Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1923-06-22
U. S. SEEKS TO BAR
| BR|TA|N'S BIG SUB
NoIates Spirit Of Naval Pact,
officials Hold
POLITICIANS UNDER FIBE
Hushest Assigned To Fix Date When
BIG Craft Was Begun; Eng
Iish May Have Sig
Fleet.
POLITICIANS UNDER Fl8E


Violated the spirit il not the letter
of the Five-Power Treaty by con
structing a supersubmarine car
rying a 12inch gun.
The violation cannot be allowed
10 pass without protest from the
United States.
This Is the prevailing opinion Of
American officials who were in close
contact with the course Of events at
the conference on the limitation Of
ornaments.
The naval treaty states explicitly
that no warship thereafter laid down
shall carry a gun exceeding the cali
Der OF eight inches. except that it be
capital ship as defined in another
clause of the agreement. The ton
mage and character Of capital ships
is then expressly defined.
The question Of fact remaining un-
determined is whether the British yes-
sci with the i2inch weapon was 'laid
down. at the time the plenipotentiar-
les OF the five Powers signed the
Limitation Treaty.
Secretary of State Hughes, who
with Elihu Root dominated the Amer
-icau delegation at the conference. is
charged with ascertaIning Immediately
when the keel of the new subses
Colossus was laid.
If Great Britain is technically. en-
titled TO such vessel the question
remains How did the four American
politicians representing the United
States at the conference ignore the
existence Of such loophole in the
draft Of the agreement
At the time OF the conference Il
was realized by insiders that the
Hughes-Root combination was inclined
to ignore the advice of the American
naval experts attached TO their ad-
yisory staff Later revelations OF the
course Of the negotiations Indicated
there were occasions when British
naval officers apparently exercised a
greater influence over the Washington
delegates than did the American tech
nicians.
1t was, however. generally known
that the Pinch gun on supersub-
marine was no new thing in the
British Navy. which made use of yes
sells thus armed during the World
War These subsea boats we're built
particularly for "bombarding certain
spots on the Belgian coast"
The American delegation. it is as
serted. must necessarily have known
that the ultimate purpose" Of such
armament on a submarine was the
bombardment OF coast towns A feet
of such vessels. therefore, would be
intended obviously to approach un-
seen and to lombard coast cities even
at distance Of several thousand miles
from the submarine base.
There can be no question that
the American political delegation at
the Armaments Conference agreed,
whether through ignorance or design,
TO the phraseology of the naval treaty
barring big guns from auxiliary war
ships hereafter laid down" 1t also
is known that, when the submarine
question was being discussed, some
of the representatives of foreign ma
tions understood that the language
would be hereafter built
Had this latter phrase been adopted.
such armament as that now used by
the British submarine in question
would have been impossible But the
final language Of the treaty. 1t appears,
was agreed TO in the absence Of the
American naval experts. and here
after laid down. was the wording.
From the standpoint OF national de.
fense, experts maintain. il is essen
tial for the State Department to de
termine just how far Great Britain
intends to go with her super-subma-
rine program. II the language OF the
treaty was altered so as to make pos,
sibIe the construction Of just such
vessels, officials believe there Will be
no way Of telling how many vessels
Of the type England considers she has
'laid down until she completes the
program Of arming them with 12-Inch
guns.
On the other hand. if il develops
that the construction of these ships
Is violation of the spirit and an
evasion of the letter Of the treaty, the
State Department. it is maintained.
should demand that no gun be mount
ed in excess of the eight-inch max
imum.
The whole incident is regarded as
evidenciug the futiIity Of the Hughes
Root declaration that the treaty would
accomplish its avowed purpose of put
ting a stop to competition in naval
armament