Evening Star Newspaper, December 31, 1921, Page 4

e S THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. T, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1 921." French Repudiate Justification of Ruthless Submarine Warfare Which Aroused British LORD LEE DISCLOSES CAUSES FOR DISTRUST Official Statements Issued by Conference Naval Arms Committee Following Tenth And Eleventh Sessions Yesterday. Following the tenth and eleventh Joint meetings yesterday of the com- mittee on limitation of armament and the subcommittee on naval limi- tation, the following statements were issued: The tenth joint meeting of the com- mittee on _limitation of armaments and the subcommittee on naval limi- tation was held this morning, Decem- ber 30, 1921, at 11 o'clock, in the Pan-American Union building. The chairman (Mr. Hughes) sald that the committee had under consid- eration the second resolution which had been proposed, and which had for its object the elimination of the submarine as a commerce destroyer. There were two phases of the resolu- tion under the amendment proposed by Mr. Balfour: The one was the proposition to amend the existing rules of war 80 as to :runpl:&;‘“l‘k‘\:; rines s not be submarines_should not be permitieq to act as commierce 1 the other was that the five govern- ments here represented should not the adoption of the ich he had referred. among them- observe such only recommend new rules to wh but should at once agree selves that they would TUhe chairman asked whether the committee desired time to continue the discussion of this proposition. Senator Schanzer's Statement. . Schanzer said: M do hot wish in any way to op- pose the continuation of the discus fion on the second resolution proposed by Mr. Roat, but, as I said yesterday. 'ad to communicate with rnment. Its _instructions et heen received. Of course ke it piain that the ltal- esation has no objection to the :‘aorl'n(iixe\‘u:umn of the debate if the other s so wish. delegates &t had no objection to the | diseussion proceeding, but wished to remark that as vet he had been un- able to receive instructions from his Eovernment. It would be an unprof- ftable discussion. he thought, without these instructions, which he hopel hav 1 wish to ma receive today, or, at the latest, to- norrow. nThe chairman remarked that it be desirable that the isc Should be continued af & S hen the French and Italian del- egates were in a position to state Wiih definiteness the attitude of their fovernments in regard to the sub- jucts presented for discussion, and he was sure that the m_em!_:ers O_f l 9'[ Sommittee had no desire in any way %o proceed with the discussion at such time or in such manner as would seem to make it necessary to have ques- tions presented and debated Wwhic] their colleagues were not really in a position to discuss. But, of course, if There were any views which any of the delegates desired to present, there ‘was opportunity to do so. Lord Lee’'s Statement. rd Lee said: “I quite appreciate e resition in which we stand in the absence of complete instructions to two of the most important delegations here. I cannot help feeling that in the minds of the French delegation and government there exists :flondle misunderstanding as to (h% attitude of the British government in regard to submarines which it is desirable to lear up before the French govern- ment commits itself in regard to the “econd resolution. I cannot help feel- ing that here we have a unique op- portunity for the French delegation hind government to reassure the Brit- ich sAmiralty and public opinion in regard to this matter, of which I hope they avail themselves. Our apprehen- sions In regard to the use of subma. would certainly | rines is deep founded and, t events of war have shown, well founded. 1 have no desire to take advantage of this occasion to reopen the ques- tion of the tonnage of submarines to be allotted to the different powers. would not be in order in dis- ng the present resolution. What wo are considering are the uses to which submarines may be put. While the late war showed that rules of war were of little protective value when a nation is in desperate straits, at the same time these resolutions pro- posed by Mr. Root. would, in our view, be of immense value as a deterrent. They would represent the most civil- Yized opinion of the world, and any ‘country who broke them would be morally outlawing itself and running An an intensified form the risk which jGermany ran in briging down upon her head the active hostility of other feivilized powers. But 1 want to ex- plain to our French friends, if T may 3 s that we have these special ‘apprehensions which have been ex- pressed so forcibly in conection with France. I may say that of course there is not one of us here, or indeed among any of my fellow countrymen who now them. who has not the highest esteem and admiration both for M. Surraut and Admiral de Bon. M. Sur- raut is obviously not only sincere i everything he says, but the whole spirit of remarks breathes statesmanship, moderation and humarits. as to Ad- miral de Bon, if ke will allow me to! say so in his presence, we all re- gard him—at any rate those of us at the admiralty who know of his dis- tinguished record—as the very em- bodiment of French chivalry and sea honor and, as 1 think we have said before, I do not think there is any officer in the British fleet who would not be proud to serve under his or- ders if the occasion arose. Not Clear on Views. “But the difficulty is (and this is & point that our admiralty and our naval staff have to face) we are not clear what are the views of the French naval staff on this matter of the utilization of submarines in time of war. It is true that the views e pressed by experts do not always by any means determine the action of | government: