Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-10
SLIM HOPES HELD
TO BAN SUBMARINE
French and Japanese to Hold
Craft indispensable at
Farley Session.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE,
Staff Correspondent of The Star.

roles. 1t can be foreShadowed with full
assurance that the desire of America
and Great Britain to abolish the "as-
SaSsin of the sea" is doomed not to be
fulfilled
This will be made plain before to-
morrow's submarine plenar~ session is
many minutes old. Premier Tardieu OF
France and former Premier Wakatsuki
of Japan are primed to declare that
undersea craft are regarded as lndls-
penSable by their governments ana can
not be done away with under any cir
cumStances. The only prospective SUD-
marine development on the horizon is
Frances belated readiness to join with
America, Britain, Japan and Italy In
'humanizing" submarine warfare.
Having refused for eight years TO
ratify the Root resolutions against SUBJ
marine attacks on merchantmen, TAR
dieu now is prepared to come forward
with warm adherence to that principle.
AS the French alphabetically always
are second to get the floor at the pie
nary sessions. Tardieu is known to rellsh
the opportunity of putting the French
humanitarian viewpoint into the record
ahead of anything that Great Britain
can say.
Britain Displeased.
Within the past few days the British
have not concealed their diSpleaSure at
Tardieus attempt to steal the thunder
which, they say, really was sounded
first by Balfour in 1922 at Washington.
The gravity of the submarine contro-
versy lies in it's possible effects on the
whole naval limitation and reduction
scheme. France has a gigantic pro-
gram calling for the eventual hotilla OF
lis submarines 81 of which would be
ocean-going craft of great cruising en-
durance, and 48 Smaller-type vessels,
nominally Tor coastal defense, but quite
capable of operating on the high seas.
The United States, which now is the
leading submarine power, has only Ill.
Great Britain already is considerably
inferior to France, with only 66 Subma-
rineS built and building, against the
French total of 90. Frances full pro-
gram calls for $4,000 tons of subma-
rines, which is nearly 10000 more than
the United States and Great Britain
propose for themselves, and in that
event the submersible craft cannot be
abolished.
If France insists on the vast sub
marine tonnage Great Britain will re-
Quire heavier tonnage in light cruisers
and destroyers This automatically
will upset the Anglo American plan to
conf1ne the gross tonnage of the British
and American fleets to 100000. 1t is
not going to be easy to argue Tardieu
out of his demand for the big sub
marine fleet.
Hope of French Navy.
"Submersible," as the French call it.,
is now the crack branch of the French
navy. On it the nation pins its chief
hopes of permanent ability to ward
of an attack from an overwhelmingly
superior surface fleet of perfidiouS
Albion. The Frenchmen are of rock
ribbed opinion that their submersibles
always could keep open the sea lanes
Mediterranean, especially for the trans
port Of colored troops for use in the
next European war.
The French spokesman at London
point out that the only reason their
term of compulsory military service III
France has been reduced from three
years to one year is the republics eX-
pectation of being able to replenish
the army from the African colonies in
case of need. This cannot be done
unless the French navy is invulnerable
in the Mediterranean, the French
spokesman say. In the estimation of
the French strategists. the word sub
marines" is synonymous with mvul-
nerability.
Japan is hardly less welded to the
idea of the vital value OF the submarine
for defense purposes Wakatsuki has
has not yet produced any figures, but he
is believed ready, when the time comes,
to ask anything up to 10000 tons, as
against the maximum OF 10000 tons IN
the proposed Anglo American quotas.
nh IoVo
function of their navy is to protect the
routes of their supplies of foodstuffs and
raw materials.
Oil Imports Stressed.
OH i-~ports from the Dutch East In
Cies are stressed in this connection, as
we'll as food supplies from Korean fields
of China. Control of the China Sea,
therefore, is described as essential to
Japanese existence and resistance IN
time of war. For performance OF all
these defensive duties, Japan thinks she
must have an adequate number OF sub
marines, destroyerS and small cruisers.
Some of her strategists believe she ought
to put most of her naval funds in sub
marines.
They assert that with a couple of
hundred of these craft as defense, no
foreign battle squadron ever would be
likely to approach her coasts or attempt
to enter the Yellow Sea because Jap
anese waters are peculiarly we'll suited
to submarine operations. These waters
are of great depth, which precludes the
possibility of the submarines being
mined in by such devices as the great
North Sea mine barrage laid by the
American Navy in 1918.
In this regard, the japanese state
ments published in London depict
Tokio'S naval scheme as contemplating
fleet that never would menace the
United States fleet, but would be so
formidable that no American fleet ever
could undertake the long cruise across
the Pacific with any prospect OF de-
feating the japanese navy.
japanese Standing Pat.
This is the whole spirit of the Japa-
nese demand for 1877 relatively with
the United States and the philosophy
underlying her actions at the confer
ence. If WakatSuki eventually can be
brought to accept the 1916 cruiser ratio
Secretary of State StimSon is likely to
be found amenable to something more
than the 1861 submarine arrangement
with Japan, or even a little bit better
than that. At present the Japanese
are standing pat. They resent the
slightest suggestion that they are bluff
ing or that they will recede as soon as
their parliamentary elections are over.
Yesterday WakatSuki broadcast a
message to the Japanese people over the
Beam system. He registered the hope
that the conference would succeed but
didn't say how or when it will be
achieved.