The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1923-05-06
By VICE -ADMiRAL GUEPRATTE
tN1ce-Chairman of the Chamber COM
mittee ON Naval Affnirs,)

Copyright, 1929
BREST, May 5.-In the course of
his message Of December Is, 1921, ad-
dressed to our premier, the Honor
able Mr.. Hughes declared that he
gave France very good deal in
conceding to her one hundred and
combat units.
NOW, II our present naval material
is used up, out of date. and almost
ineXistant, the reason for that is en-
TREY 10 our honor; and our allies of
yesterday would be taking the wrong
slde IN blaming us for it. For dur
ing the course of hostilities not only
was The progress of naval technique
considerable, but again and above ali,
during all that period France-ab-
sorbed as she was by her untl-ing
devotion to the fabrication of war
material FOR all her allies-was I'M
able 10 construct for herself any new,
modern unit; whereas such was far
from the case among the other ma
tons of the entente.
o O O
Limited Vessels.
1t is important, before all else to
pose that question of principle. OF
national dignity, and to say why we
experienced very legitimate senti-
ment of i'll humor when we saw that
to us, the great victorious nation,
there was allotted poor relations
share upon the sea. But this ques
ton once posed. shall one say that
we should construct capital ships
By no manner of means Our easily
touched sentiment of wounded dig
nifty ought to remain purely platonic
all the more because the confer
ence of Washington limited to $4,000
tons the displacement of each of the
larger units
At the present days. artillery is no
longer the sole agent of destruction.
Submarines, airplanes and mines
have also entered brutallw into line.
necessitatiNk an infinitely more COM
plicated protection of the battleshp.
protection which is consequently
much more heavy and costly 1t fol-
lows that, with the extreme limit of
$500 tons you cannot have great
combative unit efficiently protected
against these multiple enemies; aYrc
before long even the rich nations
themselves will come to raliz that
the construction by dint of millions
of great units whose existence is
compromised from their birth, con-
gal child and pure anachronism
which it will be high time to dis
card.
Prepare Through Air.
Besides. let us remark that it will
be well to take note OF. the initial
declaration of the Honorable Mr..
Hughes. anc to consider it as estab
lished that the decisions of the con-
ference will be valuable only for a
period of ten years illogical conclu-
sion: 1t will suit Or purpose then
to carry on our effJrt with the sub
marine and aerial arms; and as under
III l. fnI
straint the way lies free before US.
In these conditions it behooves us
to ratify as soon as possible the ac-
cords of Washington, if only to
silence, once for all, this absurd tit
tle-tattle which tends ridiculously to
attribute imperialistic tendencies to
France. Furthermore. we believe we
are right in saying that the raifica-
ton forms part OF the firm intentions
of the government of the republic.
Whatever may be, we cannot con-
clude these reflections without say
ing word about the submarine arm.
Some people are endeavorng to es-
tablish the legend that the submarine
Is a treacherous and dishonest weap-
on. Really. the argument doesn't
carry weight! Firstly, all depends
on the use which is made of it; sec
| ondly, what can one say on that side
Of the case about the big Berthas.
bombing planes. dirigibles. mines.
| ct cetera!
| Condemn German Use.
Certainly we condemn the odious
| usage made of submarines by the
Germans in the course OF the last
war-murder of women and children,
| tcrpedoing OF neutral vessels and
hospital ships without warning,
numerous misdeeds of qualified pira-
cy. But this feeling puts US even
more at our ease for judging sanely
the inverse exaggerations of the Root
proposals.
Thus. we consider article one OF
those propositions as perfect: IN
case" 1t says, that submarine
the prescribed rules of humanity. II
should refrain from attack" That
clause Is simple justice; but what.
on the other hand, shall we say OF
articles three and four? Article
three DEGREES that the nations sub
scribing to the Root resolutions
should ipso facto abandon to any
power, whichever 1t may be. the right
to Judge and to condemn their Off
| GERS or sailors whom the aforesaid
power considers as having violated
the-rules of article one. AS to arti-
ole four, it declares that practically
submarines can never conform TO the
| clauses of article one, and that IN
| consequence it pronounces the inter-
diction of employing submarines for
the destruction of enemy commerce.
That is. in short. the annulation
pure and simple of article one. under
an insidious form. There are in It,
one must agree, willful and shocking
| contradictions which cannot fail &c
instigate irritating controversies and
| Emergencies of interpretation.
| Bennett balloon race from Geneva
last August The trophy represents
| O. balloon surmounted by an Ameri-