Evening star., 1923-04-01
FRANCE TO RAT|FY
ARMAMENT PACTS
Believed She Will Insist on
= Reservation Limiting
aa Them to 1886.
POINCARE WILL ACCEPT
Gives Up Idea Chamber Has Not
Power to Frame 0bjec-
e., tions.
POINCARE WILL ACCEPT
bY Cable To the Star and the New YorA
Tribune CnnNrIrht 1913.

By Cable To the Star and the New Yors
Tribune. Copyright 1923.
PARIS March 31.--The Washington
treaty for the limitation of naval
armaments will he ratified as ii
stands by the French chamber soon
after il conveneS on May s, by vote
Of approximately 400 to $50, accord
ing TO an estimate gathered in gov
ernment political circles. The only
apparent reservation Will be against
the continuation of the pact. so far
as France is concerned, beyond 1886.
The chamber probably will note
Frances intention not to abide by
the ratio after that time, suggesting
that the government so notify the
other signatory powers at the same
time formal notice of ratification is
made The Poincare government ori-
ginaily demanded that the chamber
accept the treaty without comment,
as the parliamentar body has not
the power'to frame reservations.
VIII Accept Reservation.
The government. The Star and Tri-
bune correspondent now understands.
is ready TO accept the chambers
moral reServation-that France can
not decide eleven years in advance
whether 1t can afford to limit the
size of her navy as provided in the
treaty.
The cause for such n moral reser-
walton is now entirely clear. and
again brings forward that ever-pres-
ent vital question of French security.
Under the normal military service
laws the French army will be the
weakest in its history in 1885, and
beginning in 1884 the French youth
born during the world war VIII pc
called up for military service. The
secret French attitude toward the
naval pact, therefore, simply traces
back TO what is in the mind OF
every Frenchman nowadays- Must
again on land and sea? Who knows!
We cannot gamble on the future"
Guernier Feared Retaliation.
The correspondents inquiry led to
an interview with Deputy Charles
Guernier, the spokesman for the
chambers foreign affairs commission,
whose report several days ago ad-
vised the chamber to make its 'reser-
vation," although Guernier repelled
the suggestion that parliament delay
ratification for the purpose of retail
alton to Washirgton's failure to
ratify the Versailles treaty.
There is no form OF hostility" he
said, land you can be assured that
the treaty will be ratified by big
majority. OF course, there are depu-
ties who will vote adversely. some
actuated by opposition to both the
BRAND and Paincare governments
and some who vote against every
thing. But their influence is slight.
The delay today is due to our failure
70 receive the treaty printed in
French from Washington, as well as
the time necessary following its re-
ceipt to make a thorough study or
the document"
- ;,h
of French parlamentarians. who be-
lieves that the truth of the French
attitude should be known publicly
in the United States.
One Point for Hesitation.
He said that 1t was last December
eleven months after the conference
that the treaty was reached by the
foreign relations committee, and I
have since found only one point on
which hesitation is necessary. That
is Frances provision that she can
withdraw without embarrassment in
1885. If this Is well understood now
there will be no surprise then. Other
wise there might be considerable and
powerful objection, to which this
country, weak as 1t may possibly be,
could not afford to oppose"
Guernier, however. allowed himself
TO present that ancient, though now
secondary consideration-the matter
of French pride.
rance Is Wiling CHe
ratios as temporary. but certainly
not as a permanent, moral, Just,
equitable relationship with nations
which would persist. Some nations
now speak Of this 5-5-3 affair as
world powers. France is not a ITS
nation. The ratio of the treaty re-
Sers we believe, only to a temporary
though I emphasize not the United
States. would like to make 1t per-,
manent
France certainly felt hurt when
she was left aside while the United
States, England and Japan decided
among themselves what the ratios
should be ,and again when France
was placed after Japan and in the
same class with Italy.
Wanted Real Disarmament.
AT Washington we wanted to
reach a real disarmament agreement
based on the needs of the various
countries. We were ready to show
that we needed ships to maintain the
proper naval relations with Africa
and more distant colonies. We needed
others for naval demonstrations, such
as was necessary before Constan-
tinople, Alexandria and Memel for
the protection of our citizens
But Secretary Hughes said that
complicated the situation. The
United States and England would
only consider ships in their relations
TO naval battles. France does not
consider the battleship from that
viewpoint and we do not look for
ward 20 any great naval battles"
As one of Frances leading civil ex-
perts on naval problems, Guernier be-
lteves that capital ships are a relic
OF an ignorant past.
Division Of Ships.
Ships today may be divided in the
pre-Jutland categories. Post-Jutland
ships do not exist and every capital
ship might as well be at the bottom
of the sea, because none of them can
resist fire, as was seen In the case
of the Jutland encounter. The Queen
Mary. one of England's greatest
ships was In perfect fighting order,
but two minutes and ten seconds
after receiving the German volley she
was mass OF soap iron and was
shedding 200-yarL column OF dense
smoke as she sank.
Capital ships cannot when armor-
ed resist the modern shell and pun
ishment by air bombs unless they
are so heavily protected that they
become heavy, ponderous masses or
steel INCAPABLE of maneuvering.
Holding. them under $4,000 tons, as
provided in the treaty, means they
must even be heavier and slower de.
fenstvely than sea tortoises"