Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-28
MARS DEALT FIVE
DEFEATS IN WEEK
Naval Suspensions and Army
Pruning Plans Big Blows
to War God.
BY DREW PEARSON.

Probably at no time In recent his
tory has Mars received so many pun
ishing body blows in so short q period
of time as during the week just ended.
In three consecutive days the cause
OF peace scored the following ma jor VIC
tories:
/. On Monday Secretary of State
Stimson received notice from China
and Russia that they would respect
the Kellogg pact and would not resort
to war In Manchuria.
2. On Tuesday President Hoover
announced that commission was
appointed to prune military expendi-
ture and curtail the obsolete branches
of the War Department.
3. On Wednesday the Kellogg BRAND
pact for the remuneration of war came
into full force in the presence Of the
ENJOYS of 46 participating nations.
4. On Wednesday Premier Ramsay
Macdonald announced that England
would cancel the building of two SUBJ
marines and one submarine depot ship,
suspend work on two cruisers and slow
down dockyard and other naval con-
structicn work.
5. Three hours after this President
Hoover announced that work on three
cruisers already contracted for would
be suspended
The suspension of naval building and
the plans for pruning Army expendi-
ture came so close upon the heels of
each other. and so soon after the
proclamation Of the Kellogg pact, that
they must have been the result of a
DreArr2n9Pd - a
world the pact amounted to more than
an 1dealistic aSSemblage Of words.
Fiye-POwer Farley Prospect.
Since this concentrated onslaught on
the god of war. it has further developed
that a five-power naval conference Is
In the offng for either late next Winter
or the early Spring. While no definite
date has yet been set for this. it ap-
ment will be made upon the visit of
Prime Minister Ramsey Macdonald
when he comes to discuss Anglo-Ameri-
can friendship in October.
In addition to the three ma ior naval
Britain, the United
States and Japan-the conference will
include France and Italy. This is be-
cause it is practically impossible to
secure q definite reduction agreement
pect of increased submarine building
by the two countries located along the
line of the British jugular vein, namely
the Mediterranean shipping route via
Gibralter and Suez to India and
Australia.
Although it has not aroused nearly as
much attention as President HOover's
naval moves, his plan for pruning army
expenditure may net just as much saw
ing to the taxpayer.
This Is because the United States
Army, although one of the smallest in
the world-being smaller for instance
than those of Jugoslavia, Poland or
enthusiastically costs nearly as
much as the United States Navy. The
Navy, on the other hand, Is supposed to
rank with Great Britain's as the largest
in the world.
The high cost of maintaining the
Army is due partly to the large number
OF high officers in proportion to enc
listed men. because Of the number of
big guns placed along the Atlantic
Coast. many of which have become OBJ
solete. and also because OF the number
of small forts no longer considered to
be of military value.
To Abolish Small Forts.
One of the first things the Army
pruning commission Is expected 10 rec
on1mend is the abolition Of these small
forts built in the old Indian days. AS
far as military value goes. experts say
they might just as we'll be located on
the tops Of the Rocky Mountains. How
ever, some difficulty is expected In abol-
ishing them, due to the fact that almost
every Senator and Representative has
his pet military establishment for which
he wants increased appropriations.
One branch Of the Army expected to
suffer from Mr.. Hooyer's plan for mill
tary reduction is the Cavalry. Baby
tanks capable of making go miles an
hour and cross-countFy cars which can
through any desert now have
practically put the Cavalry on the shelf.
The Coast Artillery also has been
made more or less obsolete by the Air
Corps, in the opinion Of some military
Big guns along the Atlantic
Coast which could once stop q fleet 30
miles at sea hardly will be needed when
an air feet now can stop the enemy 100
miles or more from shore. These big
guns, incidentally, cost several thousand
dollars every time they fire shot,
(Copyrisht, 1922