Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-16
LARGE NAVY PLAN
!. HIT At CONF ERENCE
Dr.. Latane AssaiIs Cruiser
Consideration With Pas.
sage of Kellogg Pact.

The declaration that the Senate S
ratification of the Kellogg peace pact
is nullified by its consideration of the
cruiser bill was made before the Con-
ference on the Cause and Cure of War
fessor of history at John Hopkins Uni
versity and the Georgetown University
School of Foreign Service.
The Constitution may not follow the
flag, but the State Department follows
the dollar" DR.. Latane declared IN
charging American naval construction
is determined solely by the size of Amer
lean investments abroad, not by peace
treaties or agreements. He criticized
the economic imperialism" of the State
Department in pursuing dollar diplo-
macy" in connection with the establish
ment of protectorates in the West In
dies and in relations with Latin Amer
lean republics.
"Navies Instruments of Imperialism"
I'VE have presented to the world a
treaty renouncing war as an instrument
of policy" Dr. Latane told the 1000
woman delegates to the conference, "but
navles are instruments of imperialism
and they are used to safeguard invest
mentS. Foreign investors feel safer be-
hind a big navy. President Coolidge
indicated this in his Armistice day ad-
dress"
DR.. Latane said the psychological eff
feet of advocating big naval increase
at the same time the United States re-
nounced war is unfortunate, but the
two questions, he pointed out, have be-
come politically entangled.
THE big Navy advocates" he de-
clared, SAY, In effect, We will vote to
ratify your harmless and meaningless
declaration against war, provided you
give us our cruisers The greater the
will be the demand for a bigger and
yet bigger Navy. AS long as we hold
aloof from the World Court and the
League there is little hope of limiting
the size of navies"
DR.. Latane declared the changes in
United States policy toward Latin
America during the last Is years are
attributed to the increase in American
investments there from $500, 900 900 to
over $5,000,0 1000 and to the need to
protect these investments.
I'm the case of Porto Rico and the
Danish West Indies we have resorted
to direct annexation" he declared. so
far we have refrained from annexing
independent states, and it is not likely
that We will resort to that method of
control. But economic imperialism
does not have to resort to such crude
methods as annexation"
In Nicaragua. he asserted. the Presi-
dent-elect is "a mere puppet in the
hands of the State Department"
Sees Government Obligated.
Prior to our becoming a creditor ma
ton the United States had no foreign
investment policy beyond the purely
negative one of non-intervention in be-
half of bondholders, DR.. Latane de-
clared
.If investors at the request of the
Department of State seek its advice and
receive its approval" he charged. they
are naturally going to demand the aid
of the Government if they get into
trouble If the State Department is
going to continue this policy, It should
require in all contracts between Ameri-
can citizens and foreign governments
the insertion of an arbitration clause
or some specific method to be followed
in the settlement of disputes that may
arise"
DR.. Latane said he foresaw, however,
some hope of improved Latin Ameri-
can relations during the incoming
Hoover administration because of the
recent pam American arbitration treaty,
which he thought, If ratified, would be
a great forward step for the United
States.
Mr.. Hoover's trip to South America,
he believed. also Is indicative of better
relations. "Mr. Hoover believes in ex-
pansion of commerce" he said. "He ap-
parently realizes that the rapidly de-
veloping peoples of South America are
our best prospective customers. In or
der to develop this field we must cul.
tivate good will and remove causes Of
friction. Every time we land Marines
in a Caribbean state we injure our
trade with South America"
The necessity for continued arrna-
n1ent was upheld before the conference
by a former aide to Gen. Pershing,
Capt Thomas Schneider, professor of
Lao at West Point
The American Army plan, he said,
Is "non-aggreSSive; it Is defensive only.
There is nothing incompatible or in
consistent with the idea of accomplish
ing state of organized world peace
and at the same time recognizing the
necessity of preparedness for defensive
purposes"
Preparedness for defense must con-
tinue, he warned, until the public mind
has been educated to the point when
all peoples will demand and acce~ n
ternational peace. II do not .leve
that you or any one else can . con-
WINGED that the millennium has ar
rived" he said
Or. Charles P. Rowland, director of
research of the Council of Foreign Re-
lations, held that no progress can be
made in disarmament either in the
Army or Navy until the problem of
freedom of the seas is first solved.
mot to agree how the seas shall be
navigated and .policed," he said, us to
invite anarchy"