if they did, no doubt, we should some day be placed in the position which the late Lord Salis- bury once described when he said, “If ‘we listened to the experts we should have to put a garrison in the moon to protect it against an in- vasion from Mars.' But the views of naval staffs, of the experts, are of importance unless and until they are disavowed by the governments which they M. Briand quoted the other in his memorable speech the atrocious sentiments expressed by Gen. Ludendorff and by von Moltke, sentiments which still con- stitute in his view a menace to France and one which it is essential that France should guard herself against. It is, therefore, I hope not improper nor in any sense provoca- ve if 1 have to call atteation to the kind of statement, the kind of sug- gestion of policy, which is openly made in high and responsible quar- ters of the French naval general staff in connection with the use of submarines. If. as 1 believe, they do not rep- resent the views of the French gov- ernment, if, as I hope and believe, they will be at once repudiated, and in an effective manner, then possibly our apprehensions and the attitude which we are compelled to adopt with regard - the use of submarines in war may be very largely modified. I feel bound to give chapter and verse to illustrate the anxiety we feel in regard to this matter. There was published quite recently in the Revue Maritime, a technical and official pub. lication, published in January, 1920, under the direction, of the i1y French [} naval general staff, a series of ar- ticles now incorporated, 1 believe, in Synthese de la guerre sous-marine,’ by Capitaine de Fregate Castex, who at that tima was chief of one of the important bureaux of the French na- val staff, who is now chief of staff of the admiral of the 2d Division in the Mediterranean, and who has just been designated as principal lecturer to the senior officers’ courses for the next year. Points Out Officer’s Views. herefore, 1 am not quoting some retired naval oflicer writing from his club; we all suffer from such gen- tlemen who propound extraordinary theories. I am speaking now of a re- sponsible officer of the French naval Staff in a high position, who wrote in particular an article on ‘Piracy. in which, after some preliminary obser- vations destined to throw ridicule on those who criticised the German methods in the late war and to treat them with great contempt, he pro- ceeds to say this: ‘In_ the first place, before throwing stones at the Germans, we should have recalled that this war of the torpedo was, like so many other novelties of our planet, the application of an idea, Which in its origin was essentially French.’ “Then he quotes in support of his view the doctrine which had been laid down some years ago by Admiral Aube, who was a_very distinguished and celebrated French minister of marine, who had used the following words when speaking of the use of the torpedo from a torpedo boat (Capt._Castex goes on to point out that they are equally applicable to the submarine today): ““Will_the torpedo boat tell the cap- tain of the liner that it is there, that it is Iying in wait for him, but it can sink him and in consequence take him pris- oner? In one word, will it seize its prize by platonic methods? On the contral at an approprite distance, and unseen, the torpedo boat will follow the liner which it marks out for its v In the dead of night, quietly, silently, it will send to the abyss the liner, cargo. passengers and erew; then with a mind not only serene, but fully satisfied witn the resuits achieved, the captain of the torpedo boat will continue his cruise.” Appropriated Another’s Idea. 'He continues ‘The Germans, as is their wont, have only appropriated in this case the The invention of others. voung French school no doubt on 1"in mind_the torpedo boat as such, but, if the effect of ‘the torpedo Is independent of the tube which launches it. it will be agreed that the German submarine war had its germ in the obscrvations quoted above. But approaching the question from a higher standpoint then that of mere_inquiry as to who conceived this new form of warfare. it must be recog- nized that the Germans were absolutely Justified in resorting to it.’ He s indeed. that to neglect to do so would have been to commit a great blunder. Further: ‘It is thus that resolute belligerents have acted throughout the course of history when people have been engaged in_desperate conflict.” Further: p “*To sum up, oné can see nothing in the attitude of the Germans which militarily speaking, is not absolutely correct. The failure to wive notice before torpedoing has raised a storm of protest. but it is not so inad- missible as at first sight appears.’ Laying Down of Doctrine, “There are many other passages of a similar description, and inter- spersed among them is the laying down of a doctrine with regard to the value of submarines, to which we heartily subscribe and to which we have Shown our adherence in the debates which have preceded this: “‘The submarine is a mediocre tor- pedo boat: that is to say. it has only very limited chances of damaging by means of a torpedo a ship enjoying like itself, full liberty of movement on the broad sea, as is proved by the relative immunity enjoyed by big warships even in the most dangerous | zones and at times when submarines were swarming around. With re- gard to submarines, the English seem to have an opinion very similar to that which we entertain.’ “There is much more of the same | he concludes his article words: the submarine, after thanks kind, but with thes “*Thanks to many_centuries of effort, thanks to the ingenuity of man, the instru- ment, the system, the martingale is at hand which will overthrow for good and all the naval power of the British empire.’ Suggests French Disavowal. “I have quoted this because, as [ say, they are the utterances of a responsible member of the French naval staff. who at the time of writ- ing was in_a high position and was the actual head of a bureau. These things are known to our naval staff, of course; indeed, they were published o the world, under the authority of the French naval staff. Now this of- ficer, who is appointed principal lec- turer to the senior officers’ course, will, no Houbt, unless a change of ipolicy takes place, be pouring what we regard as this_infamy and this poison into the ears of the serving officers of the French mavy. That is the justification for what I can only describe as the apprehensions and even the bitterness that we must feel in the thought that under any con- ceivable circumstances our present allies, our late comrades in arms in the greatest war the world has ever known, should contemplate the pos- sibility of warfare of that kind. It . now that we have ex- pre apprehensions, the way is open for the French delegation and the French government, as I fervent- trust they will, to disavow and repudiate these things. I suggest re- spectfully that there is only one way in which that can be effectively done, and that is by the adoption of these resolutions which have been moved by Mr. Root, and particularly No. 2. with the amendment suggested by Mr. Balfour attached to it. The French have told us here again and again that they only require submarines for purposes of defense, particularly for | the defense of their colonial posses- sions, their home ports and their lines of communication. Will Remove Suspicion. “We have had differences of opinion as to the utility of submarines for these purposes, but now, it seems to me, here is an opportunity of prov- ing to the world that they mean what they say in regard to this, that they are not prepared under any cir- cumstances to consider the use of submarines in the manner In which the Germans used them in the war, which a member of their general staff has claimed as their own and as being in every way legitimate and desirable. If that repudiation takes place, in_the only form in which it can be effective, then the position so far as we are concerned will be very largely changed; the feeling we have of apprehension and even of bitter- ness will be removed, because I am sure my French friends will believe me when I say this, that we take no pleasure in any kind of recrimina- tion, public or private; we regard it as an offense and a reproach to the world that such a thing should ever take place between us. But here is a situation where our very existence, our life as a nation, may be at stake, nd now is our chance, and perhaps our only chance, of making our ap- peal to the world to remove the rors which are so vivid in the minds of us all. If this resolution as amended by Mr. Balfour is accepted by every nation round this table, as applying to themselves and their conduct in any future wars &s be- tween themselves, then 1 think, it I may say so, that France will have regained much of the ground which I believe has been lost between us, largely through a misunderstanding, but genuine misunderstanding in our hearts. If that is done all her friends, among whom I am proud to count myself one, will unfeignedly rejoice.” Admiral de Bon said: “After taanking Lord Lee from the bottom of my heart for the flattering ex- pressions used by him in regard to me, T wish to declare that 1 consider it a great happiness and a great honor in my life to have collaborated during sev- eral years, especially through the most trying hours of the war, with my friends of the British admiralty, among whom 1 have mide deep and lasyng friend- f‘hips which will endure as long as 1 ve. “I have been deeply gratified by Lord Lee's statement. Since the beginning of this discussion wo cculd not comprehend the misunderstanding which seemed to have arisen beiw:zen us, because—I state it openly and declare it most emphati- cally—there is nothing more foreign to our minds than the idea of attacking a friend. It is not even conceivable to us. Our only regret is that this misunder- standing has iasted so long and that we did not know that it was based on an article writen by Capt. Castex. “He is, it s true, an officer who be- longed to the general staff, but who was attached to a literary section. He was above all a man of letters. His article was published in he ‘Revue Maritime,’ which is, t0 a cortain extent, an_organ recognized by the French navy, but on its title page it bears a statement to the effect that the Frerch admiralty and general staff declins to assume any re- sponsibility wi terances contained in the articles, which responsibility rests wholly with the autaors of the articles. Each writer is free to express his own opinions, but he does so at his own risk. * Not Views of Franmce. “The charge should be laid at the door of the man who wrote that ar- ticle, and to him only. The article in no way represents. thank ‘heaven, the views of the French navy. apt. Castex brings up an old ar- gument regarding the torpedo boat. T was telling you only the other day, in regard to the submarine, that we were going through once more the same stages of discussion which marked the appearance of th etorpedo boat. There has been no instance in history when the appearance of a new weapon has not unleashed a sort of fanaticism in the ranks of the parti- ans; there are always extremists who wish to impose their ideas, and make fantastic statements to that end. But in the end common sense always sets in and public opinion keeps the ulti- mate judgment within reasonable lim- its. ‘At the time when frantic enthusi- asts believed that torpedo boats were the noblest of inventions, abominable things appeared in print which had no