The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-14
For An Arms Holiday


Senator Borah with his naval holiday proposal may
have started something We hope Ten years
ago it at Borahs suggestion, winning rapid public
support, which forced conservative Republican adj
minStraton to call the Washington arms conference
Last Saturday-speaking through the Scripps-
Howard newspapers which have been urging dras-
tic cut in armament appropriations to balance the
budget Borah caught world attention with his
plan.
II should like to see an effort made to obtain
naval holiday covering all construction on the part
Of the five powers Omitted States Great Britain,
Japan France and italy, for the term of five years,
or for as long as can be obtained" he said.
1.-THE United States is passing her deficit, her cur
rent expenses, on to posterity-a thing almost un-
heard of in this country 1t seems to me that
we might move boldly in the matter of lifting part
of the armament burden
1.-THE people, in my opinion, are far ahead OF their
leaders in this respect it is they who suffer most
from the terrific taxes piling up for maintenance of
great armies and navies Money that should go to
provide people with jobs should be used to make
more ships of war"
Today In our news columns we publish statements
from other senators supporting the Borah holiday
proposal and the general idea of cutting the arma-
lnent budget.
It especially is significant that these senators rep
resent no one party or group, but all parties and
all groups. They range from conservative Republican
regulars such Majority Leader Watson, to Demo-
Gratis such as Senators Caraway and Sheppard, and
progressves such as Senators Frazier and La Toilette
few of these political leaders, such La Fol-
lette and Borah himself, long have fought for eff
fective reduction of armament budgets. But most
of them have not
Most of them aroused now as never before be-
cause the expensive armament race which is bank
rlpting Europe finally has struck us in the form OF
the largest federal deficit in peacetime history
They know that the depressed taXpayer-not to
mention the one-quarter of population suffering
directly or indirectly from unemployment-can not
carry the present armament burden much longer.
Perhaps the most striking of interviews today
on this subject is the one with Representative Will
Wood of Indiana Wood is the conservative chair
man of the powerful house appropriations committee
and of the Republican national congressional com
ittee This master of the federal money bag charges
"Our army and navy are running riot, and for no
good reason their combined prewsr expenditures
averaged $266OO0O0O. They came to $61s,Oo0,O0o
during the Coolidge administration and now they are
about $750O00O00 year. At that rate there is no
limit to what we may be called upon spend for arma-
mentS. To bulQ up 10 the LOuuou treaty SIaA0aAO
would cost us $1,OOO,0O0,00O.
1--WE have the least excuse to spend tremendous
sums on ornaments, in view of our geographical
situation and our professions of desire for dis
armament Everybody is talking disarmament, but
nobody is doing anything. We should take the lead
in real movement to promote international peace
and international recovery from the depression"
President Hoover thus will have powerful sup
port in congress if he means to do anything about
arms reduction which he has talked Of so often and
SO enthusiastically.
Assured In advance Of the cooperation Of such
key men in congress Borah, the Progressive chair
man of the senate foreign relations committee Wat
san, the Republican floor leader of the Senate and
Wood, head of the house appropriations committee
what more could the President ask in preparation
for victory in congress?
Abroad responsible government officials such as
Foreign Minister Grandi of Italy are proposing an
arms holiday running through the 1882 arms confer
ence That suggestion has received widely favorable
response from the people of all countries and from
hhgovernments at least of most Of the larger nations
Great Britain in the midst of her most sfrious
financial crisis. and represented at Geneva BY Lord