Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-13

Great Importance is attached by the
United States to the agreement between
Italy and France by which naval lini-
tation will be assured In harmony with
the conclusions of the London DiSar-
mament Conference Of the United States
Great Britain and Japan. It Is be-
lieved to point the way to future adj
vances toward peace, with q prospect
Of increased prosperity for the world,
1.-THE people of the United States
have much reason to rejoice" accord
ing to the Houston Chronicle, which
points out that neither our own Gov
eminent nor that of Ramsay IdacDon-
aid could look with anything but dis
taste upon French and Italian naval
rivalry. The 'escalator clause of the
London treaty" concludes that paper,
would have compelled Great Britain
to increase her fleet at time when the
taxation situation was decidedly acute.
We would have had to build consider
OF ships If Henderson and Gibson had
not taken steps to prevent a potential
building race between France and Italy.
The peaceful and amicable settlement
will not hurt the feelings Of the Ameri-
can and British taxpayers. They will
be inclined to cheer the ENJOYS whose
tact and diplomacy have triumphed."
mo loyal citizen" thinks the Sche-
nectady Gazette, would have his coun-
try go on unprepared. He Is ready to
support all needed expenditures to keep
both Army and Navy properly equipped.
But he reSentS condition that forces
his country to engage in competition
with others-a competition which, car
ried to its logical conclusion, may spell
bankruptcy. The London treaty, with
the United States, Britain, France,
Italy and Japan in accord, should ma
terially check this senselesS race and
waste"
"This matter is one of vital concern, {"
says the Lexington Leader, mot merely
as a means of saving enormous sums Of
money which would be sunk in fresh
ornaments as time passed, but as a
means of paving the way toward further
agreements" Observing that "the Lon
don government already had served
notice Of its intention to invoke the
escape clause of the three-power treaty
in order to expand its naval defenses If
the programs of its neighborS COM
PEELED that added protection" the New
Orleans TimeS-Picayune declares that
"the danger was so obvious that not
even the statesmen could longer ignore
It," and that cit appears they found a
way to avert it-a treaty formula &C.
ceptable to all concerned-with surpris-
ing and encouraging ease"
THE way is cleared for tackling the
problem of general disarmament" AYERS
the Newark Evening News, while the
Hamilton Evening Journal sees "the
possibility of agreements on all those
means by which wars are fought" and
the Albany Evening News feels that this
m k1o ~ ~ 1NeS
existed between Great Britain and
France and it is indicative that Musso-
lini, while he speaks deflantly on occa-
sions, is speaking only to impress his
own people"
THE leaven of naval accord is work.
Ing" proclaimS the Pasadena Star
News, with the further comment as to
the effect of the accord: Bind together
in clear compact for naval limita-
ton the I'VE great naval powers-the
United States, Great Britain, Japan,
France and 1taly-and no concern need
be felt about any naval problem which
the rest of the world might create.
These I'VE powers have the bulk Of naval
tonnage Of the world. They constitute
the overwhelming naval power of the
world. Those who criticized and scoffed
at the London Naval Conference are be-
ginning to revise their opinions-and
for good reason. The agreements there
reached are influencing the nations COM
pacted, influencing them definitely to-
ward propagation of permanent peace
sentiment throughout the world"
"The thing behiui. the agreement is
that 10 is another effort in the direc-
ton Of banning war fc@ever," states
the jersey City Journal, and the Chat