Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-12

January. In setting UP this conference
we have already agreed with Great
Britain that there shall be q parity In
naval strength between us. I am in
hopes that there will be a serious re-
duction In navies as a relief to the eco
nomic burdens of all peoples. And /
believe that men and women through
out the world demand such reduction.
We must reduce and limit warships by
agreement only. have no faith in the
reduction of ornaments by example
alone.
Until such time as nations can build
the agencies Of pacific settlement on
stronger foundations; until fear, the
most dangerous of all national emo
tons, has been proved groundleSs BY
long proof Of international honesty;
until the power of world public opinion
as a restraint of aggression has had
many years of test there will not have
been established that confidence which
warrants the abandonment of prepared
ness for defense among nations, To do
so may invite war.
1 am for adequate preparedness as
guaranty that no foreign soldier shall
ever step upon the soil of our country.
Cannot Be Too Low.
Our Nation has said With millions of
i
is the effect of the covenant we have
entered into not to use war as an in
strument of national policy. No Ameri-
can will arise today and say that we
wish one gun or one armed man beyond
that necessary for the defense of our
people. To do so would create diStrust
in other nations, and also would be an
invitation to war. Proper defense re-
quireS military strength relative to that
of other nations. We will reduce our
naval strength in proportion to any
other. Having said that, 1t only re-
mains for the others to say how low
they will go. It cannot be too low for us
There is another of these age-old
controversies which stir mems minds
and their fears. That is the so-called
freedom OF the seas. In reality in our
day 1t is simply the rights of private
citizens to trade in time of war, for
there is today complete freedom of the
seas in times of peace. If the world
succeeds in establishing peaceful meth
DDS of settlement of controversies, the
whole question Of trading rights in time
of war becomes q purely academic dis
cuSSion. Peace Is its final solution.
But I am going to have the temerity
to put forward an idea which might
break through the involved legal Ques-
tionS and age-old interpretations Of
right and wrong by o practical step
which would solve . large part Of the
intrinsic problem. 1t would act as Q
preventive as we'll as a limitation Of
war. offer 1t only for the considera-
ton of the world. I have not made 1t q
governmental proposition to any nation
and do not do so now. know that any
wide departure from accepted Ideas re-
quireS long and searching examination.
No idea can be perfected except upon
the anvil of debate. This is not a
proposition for the forthcoming naval
conference, as that session is for q
definite purpose, and this proposal will
not be injected into 1t.
For many years, and born Of a poig-
nant personal experience, have held
that food ships should be made free Of
any interference in times of war.
would place all vessels laden solely with
food supplies on the same footing as
hospital ships. The time has come
when we should remove starvation of
women and children from the weapons
Of warfare.
Impelling Cause Of Arms.
The rapid growth of industrial civili-
cation during the past half century has
created in many countries populations
far in excess of their domestic food
supply, and thus steadily weakened
their natural defenses. AS a conse-
quence protection for overseas or im-
ported supplies has been one of the
most inapelling causes Of increasing ma