brought the first applause OF the day
The details of the return of Shantung
10 China involved Mr.. Hughes in pro
nOunClng considerable number Oi
Chinese proper names. a process which
brought smiles to the audience.
Dreary Reading.
There was almost an hour of this
rather dreary reading of minute de.
tails of the turning over by Japan to
China of railroads, electric light
works. cables, telephones and the like
most of them with queer Chinese
names that sounded very remote to
the audience.
At the end of reading the formal
agreement Hughes spoke informally
N words OF congratulation. His words
were received with an amount of ap
plause that shows how near to the
heart of the crowd is the wish fol-
success for this conference.
y Balfour rose to speak about the ter
mination of the Shantung dispute
When he said that every person in the
audience was glad it had been settled
the audience affirmed the statement
Continued on Pa ge Three)