Evening star., 1932-03-17
i. s. FIXES FIGURES
FOR WORLD ARMIES
Concrete Proposal on Land
and Air Forces Submitted
for Approval Here.
BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER.

BY Cable to The Star.
GENEVA, March 1.-THE American
delegation has now completed it's plan
for the Disarmament Conference here
This plan in all its details is being sub
mitted to Washington for approval and
will be urged before the conference
when it reconvenes to tackle real issues
on April II.
In its present form, which is first
made public in this dispatch, it is
neither dogmatic nor final and can be
modified both by Washington and by
the subsequent course of debates. Yet.
as it stands, it is strong testimony that
the United States intends to be not
merely helpful but constructive and will
spare no efforts to make the conference
a success.
The main object of the American
plan is to bring about real reductions.
1t Is sensational in that to this end,
like Germany, the American delegation
formally accepts the peace treaties as
an indication and basis of the future
size OF home military establishments
throughout the world, while for colonial
establishments it takes the French
Colonial Army as the basis.
Doesn't Include Navies.
The plan applies only to land and
air forces. Navies are considered to
have been dealt with by the Washington
only condition on which the United
States would consider reopening naval
questions here is that France and Italy
should first adhere to the London
treaty
The main point of the American plan
Is its method of reaching a rough esti-
mate of the suitable size for armies.
The American theory is that an army
needs certain number of men for the
maintenance of internal order and the
policing of frontiers. This need is abso-
lutte. 1t depends upon such factors as
population, area and length of frontiers.
Anything beyond the number of men
required for this specific purpose is sup
posed to be for defense against external
aggression. Hence this second factor in
a national army, this part of it main
ta1ned for defense against external ag-
greSsion. is relative, depending on the
size of armies which might attack it.
1t IS consequently in this part of the
military establishment, the part which
is relative, that important reductions
might be made by general agreement.
Attempted in Treaties.
The first problem in working out the
details of the plan was to find a sound
way to estimate how many men are
needed for internal order and to patrol
the frontiers. 1t so happens that the
peace treaties, in fixing the size of
armies now authorized to the Central
powers, attempted to solve this same
problem. In the case of Germany, it
is thought to have been clearly demon
strated that the solution provided by
the treaties was sound because the new
German Army preserved the republic
despite various revolutionary outbreaks
While the American plan mentions
merely peace treaties" as the basis,
it is doubtless safe to assume for prac-
tical purposes that what is meant
is the treaty whose military clauses
are the most important, the Versailles
treaty Under it Germany is allotted
l15,500 soldiers and sailors solely for
the maintenance of order and to pa
troll the frontiers Taking the pres
ent population of Germany as slight
ly over 65 900 900, the ratio of the army
to the population appears to be LIT.
In unofficial studies this ratio has
been applied to other countries in or
der to give a rough indication of what
size army they need to preserve inter
nal order.
Here the colonial problem arose. AS
Germany now has no colonies, it was
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