The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-03
HARDING COUNTED ARMS CONFE RE ENCE BEST ACHE VEMENT
Believed Naval Facts Would Make History For His
 Administration

WASHINGTON, August 2.-(By As sociated Press .)-The Washington arms conference and the treaties growing out of it constituted the out standing accomplishment of Presi- dent Harding's administration. IL was MT. Hardings own view, expressed before the plenipotentiaries of the principal powers assembled here on November 12, 1921, in response to his invitation, that the results attained al this conference would determine the place which his administration ultimatly would be given in history. Five treaties and an even dozen res- olutions were approved and adopted by the conference. Principal among these were the convention ending the long and costly race for naval su- premacy by sharply limiting the strength of the sea power of United States, Great Britain, Japan, France and Italy, and the four power pact. This pact dealt with the insular pos sessions in the Pacific of the United States, Great Britain, Japan and France and replaced the Anglo Japanese alliance, which long had been viewed with suspicion by a large section of the American people and many of the nations public men.
 Coincident with the arms assembly and collateral to it there were me- gotiated settlements of the Shantung and Yap questions. In the one case Japan agreed with China to withdraw her troops from and restore the pro- vince of Shantung to that country, while in the other it agreed with the American government that the United States and Japan should have equit- able and other communication rights at ap, over which Japan had 9een given a mandate under the treaty of Versailles.
 Peace With Germany.
 Limitation of world armaments which was only one of the many prob lens. international and national, which claimed MT. Harding's atten- tion, when he took up the respon- abilities of his office In the inter- national field were the re-esta blish ment of peace with Germany and Austria, Mexican relations, the Rus sian question, disposition of the for mer German cables in the Atlantic equal rights mandate territory, in which was involved the greater pro- position of world petroleum supplies, and many others.
 Important as were these matters, however, these Of reconstruction at home proved the more pressing. Here agriculture was in the worst condi- tion perhaps in the history of the country; industry was stagnant; un- employment was general, and the na- tion was staggering under burden of taxation. There also was wide spread industrial unrest and to com plicate the situation as solutions of the difficulties were sought there were a number of strikes, including the walkouts in the coal mines and on the railroads.
 One of the first steps in the re- construction program was the enact ment of the emergency tariff law, af- fecting agricultural products, and the recreation of the war finance corporati to aid in financing not only the farmers but export business as we'll Later came permanent leg islation designed to provide more eX- tended credit for the farmer and on more liberal terms.
 "Return To NormaIcy."
 To help relieve unemployment, the migration restI iction bill was passed and an unemployment confer ence was held in Washington Mean tune, revision of the tax and tariff laws was undertaken with a view to hastening d return to that normalcy e which MT. Harding had set as his guiding star. The tax bill cut SG00,- 100000 d year from the burden on business and the public generally, while it was claimed for the tariff act that it removed the menace of the flood of products of cheap Euro pean labor and enabled business to go Eahead confidently.
 Another accomplishment was the creation of the budget bureau, through which nstrumentality the President put into effect the drive for economy in his public eXpendi- lures. which constituted high spot" in this domestic program.
 MT. Hardings outstanding effort, however, was in behalf of a ship subsidy law. which he argued would on the one hand cut in half the cost Cf the government operation of the immense war-built mcrcahnt marine and on the other hand insure a bal anced commercial fleet, essential alike in peace and in war. Favorable action was obtained in the House but such determined opposition was encountered in tho Senate that tho measure failed cE passage