Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-07-08
Virginia Senator Opens Drive
for Ratification of Lon
don Treaty.
FLEET WOULD ANSWER
ALL NEEDS, HE ASSERTS
Holds Defeat of Pact Would Mean
Billion More Than Required in
Agreement to Replace Ships.
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

The naval supremacy of the United
States is firmly established in the
Western Hemisphere by this treaty"
Senator Swanson of Virginia, ranking
Democratic member of both the Foreign
Relations Committee and the Naval
Affairs Committee, told the Senate
today, opening the debate on the London
naval treaty.
The Virginia Senator strongly urged
the ratification of the treaty.
Whether controlled by selfish, ma
terisl interests or the broader and
nobler purpose of promoting world peace
and betterment, the best interests of
the United States demand ratification
of this treaty" said Senator Swanson.
Mcclellan Asks Data.
Before Senator Swanson began his
address supporting the treaty the Vice
President laid before the Senate a reso-
luton introduced by Senator Mcclellan
of Tennessee, an opponent of the
treaty, calling upon the President for
all the confidential correspondence re-
1ating to the negotiation of the treaty.
The resolution was introduced yester-
day. and was hailed as the first broad
side Of the opposition.
The supporters of the treaty, it was
indicated today, were prepared to per-
NIT adoption of the Mcclellan resolu-
ton with some notifications. They re-
gard the offering of the resolution as
q mere effort to sidetrack the real issue
before the Senate, which is the treaty
itself.
In order to avoid delay it was indi-
Gated they will not oppose action on
the resolution or even its adoption after
being modified. They do not believe
that President Hoover will send to the
Senate the documents demanded Of him
and they hold that it is immaterial to
the real fight over the treaty whether
he sends them.
Absentees Arrive in Senate.
Several Senators who were not pres
ent yesterday at the opening of the
special session were on hand today TO
answer to their names when quorum
was called. Among the new arrivals
were Senators Copeland Of New York.
McMaster of South Dakota, Glenn of
Illinois, Robinson Of Arkansas and Rob-
6ior of Kentucky. The quorum call
showed so Senators in attendance. A
dozen more Senators are in Washington.
II Is the purpose Oh SENATOR 6OTAn, IN
charge OF the treaty as chairman OF the
Foreign Relations Committee, to hold
the Senate in session every afternoon
until or o'clock for the purpose If
discussing the treaty. He indicated to-
day that If Senators were not ready to
speak there would be demand for
vote.
1T seems to me-" continued the Vir-
ginis Senator, ito be wise to accept this
great ADVANTAGE and mt TiSk the
naval strength of America to the UNI
ccrtainties that must exist in a policy
of competitive building"
Senator Swanson said that the Amer
ican Navy under the treaty becomes
sufficiently strong to enforce the entire
Monroe Doctrine in all parts of the
Western Hemisphere and Is made SUI
preme. in the waters of the Eastern
Pacific and Western Atlantic.
Panama Bases Cited.
with our bases at Panama" he con-
tinued, the British feet operating in
the Western Atlantic would be less than
a ratio of three for Great Britain and
five for the United States.
THE opponents of this treaty have
claimed that it involves new construc-
ton to an amount of about 81 900 ,0Oo,-
900 on the part of the United States.
This statement is entirely true. This
new construction would. OF course, be
spread over a number Of years. This
new construction is due to the fact that
for the past 10 years we have Jagged
far behind Great Britain and Japan in
new construction. This treaty in real
ity provides fo- a slowing up in con-
struction on the part Of these two coun-
tries while the United States catches up.
This may seem large sum, but 1t Is
Just about one-half of what this coun-
try will actually have to spend in
providing navy which maintains the
desired ratio if the present treaty is
not approved.
What Treaty Defeat Means.
eff this treaty is defeated, we must
begin to replace our capital ships at
once The total cost of replacing the
battleship feet will be about $500, 000,-
900. To build the tonnage in which we
are short at present in carriers, cruisers,
destrpyers and submarines with rela-
tion to other powers will require about
5000 900 0o0 Also there must be pro-
vided additional funds for construction
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