effect on actual practice or on the doc- trines adopted by the various govern- ments with regard to the use of tor- 1pedo boats. I can find no better way | of condemning the article in ques- | tion. “The author of that article has ! written what we consider to be a ! monstrosity. The French delegation has repeatedly stated that it unre- servedly condemned the practices of the German submarines during the late war and that it desired that a declaration strongly condemning them should issue from the conference and be spread over the entire world. Makes Formal Repudiation. beg Lord Lee to believe that the French navy has never harbored any lidea of using methods of war practiced I'by the German submarines, for which | we feel only horror, not only against tae British empire, but against any other country whatever. “I maintain that the honor of the French general staff and of the French navy. which have a record of centuries of struzsle without a single stain on their «cutcheon, cannot be sullied by the article in question. This article is the work of au officer who is a man of letters rather than a sailor, and 1 formally repudiate it in the name of the French navy. Mr. Taut sai await the instruction with regard to certain points in tae res- olutions proposed by Mr. Root, 1 have no need_of any instructions to associate my sentiments with those of Admiral de Bon. whica I solemly confirm as head of the French delegation, or to of- fer the French government's formal re- pudiation of those methods of warfare which have just been mentioned. “I hope that these explanations—I thank Lord Lee for having given us the opportunity to make them—will be of such a characte® as to dispel for all time the misunderstanding which, to my pro- found regret, was arising between us— a misunderstanding of which 1 did not comprenend the reason or the nature. I hope and believe, moreover, that we may all of us draw a lesson of mutual con- fidence from this incident which will permit us in future to avoid misunder- standings of this sort by forming the habit of frank and forehanded explana- ions. The misunderstandirg which has ricen might ily have been avoided even before it was thougat of by a di- rect and friendly conversation in which we would have been glad to take part had the opportunity been offered us. In future, as far as we are concerned, we sha!l conténue to have the same sincere | des:re to explain our point of view be- for public opinion has been molded uncer such circumstances as we have scen. “Although T must of my government Well Aware of Criticism. “Lord Lee has uttered a word with which I shall not reproach him, for I do not wish to use the word ‘re- proach’ in speaking of friends. He kas spoken of the ground which has been lost by France since these de- liberations commenced. This phrase is well known to us; we heard it throughout the war; there were days tions which nevertheless we con- trived to regain immediately. I am well aware that every day in the pross we witness a campaign of bitter criticism launched against us, against the motives of France, to the end that our country may be made to appear under an aggressive guise of impe- rialism and militarism. This very morning there was an odious carica- ture representing France trying on the spiked helmet of Prussia. We have borne these attacks calmly and with serenity, not wishing to embic- ter the discussion by replying to them. Strong in our right and in our loyalty, we have remained silent in spite of. the violent prejudice which this cam- paign was arousing against us. There { our friends; true friendship is meas- ured by the extent of the sacrifices suffered in its name; but just as we have never dreamed of holding our British friends responsible for these cruel attacks, so they should not dream of thinking that that organi- zation which we have created for our national defense, in the name of the right of French sovereignty and for the protection of vital interests with which we are better acquainted than any one else, could possibly be direct- ed against our friends. Feels No Shame In Debts. “If each and every day we had to continue to defend ourselves against such suspicions; if, when we come here for the purpose of working for the proposed peace by means of the reduction of armaments, we must constantly see the specter of war dangled before us and be made aware of an undercurrent of thought con- cerning mutual threats or of the idea that is attributed to us of plans of aggression against those who have mingled their blood with ours on all the battlefields of the greatest war the world has known, then, indeed, we would be impatignt to see the end of a conferenfe which had brought us the bitterness of such a disappointment. We are impatient to see a clearing of the atmosphere and the disappearance of all unwhole- some insinuations. We are given to W1 md y whet #asmet) that r { | atever as regards the ut-| even before reconstituting our de- fensive forces and before thinking of again fortifying our country against renewed devastation we would do well to pay our debts. We feel no shame for those debts, nor do we forget them; we regard them with pride, as the wounded man his scars. “There are things more painful to us than these—lack of confidence in our gratitude and affection toward our great ally. I, who now speak to you, can attest its sincerity and with very deep emotion. I had the honor to be & member of the cabinet at the moment when the war of 1914 was declared against us, and never with- out profound emotion do I recall the feeling of exaltation that I experienc- ed when in the ministerial council I learned that the Engfish army, which | the Emperor of Germany had called ! then when we lost ground or posi-|other than a capital the ‘contemptible little army’ and which was to become the great and powerful British army, had just aligned itself resolutely ‘at our side in the vast conflict which was loom- ing up. I shall never forget that hour; ‘it is eternally graven on my heart and it has always dominated my thought. Truly, we have had enough of these misunderstandings; they must be done away with! I, for my part, hope for it with all my strength! Mutual confidence, free of all reserves, must again prevail among us. In this respect, the French government has | given and is ready to give every guar- antee; its word, indeed, should suffice. 