Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-29
Text of American Naval Note

ued as instruments of naval warfare, 1t
is the belief of the American Govern
ment that they should be limited 10
reasonable tonnage or number
Should Include All Glasses.
IF there is to be further limitation
lpon the construction OF war VESSELS
so that competition in this regard pc
tween nations may be stopped, IL Is tne
belief of the United States that IL
should include all classes of compatahI
vessels. submarines as well as suFIdce
vessels. c.o+o..
The Government of the United states
has earnestly and consistently aoVor
Gated real reduction ana llmlCatioli VI
naval armament. 1t has given us DeoV
efforts toward finding acceptaole lileIIio
DDS of attaining this most oeollaol
end It would be happy to continue
such efforts. but it cannot consent 10
proposals which would leave the door
wide omen to unlimited building OF
certain types of ships of highly EN-
Gent combatant value and WOULD I'M
nose restrictions only on types peeu-
tiarlv suitable to American needS.
The American Government seeks no
sneciaI advantage on the sea, put Clear
" cannot permit itself to pc placeu III
q position of manifest dlSadVanCaSe'
The American Government 1eelS' 1ul
tborrnore that the terms of the Franco
British draft agreement in leaving I'M
limited SO large a tonnage ana SO many
tvnes of vessels would actually tenu 10
defeat the primary objective OF any
disarmament conference Tor the re-
duction or the limitation OF armament
in that it would not eliminate conpG,,
tition in naval armament ana "ou4o
not effect economy. For all these tea
sons the Government OF the OhlUeu
States feels that no useful purpose
would be served by accepting as a basis
Of discussion the Franco British pro-
posal.
Would Defeat Object.
The American Government has no
objection to any agreement between
France and Great Britain which those
countries think will be to their ad-
vantage and in the interest OF limitation
of armament, but naturally cannon
consent that such an agreement should
be applied to the United States.
In order to make quite clear that IN
declining to adopt the Franco-BrltlSn
agreement as a basis for discussion OF
naval limitation it seems appropriate
briefly to review the attitude OF the
United States regarding the methods
of limitation. in order to show that the
American Government has consistently
favored a drastic proportional llmlta-
ton. The success OF the washington
Conference is known to all. 1t StrlcCly
limited all combatant ships and ar
craft carriers of over 10000 TONS. IN
order to bring about such limitation the
American Government made great sac
rifices in the curtailment of plans OF
building and in the actual destruction
of ships already built. At the first SeS-
sion of the preparatory conference the
American Government submitted pro-
posals which were consistently adhered
to at subsequent meetings:
/. That the total tonnage allowed IN
each class of combatant vessel be pre-
scribed.
2. That the maximum tonnage OF
unit and the maximum callber or gun
allowed for each class be prescribed.
3. That so long as the total tonnage
allowed of each class is not exceeded,
the actual number of units may be lett
to the discretion of each power con-
cerned.
Geneva Agreement.
Within this general plan the Amerl-
can proposal at the Geneva Conference
was for the United States and the
British Empire a total tonnage limlta-
ton in the cruiser class of from 100000
to 100000 tons, and for Japan from
10000 to 100000 For the destroyer
class for the United States and the
British Empire from 100000 to 100000,
and for Japan from 10000 to 10000
tons. For the submarine class for the
United States and the British Empire
10000 to 10000 tons, and for Japan
$4,000 to $4,000 tons. It was further
stated by the American delegation that
if anv power represented felt justified
in proposing still lower tonnage levels
for auxiliary craft the American Gov
eminent would welcome such proposal
The purpose of these proposals was
that there might be no competition be-
tween the three powers in the building
of naval armament, that their reSpec-
tive navieS should be maintained at the
lowest level compatible with national
security and should not be of the size
and character to warrant the suspicion
of aggressive intent. and finally that a
wise economy dictates that further naval
construction be kept to minimum
The Government of the United States
remains willing to use its best efforts
to obtain basis of further naval limlta-
ton satisfactory to all the naval powers,
including those not represented at the
Three Power Conference in Geneva,
and is willing to take into consideration
in any conference the special needs of
France, Italy or any other naval power
for the particular class Of vessels deem
ed by them most suitable for their
defense. This could be accomplished
by permitting any of the powers to
vary the percentage of tonnage in
classes within the total tonnage; GER