Evening star., 1933-05-25
France Appears Unlikely to
Accept Four-PoWer Treaty
Revision Plan.
JAPAN WOULD IGNORE
PRESENT NAVAL LIMITS
Russia and Germany Also Protest
Pacts of Proposals Considered
at Geneva.
BY Gable to The Star.
BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER.

BY Gable to The Star
BY PAUL SCOTT MOWRER.
GENEVA, Switzerland, May 25.-The
better feeling consequent on the clari-
fication Of the American position on
security yesterday proved to be short
lived. Today it is difficult to md any
delegate who. in private conversations,
will admit that he believes that even
the broad outlines of q disarmament
agreement are possible before the Eco
nomic Conference meets June II IN
London.
In the first place, the four power
treaty revision pact, in which some
diplomats have been placing hopes Of
Strengthening out the Franco-Italian
and the Franco-German difficulties,
seems once more to be in dire straights.
France apparently will refuse to sign
it. Sir John Simon. British foreign
minister, who started by airplane for
Paris early today, turned around when
half way and returned. He will 90 to
London now without stopping in Paris.
Objections Raised.
In the second place, broadsides this
morning from France and Japan, not
to mention the German and Russian
long g-range amendments, raked the
naval clauses of the British draft
treaty fore and aft.
Japan refuses any reafirmation In
any form of previous treaty ratios. Ja-
pan wants to eliminate reference to
the Washington and London treaties
and also to eliminate the Franco
Italian negotiations on the present
draft. It refers once more to its note
of December 9, which experts interpret
as demand for giving Japan hence
forth 10 to and 10 to ratios instead
Of 10 to and 10 to z.
France refuses parity to Italy, but
interprets President Roosevelt's appeal
to mean that offensive naval arms like
capital ships should be abolished imme-
diately as well as offensive land arms
like tanks.
asrnany stin wants to build new
sc4pltal ship.
Russia wants more naval disarma-
ment.
How, 1t Is asked, can these funda-
mental divergences be possibly straight
ened out in the next three weeks.
One Hope Remains.
Only one hope remains, It is said.
This Is somehow to get German Chan
cellor Adolf Hitler, British Prime Min
lister Ramsay Macdonald, Italian Pre-
mier Benito Mussolini and French Pre-
mier Edouard Daladier to come to
Geneva and hold five-power conver-
sation with Norman H. Davis, chief
American delegate to the Disarmament
Conference, during which time public
opinion Of the whole world would be
focused on the outcome.
Whether this actually will be tried
whether, If 1t is tried, Hitler and Mus
whether, if they did come, an agree
ment would result, are all problematical.
This afternoon the security discus
Sions will be resumed. The Confer
ence Committee has worked out a COM
plicated, hard and fast definition of
aggression which it says is any of the
five following moves:
l. Declaration of war
2 Invasion of another's territory
with or without declaration of war.
8. An armed attack on another's
territory with ships or aircraft.
4. Naval blockade.
S, Governmental support to the in
vasion Of another's territory by armed
bands.
U. S. Would Hold on.
There is also a provision for an i'm
partial, permanent and immediate fact
finding commission.
The United States desires to have
nothing to do with all this. 1t Is will
ing to consult, but not to bind itself
in advance as to what does or does not
constitute aggression. The present
tendency is to make the whole security
section of the British draft separate
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