Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-01
FIGURE PROPOSALS
EXPECTED SOON AS
FARLEY CONTINUES
Period Near End for Dele
gates to Negotiate in Gen.
eral Naval Terms.
CONFERENCE is HALTED
FOR WEEK END VACATION
Agreement on Ratios Between
Nations May Not Come for
Some Time Yet.
BY BYRON PRICE,
Associated Press STAFF Writer.

LONDON, February AFTER two
weeks of cautious exploration through
a thicket of generalities, the Five-power
Naval Conference stood today in the
presence of its first challenge of con-
crete reality.
The time has come those intimately
associated with the parley held, when
some one soon must begin to talk in
figures. What Col. Henry L. Stimson,
American delegation head, has called
clearing away the underbrush" is about
complete.
The delegations have about talked
themselves cut in lofty phrase and
idealistic appeal, these observers COM
mented and now the ak is to be laid
in earnest to cutting away and limiting
the growth of sea ornaments.
1t is true the conference is not yet
ready to hear proposals as to how many
ships can be scrapped or as to how
many must be built. Probably none
but the principal delegates were con-
corning themselves at all with such ad-
vanced statistics as they took week
end of respite today and left confer
ence activities virtually at a standstin.
Expect Figures Soon.
They may not even reach for some
time the question of algebraic ratios as
between greater and lesser navies. But
they understand fully that they cannot
much longer delay coming down to
cases on some of the more remote but
no less mathematical calculations in
volved inevitably in their labors.
Some one or more concrete proposals
-. fvzNr 1frrtaf MI. k1A
ference, sitting as a committee Of the
whole, assemblies again Tuesday. They
were not even touched upon at yester-
days meeting, at which the only real
business transacted was a tacit agree
ment that this serious task of formu-
lating a navy measuring rod can be
handled by the conference itself, but
not by special committee.
At the present moment the problem
of the conference is agreement on the
physical methods of limiting war fleets
1t is considering favorably a compro
mise plan offered by France providing
a certain (as yet unstated) total ton
mage to be allowed to each nation, with
each of these national allotments to
be divided into, tentatively, so many
tons for battleships, so many for cruiS-
ers and so so through all classes Of
ships.
This allotment, however, would not be
binding for it is proposed to permit
each nation to transfer certain Gas yet
unstated), percentages of the total ton
mage of one class to the tonnage of
another.
Not Regarded Lightly.
Thus it is that the first actual nu-
merical decision of the conference must
be made on point which the layman
might regard as rather far removed
from the vast international issues of
the negotiations at Lonodn-what per-
centage of transfer will be permitted in
this general and as yet nebulous scheme
of limitation.
The statesmen gathered here do not
regard this decision lightly nor do they
expect to agree among themselves about
it without long and serious debate. So
far no one has mentioned audibly how
large he thinks the percentage should
be- 1t has been whispered here and
there about st. James Palace that 10
per cent might be favored by some and
Is per cent by others On apparently
good authority it was said today the
CONTINUED on Page 2, Column -