Evening star., 1932-10-11
CASTLEFORECASTS
GRADUAL ARMS CUT
Official, Forum Speaker, Sees
Progress With Growth of
Stability.
Continued From Twelfth Page)

",
ited-be reduced by one third; that
the tresty tonnage CT aircraft carriers,
cruisers and destroyers be reduced by
one-fourth and that Of submarines by
one-third. This plan. If accepted in its
entirety, would involve a cut IN the
worlds armaments amounting to near
" cne-third.
mo one OF course. believed that this
plan would be accepted at once by all
the nations Nations have to discuss
new proposals. just as individuals 90
1t is fair to say, however, that the nam
principles were enthusiastically &C
cepted by all and that Italy and some
other nations accepted the entlre
mediately. Others became increasingly
favorable as they had an opportunity
to weigh the plan. As told you, the
conference was instantly brought out
of the doldrums into which 1t had fal-
len and was stimulated to renewed
vigor.
TT was evident, nevertheless, that
proposals. so vitality affecting the arma-
ments of every country would require
time for study and consideration and
1t, therefore. seemed to be the course
of wisdom for the conference to ad-
journ for period sufficiently lon5 to
permit each government to examine
the pan in detail However. before
adiourning, the conference not only
agreed to certain concrete propositions
in line with the Presidents proposal.
but also desided that its future work
must be based on its general principles.
The concrete achievements OF the
conference are set forth In the Reso-
luton of Adjournment Of July 23rd.
1t provides that air attacks against
civilian population shall be absolutely
prohibited AL bombardment from the
air shall be abolished, this to be
achieved through a limitation Of the
number and characteristics Ct military
aircraft There shall be not cnly a
quantitative limitation Of artillery, bat
also a qualitative limitation OF cal
step in the way of abolishing agrees
Sive guns.
Tanks to Be Limited.
The tonnage of individual tanks is
to be limited, which means at least
the abolition of the largest types.
Chemical and archaeological and in
cendiary warfare are prohibited. You
viii recognize these are ell in line with
the American plan of strengthening
defense by reducing the power Of at
tack Indeed this is specifically rec
Cgnzed II the resolution Of adjourn
mcnt AS further step the bureau
is asked to set up special committee
for the purpose of drafting proposal
for regulating trade in and manufac-
ture Of arms and implements OF war
so far as the second basic prin-
cirle is concerned, that of reducing
defense components Of armies, the
resolution says that there shall be
brought about a strict limitation
through real reduction of electives.
The bureau is studying this whole prob
len, and I am glad to tell you that
committee en- electives, now meeting
at Geneva. under the bureau, has just
er-eed that reduction shall be based
OF the Presidents formula, dividing
land armies into police and defense
cor,pcnents the latter being subject to
proportional reduction.
TIE President, with his characteris-
tic faculty of reducing aconplex prcop
I'm to its simplest terms, has pointed
tee way forward. What he said was
YOU need a certain number Of troops
fer internal police purposes. No one
asks you to cut this number. You need
other troops for defense purposes. II
you now have 100000 such troops and
your neighbor has 100000, your rela-
tive strength will be the same II you
cut to 100000 and your neighbor to
100000 Such cuts will relieve your
economic burdens, will not affect your
own safety He has shown the way.
I cannot believe that the conference
will seek another when this Is so
simple. clear and fair
Naval Proposals Status.
THE Presidents naval proposals are
not at present before the Conference
Bureau. The resolution Of adjourn
ment recognizes that naval competi-
ton has already been removed from
large part of the globe through the
naval treaties, and that. therefore. p-i-
mary attention must be devoted to air
and land armamentS. But since the
problems Of naval reduction are of pri-
mary interest to the five naval powers
the conference invited those powers to
confer and report to the general COM
mission as to further measures OF naval
reduction which might be feasible as
part of the general program OF dis
armament.
In connection with this Norman
Davis, one Of our delegates to the con-
ference, accompanied by Admiral Hep
burn, naval adviser, and Allen Dulles,
the purpose of engaging in the infor-
NAL naval discussions called for by the
resolution, and have probably today
been talking with the British.
One other thing Is worth mention
ing and that is that pending the con-
sumation of all the discussions en-
visaged by the resolution Of adjourn
ment and the reconvening of the next
session in January, the conference
unanimously voted to extend for a pc
riod of four months the one-year arma-
ment truce concluded last year, which
otherwise would have expired at the
end of this month.
I'VE must not, OF course, close our
eyes to the difficulties, so far as prog
ress in disarmament Is concerned, in
herent in the present troubled polite
al and economic situation throughout
the world. Where men or nations are
frightened or discouraged they do not
think as clearly We can only hope
that all nations will realize that this
reduction in useless expenditure for
armament will be long step toward
economic recovery. which, in turn, will
let the sunlight Of confidence break
through the clouds OF depression and Of
suspicion.
We must remember that the confer
encc has many acccmpnSnmentS TO ltS
credit and IS moving forward. but we
must not permit this fact to be an ex-
CIse for an even momentary relaxa-
ton .of effort. Otherwise We shall run
the risk not cnly of stagnation, but Of
losing the gains already made.
Il said at the beginning that new
chapter in disarmament was being writ
ten at Geneva. You will have under
stood that this cannot be the final chap
ter. The reduction of armaments is no.
a single event but process. Arma-
ments are, in part. reflection Of world
conditions and resultant fears. Dis
armament must always stop short of
the point where nations rightly or
wrongly feel themselves deprived Of
their national safety Not only will
increased world stability and successive
steps in the consolidation Of peace
gradually reduce these fears, but prog