Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-21
PRESIDENT DEEP
l IN NAVAL DISPUTE
Congress FactionaIism and
Treaties Failure to Fix
Strength Vexing.

By Consolidated Press.
President Coolidge is trying hare
to compromise the dispute with Con
gress over the enlargement OF tnt
Navy, but the harder he tries tnt
deeper he becomes involved In tht
meshes of congressional factionallsn
ON foreign policy.
For the controversy over the bu1id
ing of 10 more light cruisers is not
IL simple problem of economy, but a
large question of limitation OF arnla
inents and international cooperation
Ever since the Washington confer
ence of 1921 the Department OF
State, under Secretary Charles Evans
Hughes and his successor, MIR. hei
. logg. have been striving to keep some
of the naval contingent in America
from impeachin.- the good faith OF
Great Britain and Japan, in carrying
out the letter of the agreements
reached whereby the United States
and Great Britain were TO have a
ratio of to 5 on capital ships and
Japan. 3.
While the armament treaties went
a long distance in stopping the com
petition in battleships. they failed TO
be specific on the subject OF naFa
strength" as a whole, on which SUP
ject much might be said as to the
value of guns mounted high and llght
cruisers, submarines and aircraft.
Competition Is Renewed.
Now after five years the competition
has begun anew, and the rivalry IS
developing symptoms of intensity TOR
the naval experts, while relying to a
large extent on the battleship, recog-
nize that aircraft and auxiliary
cruisers and submarines really count
in a we'll balanced navy.
Mr.. Coolidge is Influenced by the
argument of the director of the
budget, Gen. Lord, who naturally
urges economy, especially in such
peace.time expenditures on military
and naval development which in the
absence of any threat of war may
seem futile, especially since types OF
vessels change and new construction
Is constantly needed to keep up to
date
The President gave every intimation
in his recent message that he was
not going to be stampeded into military
and naval expenditures by persons or
institutions directly interested in sell
ing to the Government, but he has dis
covered since then that there exists in
Congress a naval group which believes
in the theory of preparedness, entirely
This group is kept informed by naval
men who believe it their duty to let
everybody know the status of naval
strength, especially members of the
naval committees.
Mr.. Coolidge knows that there is in
Congress a strong sentiment for more
naval vessels, and that the sincerity
of the naval group is attested by the
fact that they would gladly insert a
tel e,i,, IL.
priation bills-namely, that if an in
ternational agreement on limitation
can be reached, then construction
should be stopped at once.
Needs Foreign Help.
The President, therefore, is COM
PEELED to look abroad for a helping
hand. Will Great Britain and Japan
join again in a. conference on limita-
ton of armament to preserve the
5.5-3 principle? If they will, then liter
ally millions of dollars will be saved
in the annual budget. International
conferences have not been popular
here in an era in which the 1'irrecon.
cilable" group have repeatedly ex-
pressed their opposition to interna-
tional parleys as political.
Only with considerable reluctance
did Congress consent to the. sending
of delegates to the preliminary con-
gress on limitation of armament held
under the auspices of the League of
Nations at Geneva. The Senate, more
over, has declined to ratify the Geneva
treaty prohibiting the use of poison
gas. Nationalism still dominates the
situation here, and it is doubtful
whether the sacrifices made by the
United States in the 1921 conferences
under the Harding Hughes admins
tration could be achieved today.
Under the circumstances Mr.. Cool
idge will probably find it necessary
to approve the proposed appropria-
tons for more light cruisers, though
striving at the same time for inter-
national agreement to suppress the
rivalry which led in the past to heavy
expenditures and which Britain with
her tax burdens of the war and Japan
with her earthquake bankruptcies
can i'll afford TO stimulate. d. l..