The Washington times., 1929-07-31
HOOVER REPLIES
To CRITICISM
OF LEGION
ny GEORGE n. HOLMES
Defense is all that we seek"

0ctehsS - ali JnaJ we seek.
This was the principle enunciated
today by President Hoover as
underlying the present negotiations
for a naval understanding with
Great Britain--negotiations which
informed circles in Washington be.
lieve already have resulted in an
informal agreement for q .five-power
naval conference to be held In Lon.
don the coming winter.
The parley is contingent upon an
agreement between Great Britain
and the United States concerning
cruisers. This agreement Ii not
far distant. according to all indica.
tons, Britain has accepted the
principle OF American parity In all.
categories OF naval vessels, and;
cruiser.building has been stopped
on both sides Of the Atlantic.
This Is q forward step Of the.
first Importance" said Mr.. Hoover.
shows Irritation
The Presidents views on the cur.
rent naval situation were set forth
In a letter to Paul v. McNutt.
national commander of the Amer.
lean Legion, and was In reply to a
communication from the Legion In.
sisting that America have q Navy
equal to any In the world.
From the tone Of Mr.. Hoover's
letter, rather than In the words
themselves, there was apparent Q
note Of irritation at the plentiful
criticism that has been directed at
the White House since the Presi-
dent summariIy-and some think
illegally work on the
15.cruiser program which Congress
insisted be carried out to overcome
American cruiser infsriority.
Mr.. Hoover has not relished this
criticism, but owing to the delicate
state Of the Dawes.MacDOnald neRo-
tiations In London he has not been
In q position to reply to 1t. The
legion letter afforded him an open
ing. even though q small one.
Il am glad to have your assur.
ance that the American Legion sup
ports the policy OF parity for our
Navy with that Of Great Britain, :.
Mr.. Hoover'a letter said. This
principle is enunciated by our Naval
authorities as q complete defense Of
the United States In any contin-
gency, and defense is all that we
seek
"The first step of the renewed
consideration of reduction Of the
excessive world naval armament has
been acceptance OF that principle 40
q preliminary to discussion between
Great Britain and ehe United States.
This II q forward step OF the first
importance.
Cites Common Sense
t'It seems to me that every per.
SON Of common sense viii agree that
sit il far better to at least try to
establish such q relation by agree
ment before we resign ourselves to
continued attempts to establish il
by rival construction programs on
both sides of the Atlantic.
1--WE need not disguise the fact
that taside from capital ship limita.
tions under the Washington treaty.
competitive building has been in
progress on both sides since the
great war, and we have arrived only
at disparity, not parity. 1t creates
-burdensome expenditures, a con-
slant stream of suspicion, i'll will
and misunderstadings
II fear you have been misin.
formed as to the actual problems
that lie before us If we are to suc-
ceed in such q negotiation. for they
are far more intricate and far more
difficult than can be solved by the
simple formula absolute parity In
all categories) that you suggest
/ Mr.. Hoover reminded the legion
head, in conclusion, that the nations
of the world have just consummated
the Kellogg treaty, pledging them.
selves to outlaw war;" and ex-
pressed confidence that the legion
supported that general world policy.
StimsOn Also Ired
Mr.. Hoover's obvious irritation
at the criticism of his policy was
a reflection of similar irritation
shown several days ago by Secre-
tary of State Stimson. When Stim'
son was asked how cruiser parity
with Great Britain was to be
reached without American building
or British scrapping. his tart reply
was:
"You may rest assured that the
(Americanl Government is not going
suddenly unpatriotic."