Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1934-10-25
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS REVIEW
By GEORG STRANDVOLD

In 1880 Great Britain, the United
States, France, Italy and Japan nego-
tiated at London a so-called naval
disarmament treaty the practical re-
suit of which has been a consistent
increase of the navies which were
to be reduced; as the agreement ex-
pireS in 1886, it was stipulated that
new conferences were to take place in
1885 for the purpose of paving the
way for a renewal of the pact. But
prior to the formal 1885 conference
preliminary meetings were to be held,
and some have already taken place in
an effort to build up basis for the
formal conference. 1t cannot be said
that they have clarified the atmos-
phere, or that they have made treaty
renewal a certainty.
Latest in the series of informal
preliminary conferences is one which
was opened at London on Tuesday of
this week; here only Great Britain,
the United States and Japan are rep
resented, since France and Italy, be-
cause of squabbles between them
selves, did not completely become
parties to the London 1880 treaty.
Fundamentals.
At the present conferences there
are two principal and fundamental
schools of thought. One is that of
the United States and Great Britain.
in effect, that the basic principles
of the 1922 Washington and the 1880
London naval treaties must be pre-
served, in other words, that the two
English-speaking powers must insist
upon retaining their naval superiority
over Japan. The other is that of
Japan, for the Tokyo government
makes it very plain that it is no
longer satisfied with being relegated
to the position of second-rate power.
Japan wants a navy not appreciably
smaller than those of the United
States and Great Britain, but has in
Dictated a willingness to consider a
compromise plan which will make
regulation compulsory for offensive
naval weapons, but not for defensive.
L ITO may DC NCIy oHlC"u 1uONC III
view of the distressing fact that no
expert to date has been able to define
sharply what is offensive and what is
defensive in modern warfare.
The long and the short of it is that
Japan does not want to occupy the
the other great nations are infleXible
in their opposition to the claims of
the Nipponese government. At the
present moment it looks as though the
final outcome of the negotiations will
be a Japanese denunciatiOn of the
1880 treaty and a refusal to enter into
any further agreement restricting the
size of her navy. If that becomes
Japan's ultimate position, it will sim
ply mean that Japan will build a
navy of a size to suit herself and
that the others will compete, and
should that happen, the responsibility
will rest on the shoulders of the Lon
don and Washington statesmen and
admirals.
European Situation.
Europe, nervously on edge since the
murder of King Alexander of Jugo-
Slavia and French Foreign Minister
Louis Barthou, at Marseilles on Oc-
tober 8, is calming down. Certain
facts have developed from the inves-
tigation conducted by police in sew
eral countries, and they may be
summed up in few lines:
The actual murderer's name was
not, as first given, Peter Kalemen; it
was Vlada Georgiev Tschernocemskz
Bulgarian Macedonian who was
killed by the Infatuated crowd on the
spot. In Paris Sylvester Malny-hav-
ing several aliases Pospisel
and Vladivas Benes, have been ar
rested on a charge of having been
death of the Jugo-Slavian monarch;
in the Italian city of Turin Ante
Pavelich and Eugene Kvaternik are
being held as probable leaders of the
plot.
1t is now alleged that the group
held its meetings at place in Hun
gary, not far from the Jugo-Slavian
border; here it is said to have TO
mented it's murderous plans, to have
received orders from it's leaders, to
have practised bomb throwing and
shooting, and to have accepted the
doctrine that whoever was sent out
on an errand of assassination should
renounce all hope of ever returning
alive.
Enraged by these allegations the
Jugo-Slavian government has de-
manded an explanation from Hun
gary: Why were these conspirators
permitted to gather on Hungarian
soil? Was it with the connivance of
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