Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-10-10

War Secretary Tells Legion
Kellogg Treaties Do Not
Guarantee Peace.
BY the Associated Press.

not contemplate any weakening Of the
.aClonai defense because of the recent
Iy signed Kellogg treaties was given
the American Legion here today by
Secretary of War Dwight F. Davis in
an address in which he praised the
purpose and the craftsmanship of the
documents.
LAS Secretary of War;" he said, IT
know the great value of the support
which has been given by the Ameri-
can Legion to our national defense.
DESTROYS of peace, you nevertheless have
realized that we must not jeopardiZe
our heritage of liberty during our search
for a panacea for war. Therefore,
you will wish to know that your eff
forts have not been misdirected. The
Government does not intend that there
should be any weakening of the nation
al defense as a result of these treaties"
Old Problem Involved.
The treaties, Davis described as "a
preliminary treatment for an age-old
cancer" He pointed out that whereas
the ruler was once Communicated chief
of his people, the ruler now is COM
mander- in-cIief of the Army alone and
that people now are. enlightened and
do not go to war as blindly as they
once did.
''In the main man has striven to live
peacefully and peaceably with his
neighbors," Davis said. when COM
mercial and national aims, however,
run counter to those of another ma
ton, disagreements naturally have
arisens In bygone days such situa-
ton was followed by a war of extermi-
nation-witness Rome and Carthage |
Today we exhaust every possible means |
to adjust differences amicably.
Self preservation is the first law of |
nature; it is the first law of nations. |
We are removed only 10 years from the |
greatest war in history. Even though |
world opinion now may appear to ex-
ercise a preponderant influence for |
peace, we should not rely entirely upon |
its force, but rather proceed along ra- |
tional lines toward a practical realiza- |
ton of our aims for peace. The first |
step has been the remuneration of ag- |
greSSions."
United States Army Ratio Cited.
now maintains a smaller army per |
capita than any one of 81 other ma |
tons, the average ratio being four
fighters per 1000 to one per 600 for |
the United States
1.-The value of this step 6the peace |
treatieS) will be lost" Davis said, "if |
we conceive it to be definite assur- |
ance Of a permanent establishment of |
world peace. Unfortunately some of |
our citizens have thoughtlessly jumped |
to such a conclusion. Contrary to the |
advice of President Coolidge and Sec
rotary Kellogg there are those who even |
advocate an immediate reduction of our
modest defense forces. It is obvious /
that any disarmament to be effective |.
must be universal
while there is in the administration
q most sincere desire to promote world |
peace, and a very definite remuneration |
of aggressive war as an instrument of |
national policy, there is no intention |
whatsoever on the part Of our Govern
ment to jeopardize the security of our
selves or our prosperity"
Parade Is Feature.
Putting behind them three days of In |
tense merry-making, clinaxed by the |
most unmilitary parade San Antonio |
ever saw. tired legionnaires today turned |
to the serious business Of the conven-
ton.
Maj. George Scapini, blind French war |
veteran, and william Green, president |
of the American Federation of Labor, |
we're scheduled to deliver addresses at /
the resumption of convention sessions.
Convention business did a parade
rest" yesterday, while the gay delegates
and visitors passed in amusing review, |
before their wartime commander, Gen. I
John j. Pershing; their present COM
mander, Edward E.. Spafford; Field |
Marshal Allenby, Great Britain; Gov. |
Dan Moody, and other military and
civilian notables.
Four Hours Consumed by Parade.
Strung out over q. three-mile route, [
the former soldiers, sailors and marines, I
attempting to keep time to the confu- I
sion of music furnished by 81 fife and /
drum corps and 80 bands which in
tefspersed the line of march, filed past /
the reviewing stands in front of the |
Alamo. Texas shrine of independence. |
Four hours was required for the parade |
to pass.
& More than 10000 veterans finished |
1.-THE march, though a considerably larger |
Number started. Many were forced out |
by overtaxed feet and Sultry south Texas |
heat
Files were closed sometimes by spec
tators who joined the rollicking, singing |
veterans, but for the most part little |
effort was made to keep an orderly line
Of march. The marehers bantered with
the crowd, while various of the bands
swung rapidly from military to popular |
and State airs. Some of the State delega-
! lions carried souvenirs of the products
8pf their commemorative.
Profusion of RiotOus Color.
q From one end to the other the line
4preSented a succession of riotouS color.
Il immaculate uniforms of all colors and
INSCRIPTIONS we're worn by the musicians
from the widely scattered posts. Three
m the musical organizations were COM
sn.NITy nj
2lWas a mixed group.
8i.l Besides the State delegations, Mexico,
siiLtaly, France, Greece, Hawaii, Panama,
Euatemala, Cuba and Nicaragua had
Representatives sin the review.
AiH The parade, however, did not exhaust
the marching resources of the Legion
! naires, as the annual parade of the
Il 40 and 8, which In the past has been
" more colorful than the Legion parade
was scheduled for tonight The parade
4 of the funmakers usually Is not as long
procession, but the Forty and Fighters
miss no opportunity to make it as
freakish and funny as possible To top
of the day they will hold their annual
wreck" or initiation, the high spot of
their funmaking.
Choice of Convention City Due.
In the flood Of committee reports
scheduled for today was one of special
Importance recommending location of
the 1929 convention. Detroit, Louisville
and Miami have been bidding for favor
among the thousands of delegates.
Col William Mitchell, former assist
ant chief of aviation of the United
States Army, said upon his arrival yes
ter6ay that the aviation committee
would be asked to recommend establish
nent of the air force as third arm of
national defense separate from the
Army and Navy. If he was frowned
upon by the committee Col. Mitchell
planned to carry his fight to the floor