Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1935-07-07
EUROPEAN DEMANDS RISE
ONPRICE OF WORLDPEACE
Best Interests of Americans Now
Depend on Standing Pat,
SimOnds Asserts.
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.

wilderment over recent devel-
opments in the field of naval
ornaments. Almost a decade and a
half ago Mr.. Harding and Mr.. Hughes
celebrated the achievements of the
Washington Conference as unparal-
leled. Five years ago Mr. Hoover and
Mr. Stimson were even more eulogistic
of the victory for disarmament at the
London Naval Conference. Since then
Norman Davis has been flying around
Europe breaking new records in the
= cause of peace and unpreparedness.
And now things are back where they
started and all agreements are in the
discard.
Fifteen years of persistent pursuit
Of naval restrictions has brought lust
one positive gain. At the price Of
billion dollars we have been permitted
to approach a condition of parity with
Great Britain. But at the moment
when the Roosevelt administration is
building to attain agreed equality.
events alike in Europe and in Asia put
the American people on notice hat,
as Alice in Wonderland had it. to Stav
where they are they will now have to
run faster than before for new COM
petition in construction seems bound
to follow the scrapping of all agree
tnents.
Japan BaIks.
Japan opened the ball by giving no.
tice that she would not renew her
contracts of the Washington ard Lon
don conferences. Then the British. by
recognizing German right to exceed
the naval restrictions of the treaty
of Versailles pulled the foundation
out from under the European situa-
ton. Now France. Italy and the
Soviet Union are giving an imitation
of hornets when a brick has been
thrown in their nest.
OF course among the European
powers the United States is directly
concerned only with the British feet.
We have made good our claim to parity
with it. But the so-called Escslator
Clause of the London Treaty recog-
niZed the British right to maintain
tvo-power standard in Europe. And
with France and Italy off to new
squirt in building we shall have to fol-
lou suit. for the British are bound to
stick to the two-power standard.
Ironically enough therefore. the
strength of the American feet is de-
termined by the size of the navies of
two countries with whose fleets We
have no direct concern.
Riffs Bar Treaty.
Franco-Italian quarrels barred the
way to any five-power treaty at Lon
don and still stand in the wav of such
an arrangement. but the differences
between the two Latin powers have
been complicated by the German ques-
ton. At Washington Scialois estsb-
lished Italian right to parity with
France in hattleships. At London.
therefore. Grandi was bound to win
for Fascist Italy similar advantage
In the matter of all other categories.
But France was unwilling to yield to
Italy a parity-which would be in fact
4 superiority in the Mediterranean,
since France has Atlantic responsibili-
ties AZ we'll
Thus as the British had enunciated
their doctrine of the two-power stand
ard for Europe, France proclaimed
another for the Continent claiming
for herself the right to possess a fleet
equal to the combined strength of the
italian and German. But while this
was not difficult so long as the Ger
man feet was fixed by treaty. it must
become expensive now that Great
Britain has recognized Germany's
right to possess navy IS per cent as
strong as the British AS it stands.
Britain demands a fleet equal to the
French and Italian; France insists
upon a strength equal to the German
and Italian. Finally, Italy demands
parity with France.
Restrictions Of.
France. following the making OF
the London agreement between the
Germans and the British. has formally
announced that all restrictions are off
and that she is going to build as she
chooses. And she has begun by order
ing new 35,000-ton battleship. At
present italian strength is only about
two-thirds of the French. but as
France begins to expand her tonnage
italy must reply and then the British
must move to maintain their two
power standard. In declaring for
35000-ton battleship. too. the French
have struck the British a shrewd blow.
for the latter have always been striv-
ing to reduce the tonnage of the capt.
tai ship to IS 900 tons and had agreed
with the Germans upon an even lower
level.
This question of the size of capital
chips. like that of the armament of
cruisers, Is old fighting ground be-
tween Washington and London. We
have always held out for big ships and
s-inch guns on cruisers. The British
have wanted small ships and 6-inch
guns on cruisers. They had hoped to
line up the French and the Italians
against us as they had already lined
UP the Germans and the Japanese.
But now the action of France has
wrecked their plans. Since practically
all Of the battleships in both the
British and the American navies are
either already past the age limit or
rapidly approaching it, the British
have thus to face the prospect of re-
newing their battle craft at a cost
which will be staggering.
British Diplomats Active.
Looking at the European aspect Of
the naval problem it is probable that
ell British diplomacy will now be d.
rected toward persuading the French
and Italians to come to terms on the
basis OF parity and on the ratio of
1855 so far as the British feet is
concerned. This would amount to
S-5-3.5 for the two Latin nations
vis-a-vis Germany. At the same time
Italy and France will be asked to
agree to the 25,000-ton size as the
maximum for capital ships. The
Soviet Union will also be heard from,
end it will doubtless ask for parity
with Germany in order to prevent
German mastery of the Baltic.
Arrnev,e,,t hot onI II q ~