Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-29
Admiral Will Make Statement
on Charge He Desired
Arms ParIey Failure.
INVESTIGATION TO CLOSE
BEFORE PREMIER COMES
Man Who Attended Geneva Farley
Expected to Follow Naval
Officer as Witness.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

Rear Admiral J. M. Reeves. u. S. N
a member Of the General Board OF the
Navy. is to appear tomorrow morning
at 10 o'clock before the Senate Shearer
investigating committee to make q
statement regarding charges that he
expressed q hope the naval limitation
conference at Geneva In 1927 would
not succeed"
Admiral Reeves, who was one Of the
principal naval experts for this coun-
try at the Geneva conference, was re-
ferred to by Drew Pearson. q newspa-
per correspondent at the Geneva con-
ference and now connected with the
Baltimore Sun, as often in the COM
pany with William B. Shearer during
the conference when Pearson appeared
before the Senate committee Thursday.
Mr.. Pearson testified Admiral Reeves
had frequently expressed hope the
conference would not succeed.
The appearance of Admiral Reeves
before the committee. according to
Senator Shortridge, chairman, will be
generally been expected that the naval
officers whose names have been brought
into the testimony would be heard by
the committee before the close Of the
inquiry.
Shearef to Testify.
When the committee took q recess
last Thursday until tomorrow, 1t was
with the understanding that Shearer
would be the first witness called Mon
day In the continuation of the investi-
CATION of charges that Shearer had
been employed by the New York Ship
building Corporation, the Bethlehem
Shipbuilding Corporation and the New
port News Shipbuilding and Dry DOCK
help block an agreement there,
fhe only change in this program.
Chairman Shortridge said. would be the
appearance of Admiral Reeves. He ind1-
Gated that the committee did not ex-
pect the admiral to make . long state
nent tomorrow, but that Admiral Reeves
might be recalled or given another OPP
portunity to be heard later, along with
other naval men, II there was anything
In Shearer's testimony which made 1t
advisable to put Admiral Reeves on the
stand again.
The aim of the Senate investigating
committee will be to wind up the
Shearer investigation before Ramsay
Macdonald, the British prime minister,
arrives in Washington the end Of this
week. II the inquiry has not been COM
pleted by that time 1t Is likely the COM
mittee will not resume its hearings un-
I'll after Mr.. Macdonald shall have left
the country. The British premier is
coming to Washington to confer person
ally with the executive head OF the
United States Government, President
Hoover. Already the two governments,
the British and the American, have
come so near an accord on the question
Of further naval limitation that this
country is prepared to accept an In
vitation from the British to attend a
five-power conference In London IN
January.
President Causes Probe
The present investigation by the Sen
ate committee is largely an outgrowth
Of a statement made by President Hoo
yer. calling upon the shipbuilding COM
panies to explain their activities at
Geneva and instructing the Department
of Justice to investigate the matter with
a view to determining what, II any. legal
steps could be taken by the Govern
ment.
The Presidents intention clearly was
to make 1t certain that there should be
no irisidiouS or undercover work at the
coming naval conference, seeking sC
prevent success. The Senate investiga-
ton, given widest publicity in this
country and abroad, is calculated LC
make any interest extremely leary OF
working In opposition to the success OF
the coming conference. it is said,
At the time Of the Geneva confer
ence this Government and that OF
Britain seemed to be wide apart on two
questions, one that OF naval parity be-
tween the two naval powers and the
total tonnage Of cruisers to be allowed.
It became clear quite early that the
British proposals, unless much modi-
fed, would not be accepted by the
American delegation or by the Ameri-
can Government at home. This was
the situation, and there seems no doubt
that the conference would have ended
as it did, without any agreement being
made, whether Mr.. Shearer had been
hired by the shipbuilding companies Or