Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-20
PACT RATIFICATION
BY i. S. FORECAST
AFTER TEXT STUDY
Treaty Interpreted as Assur-
ing Better Balanced Navy
for America.
BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER.

BY Radio to The Star and Chicago Daily
News Copyrtgnt, 1880.
LONDON, England, April ia
careful study Of the draft of the texts
of the London naval treaty by Ameri-
can delegates, experts and observers
lead to a virtually unanimous conclu-
sion that it contains nothing in any
respect injurious to the interests of the
United States, and that for this reason,
If no other, should and viii be ratified
by the Senate.
1t promises to give us a better bal
anced and more effective Navy than we
leisure consideration several important
technical naval problems on which we
have not yet made UP our minds. It
appears to mark the end of three years
of disagreeable tension with Great
Britain, while not involving us politi-
cally In any respect. 1t establishes
juridically our claim to parity with
Great Britain, though on tonnage flg-
ures higher than we should have liked
and at cost so high that 1t is still
doubtful whether we shall actually
build to this parity by 1896.
The main drawback is that 1t falls
short Of a full five-power agreement,
with really important reductions, which
was the object throughout of the
American delegation. Yet, even on this
point, the future remains open. France
and Italy may come IN later.
Three-Part Result.
In fact, the whole treaty and the
circumstances surrounding it are SO
framed that 1t is impossible at the
present moment to estimate their real
Importance. Everything will depend on
what happens in the next few years as
between Great Britain and the United
States on one hand and France and
Italy on the other.
The results of the conference can
conveniently be discussed under three
heads-f1nancial, naval and political.
/. Financial. The basic fact of the
conference is that whereas France and
Italy are building virtually new navies,
and Japan's navy is relatively modern,
the British and American navieS both
are faced with formidable expense of
replacing In the next few years large
numbers Of old maritime ships which
just now are becoming obsolete, and
this at such heavy expense that new
building at the same time would have
been for Great Britain at least ruinous.
II not impossible.
It is widely believed to be for this
reason that the British admiralty,
which is not notorious for wishing to
reduce the size of the British navy,
agreed to come down from 20 to so
cruisers.
The interest of the United States
was to bring about reductions so that
parity with Great Britain could be OBJ
tanned easier and at lower cost. The
interest of Great Britain was to find
an equilibrium, somewhere around the
Rapidan figures, between limited f1nan-
ctal possibilities and the need for a
strong navy. The interest of Japan was
to keep expenses down and to reduce
If possible. The interest of Italy was
to gain parity with France at the lowest
possible figure. The interest of France
was to restore its naval situation at a
time when France can afford it and
Great Britain and Italy are less well
of, or trade its sacrifices in tonnage
for increased security by means of pacts.
Savings Largely Theoretical.
Much has been made Of alleged saw
ings through the scrapping of a few
capital ships and agreeing not to re-
place others. This saving is largely
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