Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-30
Three Cornered Negotiations
Under Way to Overcome
Parity Demands.
ITALIAN FLEETS SIZE
Is POINT AT ISSUE
Question Was Touched on Here in
Talks Between Hoover and
Premier Laval.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

Three cornered negotiations are un.
der way between the American, the
British and the French government,
to bring France into the London nava
pact of 1929. This pact was signed by
the five participant powers, the United
States. Great Britain, Japan, France
and Italy, but for the time being is
binding only for the three first-men-
toned powers.
Every since the end of the naval
conference the United States and Great
Britain have been making strenuous
efforts to induce France and Italy to
reach an agreement on the question OF
naval parity, and thus make the Lon
don naval pact effective for the fve
foremost naval powers of the world. So
far it has been impossible to bring the
two Latin nations together.
Franco Italian Parity Issue.
The Italians demand absolute parity
ON paper, at least-with France. The
French refuse to give them that and
maintain that at all times their fleet
must have some 100000 tons more than
the Italian Navy. They base their
claims on the fact that they have more
seas to police than the italian, on ac-
count of their large colonial empire.
Furthermore, the French Navy depart
ment considers that even in the Medi-
terranean France must be able to mus
ter larger force than Italy, because
she must safeguard the communications
with Northern Africa, Algeria and Mo-
rocco from where France expects to
get an important part of her food and
manpower supplies in case of war.
The Italians maintain that some 70
per cent of their food and raw ma
terial supplies are coming by sea
through the Straits of Gibraltar and
the Suez Canal and they must have a
navy equal to the French in order to
prevent the country from starving in
case of an armed conflict with France
or any OF her allies.
In spite of the desperate efforts made
at Geneva, in Paris and Rome by the
American Ambassador. Hugh Gibson
and the British former foreign secre-
tary, Arthur Henderson, and his ex-
pert, Robert Craigie, it has not been
possible to get the two Latin countries
to agree to any of the formulas sug-
gested by the governments of the two
English-speaking countries.
Talked of Problem Here.
The situation appeared deadlocked
until Pierre Laval, the French premier
arrived in Washington. President Hoo
yer, who in the long hours he has spent
with M Laval at the White House dis
cusSed every possible angle of the in
ternational situation, naturally touched
upon the naval question, too. The
President. who took the initiative OF
the London Naval Conference, is
naturally very interested in that pact
becoming effective for all nations con-
cerned.
The administration has an idea that
if one of the two nations which are
outside the pact would agree to be-
come an effective partner it would not
be difficult to induce the fifth power
to join, too. Furthermore, it is more
important to bring France in first be-
cause she is in a better financial posi-
ton than Italy If left outside she
could proceed to build the navy she
wants and thus eventually force Great
Britain to use the ''escalator clause
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