Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-10

President Hoover and Premier Mac
donald have turned their hands and
their hearts.
There are other equally vital facts
that should be known to our people,
that they may be in q position TO pc IS
intelligent Judgment on what transpireS
at the London five-power naval confer
ence. We have condemned, and justly
so, the armament building of other ma
tons We have ignored our own activi-
ties as they appear from foreign shores.
President Hoover has pointed out that
the current expenditures of the United
States on strictly military activities of
the Army and Navy constitute the
largest military budget of any nation
in the world today, land At a time when
there Is least real danger Of extensive
disturbance to peace than at any time
in more than half century"
Expenditures Large.
Our Army and Navy expenditures in
1929 will cost approximately 500 900 900
more than those of our nearest COM
petitor, Great Britain. Our expendi-
lures are more than three times as
much as those Of Japan; and, to use
colloquial phrase, "the worst is yet to
come" For the Army and Navy pro-
grams approved by Congress will raise
our present $685. 100000 annual war bill
to $500. 100000 by 1882 No wonder
that President Hoover in his Memorial
day address declared, Limitation up
ward is not now our goal, but actual
reduction OF existing commitments to
lowered levels" At the same time Sec
rotary of State Stimson showed that the
United States is obligated to pay
81, $50, 800 900 for new naval vessels, not
| including any battleShips to be replaced
| This amount is for construction; 1t does
| not cover hundreds of millions addi-
ttonal for the operating cost of the new
ships. Our yearly bill for the Navy
alone is now $350,000,000.
After the naval limitation" treaty Of
1922, England began construction of
70 war vessels, Japan built or appro-
priated for 127, France provided for
100 and italy for 80. And after we had
failed to curb these naval building pro-
grams through the 1927 Geneva con-
ference with Great Britain and Japan,
the United States embarked on .
program designed to place us on a par
ity with Great Britain and possibly to
| make our naval force superior to any
other in the world. A bill was intro
duced in the House of Representatives
providing for IS heavy cruisers, 8 de-
stroyer leaders, 80 submarines and 5
aircraft carriers. The estimated cost
was the enormous, the Incompetent
sible, amount of $725.000000! This
program was stated by our naval officers
to to- be only beginning Its s. ee1mple;t
81 900 more men to the Navy personnel
and $500 extra aircraft for the feet.
The program was not adopted In full
by Congress, but we did provide for the
building of fifteen 10,000-ton cruisers
and a giant aircraft carrier. the cost of
this part of the program alone mount
ing to S274,000,000.
Program Opposed.
This was our answer to Great Brit
aims 1928 naval program, involving
construction of Is large cruisers and an
expenditure of practically $500 000, 900.
Ramsay Macdonald, then head of the
minority Labor party, opposed this pro-
gram on the ground that there was no
known danger facing his country that
justified such a policy. But he was de-
feated by the Conservative party then
in power and by the beginning of 1927
the British government actually had
begun the construction of IL great
cruisers in comparison with for the
United States.
The present situation is that Great
Britain and the United States are on
parity with respect to battleships; Japan
has three-f1fths as many as either and
France and Italy have less than two
f1fths. Great Britain has a great supe-
riority of frst-line cruisers. We have
great superiority of destroyers and sub
marines. Japan's submarine strength is
or will be q little more than Great Brit
aims. France has greater submarine
strength than Great Britain and nearly
equal to ours Cincluding those built,
building or authorized), and Italy has
more cruisers than France. Italy and
France are actively competing in con-
struction of cruisers, destroyers and sub
marines. The Germans, meanwhile,
though strictly limited in the numbers
of ships they may build, have developed
a new type of cruiser which can out
shoot and outrun those of other nations.
France, meanwhile, has developed
defensive fertilization" program calling
for the expenditure Of 500, 100000 in
five years in construction work along
her frontiers, north, east and the Alps.
French army expenditures in 1880 will
amount to 's242, 100000.
Sentiment for Peace.
Such are the actualities Of the armis-
tice-and of the spirit of peace among
the nations. Undoubtedly there is the
strongest possible desire among the
people of all nations for the preservation
of peace-but so far politicians and
statesmen have not been able, or willing,
| to translate 1t into reduced ornaments
| The time has come for action that will
give proof Of the effectiveness and real
| fly Of the pledge Of the nations TO re-
nounce war. Our people and the mass
of people Of the other nations are but
| family interested in all the obstacles to
disarmament conjured up by military
and naval experts. They know nothing
! of the intricacies of global tonnageS,
categories, the relative fighting power
| of six-inch and eight-inch cruisers, the
ratio of capital ships to auxiliary craft
and the like. They do know that the
conferences of the past between military
and naval experts of the various nations
| have resulted in increases rather than
| decreases in armament-and OF the bur-
| dens borne by the common people.
They believe that regardless of the prob
lens that remain unsettled In the Old
| World-reparations the Saar basin, the
Danzig corridor. Egyptian independence,
Russian recognition, Austrian union,
Polish security definite start can be
made now toward reduction of arma-
ments. They are willing, as Mr.. Mac
donald has pointed out, to take risks for
peace as well as risks In war. They dis
| covered in the World War the truth of
what Mr.. Macdonald has said.
There Is lust as much security In a
political agreement as there is III regl-
ment of soldiers or in fleet OF battle
ships"
Great Britain, with its unsurpassed
fleet, found itself almost starved into
submission by the operation OF the
German submarines and raiders. Ger
many. with its unsurpassed army, found
that force unavailing to bring victory
Not Practical Policy.
In our own country. the will of the
people always has been for peace. We
have found freedom Of the seas" an
admirable phrase---and hope-but not q