Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-04
HALE ASKS NAVY
OF TREATY POWER
Declares for Legislation as
Holiday Movement Is
Rumored.
Continued From First Page.)


gress appropriated at the last session.
This procedure will enable the Navy
Department and the Bureau Of the
Budget to present to us an orderly pro-
gram OF ship building which Congress
can follow out In its annual appropri-
ations, and should 1t appear that the
other powers parties to the treaty are
not building all of the ships allowed
them we on our part can follow suit
and the ships not needed to keep UP to
the ratio terms need not be built.
Legion Approves Plan
This plan to authorize at once the
building up to the limitations of the
London treaty has already been ap-
proved by the American Legion in the
report OF its Committee on National
Defense, at the recent convention at
Detroit, which report was approved by
the convention.
This plan, If enacted into legislation
by the next Congress, will uphold the
position taken by our delegates at the
London Conference, and will obyiate
the inevitable annual fight for authori-
zatlon TO build up our Navy, which fight
causes so much distress and agony to
the pacif1StS OF the country and to the
foreign naval powers who are willing
TO concede TO us the ratios of the Lon
oon treaty provided we do not build UP
TO them. 1t will make us immeasurably
stronger at the Geneva Conference, or
any ensuing conference that may De
held, In standing for Our American
rights, and will in the long run cause
the other naval powers to lessen their
programs when they understand that
DulIolng OF them means inevitable build
ing by this country"
First Line Of Defense.
Senator Hale. pointing out that the
Navy Is the FIRST line OF defense"
declared 1t must be maintained Ito
support our foreign policies and TO pro-
tect our commerce and our citizens
and TO guard our possessions at home
and aboard" He continued:
IL the Navy Is not needed for these
purposes 1t is the height of folly to keep
1t up. II We concede that 1t Is needed
all that We have to determine is the
necessary degree of naval strength to be
kept up TO enable 1t TO carry out the
purpose for which 1t exists Obvious
ly that degree of naval strength is de-
pendent upon the degree OF naval
strength kept up by the other naval
powers in the world.
The American people do not want
to engage in war. 1t is in every way
To our advantage not to do SO. If the
worst comes TO worst and we are finally
forced into a war the stronger our navy
the better our chances of winning the
war. II we over-strengthen our navy,
II will not, with our desire for peace,
get us into q war since our superior
strength will not be used for agrees
sion and will discourage attack or In
reference with our rights. If, on the
contrary, we allow our navy to de-
teriorate We unqueStionably invite
attack.
Equality With World Powers.
"At the three Naval Conferences on
Limitation of Armaments that have
been held-the Washington Conference,
the Geneva Conference, and the Lon
don Conference.-The American de-
mandS, based on the judgment of our
leading statesmen and naval experts,
have crystallized into a demand for a
navy equal TO that of any other one
naval power in the world. which means
the navy OF Great Britain, and a ratio
of substantially five to three with the
navy OF Japan.
Our Navy is rapidly becoming a COL
lection of Anticipated ships. Under the
terms of the London treaty the life of a
destroyer is fixed at Is years. BY the
end of the year 1884 We shall not have
destroyer In our Navy that is not,
under the terms of the treaty. obsolete.
The quota allowed us under the treaty
is 10000 tons, which means subStan-
TALLY 100 destroyers of / 500 tons each.
At the last session of Congress 100000
600 was appropriated to start. during
the current fiscal year, the construction
of IL of these destroyerS, little more
than one-fourth of the treaty compile
ment. The smallest number of de-
stroyers needed with the feet under
the economy plan now in force in the
Navy is about 80, and yet with the sit
uation facing us where all Of our de-
Stroyers will be obsolete inside of three
years, for some unknown reason the
powers that be have decided that the IL
destroyers authorized and appropriated
for by Congress in the interests of
economy should not be built and have
awarded contracts for only five.
Il ana wondering what steps in the
interests of disarmament will be taken
by our foreign brethren to prevent the
building of these five destroyers just
contracted for?"
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