The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1927-08-05
NEWS review OF
CURRENT EVENTS
Naval Conference Resumed
With Not Much Hope of
an Agreement
BY EDWARD w. PlcKARD

ny EOWAnO W. SIONAhD
MYTH the return to Geneva of the
w British delegation, the naval linn
1tation conference was resumed; but
there was feeling there and in
Washington that the parley was
doomed to failure. Viscount Cecil and
VIC. Bridgeman had submitted to the
British cabinet their demands and
their entire policy, and apparently
were upheld in every particular. Sir
Austen Chamberlain, foreign ,secre-
.ary, then made a statement to the
house of commons that left little hope
chat an agreement could be reached.
The crux of this was that he consid-
cred the permanent formula adopted
at Washington for limiting battleships
inapplicable for certain classes of
cruisers to have sounded the death
knell Of the conference. 1t was
to apply this formula to auxiliary
craft that President Coolidge called
the conference. Sir Austen suggested
that an agreement might be reached
for a shorter period than originally
planned, or on destroyers and subma-
rines only, in case the three powers
could not agree on maximum cruiser
tonnage; but this idea was coldly re-
ceived by the American officials in
Geneva and in Washington.
Dispatches from Geneva said the
final British proposals were as fol-
lows:
1. That, since an agreement has
practically been reached on subma-
rines and destroyers, a convention
shall be framed providing for $4,000
tons of submarines and 10000 tons
of destroyers, with an approximate &C
per cent ratio for Japan.
2. That a quota of 100000 tons shall
be adopted for all cruiser types.
3. That the ratio between the Unit
ed States, Great Britain. and Japan
for 10,00O-ton cruisers carrying S-inch
guns shall be 12-12-S, or, if this is not
acceptable, 1850.
A. That the next smaller cruiser
class shall be limited to 1900 tons,
carrying 6-inch guns.
5. That the question of providing
extra smaller cruisers for Great Brit
ain from its obsolete vessels shall be
left to the Washington conference in
1881. s
Congressman Martin B. Madden of
Illinois, chairman of the house appro-
priatlons committee, who has been
travelling in England, gave an inter-
view at Torquay in which he said that
If Great Britain was not willing to
give America the equivalent of Eng
lish ship power with respect to speed,
reason to believe that the United
States naval building program would
have the support of the appropria-
tions committee. AN agreement put
ting our navy out of balance with
Britain's would not be ratified by con-
gress, he said, Ambassador Gibson
has been told BY the State department
that the United States would rather
have him return to Washington with
out treaty than to sign an agreement
which fails to safeguard American in
terests or make possible real naval
economies.
EOR three days about two dozen
L. governors of states and some
guests, in annual conference at Macki-
nae island, Mich, discussed all manner
of topics related to the public well
face, devoting large part of the time
to flood control and farm relief. The
executives do not adopt resolutions at
these meetings. but they were unan-
imous in favoring flood control of the
Mississippi river and its tributaries
by the federal government and in
blaming that government for past
neglect of that problem and the con-
sequent losses. Governors of the Mid
die West and West had a lot to say
about the agricultural problem and
most of them seemed to favor meas
ure like the McNary-Haugen bill
which the President vetoed.
There was general condemnation
of election corruption but the COVER