Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-26

NoIltnlued Irom FIRST Page)
to permit the delegates to witnes,
Geneva's annual flower festival. Thi,
exceeded in beauty any previous az
fair and made Admiral Saito think o.
his land OF chrysanthemums as the
cortage. lavish In exquisite fiowe,
combinations. passed down the lake
front.
The delegates were delighted to gel
this chance momentarily to forget
the conference. which. after the first
week of negotiations. has brought
forth no accords on any subject justi
tying the conVocation of plenary
public session.
The British have been pressing for
public meeting. as they wish an OBJ
! portunity to proclaim publicly their
reasons for requesting AN examina.
ton of the clauses Of the Washing
! ton treaty, but both the Americans
and Japanese think it futile to come
| together merely to air differences of
! opinion. and favor further efforts Ia
reach an agreement on some of the
| fundamental points in private con.
versationS.
Refuse to Discuss Pact.
The Japanese tonight refused to
discuss the mooted Japanese.Anleri.
can perpetual peace pact. further than
to say that the reports on this subject
were greatly exaggerated and spec.
ulative.'
To those familiar with official Ian.
anese life, this means that the Jan.
anese do not wish entirely to deny or
affirm the reports, but desire that the
idea of a pact sink into the minds of
Americans, and to await the reaction
of the American Government and the
American people, If the reaction is
distinctly unfavorable. the Japanese
will speedily drop the matter; If pos.
itively enthusiastic, they presumably
will make some concrete proposals
later to Hugh S. Gibson, head of the
American delegation.
The American Government probably
has been advised that negotiations for
such a pact are at least a possibility,
and it is believed also that If Admiral
Saito makes definite move. Mr.. Glib.
attitude to take.
Lack Arbitration Treaty.
The so-called Bryan arbitration
agreement was never concluded with
Japan, though successfully negotiated
with other nations, and the Japanese
are credited with the ambition to
fashion some peace treaty with
America more direct than the exist.
ing four power Pacific fleet.
In the meantime. Japan has Off
cially informed the American delega.
ton that she wants 20 per cent auxil.
larry warships to every 100 per cent
for the United States. This means
that Japan demands a ratio of 3.5. in
stead of 3, a fixed at Washington for
capital ships. and the Americans must
decide whether this augmentation can
be agreed to.
Meanwhile, in spite of official de-
mails, it is understood that the Japa.
nese informed one delegation that they
would not press their demand for an
unlimited number of snail submarines
"a demand which seems especially to
worry the British.
The week ends with the Americans
standing firmly against any reopen,ng
of the Washington trea:y before 1881,
when a second cor eorcm:e viii be held
at Washington with France and Italy
participating, for the purpose of study
ing the size of warships in the light
Of the development of science.
Gibson Urges Patience.
Mr.. Gibson, spe liking to the press
today. made a plea for patience. lie
said he was not unreasonably opti-
mistic, but wanted to noint out that
at the Washington conference there |
was merely one proposal before the |
assembly. namely the Hughes plan. |
An agreemen. in principle was reach |
ed almost at once. bur 1t took IL weeks |
to work out the details.
At Geneva, on the contrary, three |
different proposals are presented, and
it is not surprising If it requires time
to reach a common basis of discus
sion.
Our position" said Mr.. Gibson, 'is
that naval needs are relative. We
have offered to move downward, al
ways maintaining relatively, and 1
should like to emphasize that the
American proposals not only imply
readiness for limitation, but readiness
for actual reduction of naval strength.
And do not forget that the United
States strapped $500, 900. 900 worth of
ships by reason Of the Washington
treaty"
British Deny Reports.
The British delegation is consider
ably disturbed over printed reports
THAT Iucy nave CIidT dCLcIlZGO the
American proposals as insincere and
merely due to political byplay" by
Washington and they have issued a
denial of this. Another story going
around in Geneva is that the British
are convinced the United States will
not build up her navy in any way,
whatever may be the outcome of the
Geneva conference, and that it is use
less. therefore. for the American dele.
CATION to demand parity with Great
Britain in the construction of cruisers
and the type Of war craft particularly
interesting Great Britain.
Singularly enough. it is on subma.
rines that the conference shows the
best chances of success, though
Britain is almost certain to make a
submarine pact conditional upon
France and Italy not exceeding the
fixed submarine program.
French and Italian naval experts
attended the first general meeting of
experts, but were not present at to-
days sessions and were not repre-.
sented at yesterdays meeting of the
executive committee. According to
information from French sources,
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