Evening star., 1928-03-03

| A group OF distinguished clergymen
| has appealed to President Coolidge to
| refrain from supporting the program
| for the replacement OF naval vessels
| which from year to year become OBJ
solete and must be scrapped These
| ministers OF the Gospel make no claims
| OF actual knowledge Of the technic OF
naval needs: they oppose naval force.
as they oppose all ''m!litarism." and
see, TO substitute the other cheek"
when the Nation is attacked by an
| enemy.
President Coolidge listened respect
! fully to the pleas OF the clergymen
and replied that the full program, as
recommended BY the Navy Department
and indorsed by the President. would
not exceed the ratio 5-5-3, agreed upon
, at the Disarmament Conference Of 1922
| for the navies OF Great Britain. the
United States and Japan.
The naval committee OF the House
has cut down the recommended re-
building from IS cruisers 10 "a But.
/ apparently. the clerical delegation is
/ not interested in what has been cut
/ down, but still protests agains; any re-
placements. To carry out It's spirit. il
would abolish the Navy entirely when
the present vessels become obsolete
The life OF a cruiser Is Is years
average and OF a submarine is l3 years
OF our present cruisers, there are -
with an age Of "a years or greater. still
retained in service. Not single cril:S-
er was built between 1908 and 1922 b.
the United States. but in those wears
Great Britain built ~ cruisers. 10 which
have been added. IN 1924 10 1927, in
elusive. more. making total of 80
cruisers. with a tonnage Of 2i6.716 tons
while in the years 1923 20 1925 We built
10 cruisers. with a total ot 66 600 tom
nage-~our present total cruiser Navy
not obsolete.
Now We have III biueprints plans for
cruisers. authorized. with $4,000 ton
. mage: were laid down BY the
! United States in 1926. and are perhaps
one-thi:d advanced III construction. for
II taxes three 10 four years 10 build
either cruiser, submarine or a d.
>troyer. None have been begun by US
since 1926, while Great Britain has
laid down" II cruisers since 1924.
Japan. whose naval force was 20 be
three iifthS ot tina: Of the United States
or Great Britain. has built. since 1910
% cruisers with an aggregate tonnage
OF l@64l5. and has now laid Cowr, &
more with tonnage o. so 600 Of
these. II date since 1919 and II date
Slnce the Washington Disarmament,
Conference. 80
The agreement at the WaShinetou
Disarmament Conference omitted cr,lls-
or limits SagainSt the American pro-
test. but the spirit OF the limitation
was 10 keep cruisers down 10 normal
proportions of capital ships which were
specifically limited 10 5-S-S ra,!o
Tor the three nations.
These statistics are dry reading hi,
they are vital 70 an understandings ot
Inc showing that x is no. America
which Is leading any competitive race
III strong nayiTS. FOR We are trailing
away behind both Grca, Britain and
Japan All " our ~ To so wear old
cruisers are obsolete and should bt,
S'rapped. they include three which
an;edatc the. Spanish War. The Total
'"nnaee ~ our non obsolete cruisers IS
only 66 600
Modern cruisers have \ speed og "a
Knots, cur obsolete vessels. all eul,t
before 1909. range III SpccA trou ~ ,n
- Knots except four Which are rated
less cham u Knots Meme q! these could
come within many miles ot al enemy
CRUISER While all The british cruisers
exceed - knots. and most III them
are from ~ knots up ~ 81 or faster
Great Rrltaiu has no obsolete vessels
according ~ British authority. but has
cruiser force four times us strong AS
that of the United States. and .'apaN<
cruiser Ialrt II double that NJ America
the preacher petitioners did not dis
cuSS these fact<
The hilI as amended Nv the !iou>r
naval affairs committee VIII come t,n
Tor debate At an ea,tv date. frror-
mend'ns ONLY IL cruisers " 10000 tonS
each
Following the Disarmament Cnntcy~
rnTe VT sank several capital ships III
r'udlng one nearly Finished III Witch
So 600 600 Went lcWn
Pasted unon the walls ~ ths various
offices IN the NAVY Impairment Is a
great official plaeatd headed ~ y.
Naval Policy" Ii Is signed Nv the them
SECRETARY of the Navy, Edwin nInhy.
and iN dated pecemerr |. ia2s .nmr,i,.
aIeN following the disarmament Con.
terence That p,arard has remained On
thr wallis vi The Navy ever since aud
iiN l"MtiplcS have gosdyi the atniut>
ua'i"tN W ftr>,drut> ttagAtng ana
tnuttise
The tst&t paragraph SANS
IN" Navy oE the Waited States
Atoosd er maintained IN Aut,irlcnt
H'tFhsth I" support les tthe r.a,uGrv,NN
policies aud Its commerce. and ~ erati
hs T"nilocntas and overseas lNN>NeS-
Ainus"
'lTTfate The treaty tnr Tire iimitA~
''"h ~ naval asinanent Wntn nlv~
mnlgaicd viii I've fhe SM,,eme ,aW ot ,
the powers (which areN part, to the
treaty s"NeEnIns their naval armA-
ments ~ te capital ShtAS and atrvratt
vatsiefA The spirit vt she treaty ndt~
yates two elements nt International
lhli"ht krnetN ,tesltr tu aNui,l
'inI~tIt'oh Ia naval armament a ls,,-
t'at te.eNntttun W tattr Ia na\a,
A'trhsth aa u uleatla ui at,s,dttts t<,nlS,~
Ntl"h We've amy iN'MTt a. undertake u
WnAfam pf e>tanshNn sn unrestricted
glasses et nav Al NeASe(> az M ,,,tsAl,nei
not eollsiatsnt MisA the ueaty latits vi