Evening star., 1946-11-10

twenty-five years ago tOInorFOW, Allies
of World War I met in Washington to
give the only concrete proof, worth a
farthing, that they were sick Of war.
They met to cut their navies back to
merely defensive fleets.
The United States called the confer
ence. That act placed it in the lead
then, as it is now, in trying to merge
the major powers into some plan to
stop war.
The very first day of work, the United
States gave ample proof that it meant
business. CAS- President Harding told
the. delegates, 1--WE come to this confer
ence with unselfish hands.~ That day
the Secretary Of State, Charles Evans
Hughes, electrified the meeting by
making the usual welcome" speech
and then launching directly into what
the United States was willing to do. 1t
was plenty.
We had a naval building program
that would have made us first on the
seas. We were willing to cut back so
we lost that supremacy. The final
settlement was close to Mr.. Hughes
original proposal
It was the famous "5-5-3" agreement.
Under it, the United States and the
United Kingdom agreed to keep their
navies down to SOS, 900 tons of combat
ships. Japan agreed to 315,0OO tons.
France and italy were permitted 175,000
tons each.
No ship was to exceed $4,000 tons.
Except for such bases as were close to
the home shores, none was to be forti-
fed. There was to be no new naval
building for 10 years.
Difference in Thinking.
The slogan was Equality Of security" !"
The conferees thought they had given
both hemispheres just that with the
5-5-3 arrangement. .-.-.
Nothing quite demonstrates the
changed world so dramatically as the
difference in thinking now. contrasted
to that postwar meeting of '2l.
Now the United States not only has a
two-ocean Navy but it intends to keep
a fleet in THE Mediterranean. It's COM
bat ships equal those of all the other
major powers put together.
Although it is cutting the Navy back
from World War II strength, the
peacetime Navy will be approximately
.1,472,700 tons of combat ships
about three times the $4,000 tons to
which the United States was willing to
limit itself in '21.
Our current peacetime Navy by next
March will have $4,000 enlisted men
and So, 900 officers. In May. 1925 (after
the treaty was in effecD, we had 109,-
0O5 enlisted men and 12,o30 officers.
In addition, the Navy will have laid
up in reserve about 342, 300 tons, and it
will have 2,798,720 tons on the inactive
list. The last figure is five times as
great as the entire Navy permitted
under the Washington treaty.
No Talk of Limiting Arms.
Vice Admiral Forrest Sherman told
a recent news conference. 1--WE are now
the best-prepared Navy in the world
today"
There is no Washington talk OF linn
iting naval arms as there was in 2l.
Whatever limitations of ornaments are
ahead will have to come through the
United Nations military staff, which
hasn't even touched on the subject yet.
The story seems close parallel to
that of the burned child" who fears
the fire. The good faith thrown into
the Washington Conference met dis
appointing response.
After signing the treaty the United
States junked 28 ships, Britain 20 and
Japan 10. We were the only nation
that junked new ships. We scrapped
practically all being built, on which
$500, 100000 already had been spent.
The washington, rs per cent completed,
was used for gunnery practice.
We observed the building holiday
clause, which stopped the laying of new
keels for 10 years. We observed it SO
well that we were always under the
strength permitted us by the treaty.
Japan kept right up to treaty strength.
We floated our last ship Of the World
War era in 1928 and didn't lay new
keel until 1887. when the North Caro-
lima was begun.