1f I do not ask to pursue the discus sion of the second resolution and to formulate the conclusions which, you will appreciate, rise to my 1ips, it is in order that the expression of our feelings may have not alone the au thority of the head of the delegation but may be clothed with all the moral force that belongs to the decisions of the French government.” Japanexe Awalt Advice. Mr. Hanihara said: “So fur as the Japanese delegation itself is concerned, we see no objec- tion to the adoption of article 1i of the proposed resolution as amended by Mr. Balfour. However, as a mat- ter of formality and procedure, we are required to submit to our gov- ernment the precise text of it and ask for finstructions thereon before we can glve formal assent to it.” The chairman asked whether any one elss desired to speak further upon this matter at this time. As the representatives of three of the governments were not in a position at the moment to speak under defi- nite instructions with respect to this article, it seems desirable that the discussion should be postponed. The committee would then come to the third resolution: but, anticipating what would probably be said with re- gard to it, the chairman suggested that the same course be adopted and that both these resolutions (which had a relation to each other) should g0 over for further discussion until such time as the chairman was ad- vised by the delegations that they had received instructions- and were ready to proceed. Mr. I'carce said that there was one point involved in article 111 which might possibly require amendment. and if so, he thought it might be advisable to embody this amendment at once. He referred to the fact tnut the declaration included persons in service of any of the powers “adopt- ing these rules.” If the resolution were adopted in its present form would mean that while the offic the nations which adhered to articles would be liable to the peaul:y under grticle 11, the officers of na- tions not adhering would not le :o liable. He thought, however, that an amendment should be made so that the rules might become part of in national law with general appl tion in order to be effective. Limited to Ratifiers. Mr. Root sald that the point to which Senator Pearce had referred was ver: important and very interesting. The draft limited its operations 10 those powers which has adopted the rules, but the question whether it shouid e so limited or should extend to other POWErS Was a question open to discus- sion. upon which different views might be taken. That question in the proposition, and as it seemed (o be un- 00d that there was not to be on upon the subject at the uld cofttent himself with an knowledgment to Senator Pearce of {he importance and interest of the sugges- tion which he had raised The chafrman said that it seemed quite clear that the committee should not proceed with the discussion of these resolutions in parts when several of the delegations were not in position to dis- cuss’ them under appropriate instruc- tions. As had been sald. the point which had beem raised by Senator Pearce was one which could not very well be discussed withott bringing into the dis- cussion the general bearing of the reso- lution, its import. the policy Involved in it, and a number of questions which would have relation to the particular point raised. With the committee’s per- mission he would assume that the dis- cussion of both the second and the third resolutions should be postponed until the chair was advised that the Gelega- tions had heard from their governments and were ready to proceed with the discussion: in the meantime, of courss ny amendments which occurred to a of the delegates for the purpose clarification ac- of or modification could Le brought to the attention of Mr. Root cr of the chair, so that they might be cir- culated, if desired, among the delega- tions and might be taken under advise- ment pending full explication and con- sideration at the time when the discus- sion was resumed. With the committee's permission, therefore, the resoiution which had been proposed the other day and the discussion of which had been po poned with respect to the limitation of the tonnage of individual ships of war, other than capital ships or air- craft carriers, would be taken up. That resolution, as proposed and as lamendcd, was now presented as fol- ows: Ship Limit Taken Up. “No ship of war other than a capi- tal ‘ship or aircraft carrier hereafter built shall exceed a total tonnage dis- placement of 10,000 tons, and no guns shall be carried by any such ship ship with a caliber in excess of eight inches.” The chairman said that the com- mittee would recall that general agreement had been expressed with the provision of the resolution as to the limitation of armament in the case of ships of war other than capi- tal ships or aircraft carriers—i. e., that_no guns should be carried with a caliber in excess of 8 inches. There were reservations, however, with respect to the limitation on total tonnage—i. e., the suggested limitation of a total tonnage _dis- placement of 10.000 tons. The chair- man asked if the committee would take up the discussion of this ques- tion. Baron Kato said: “On behalf of the Japanese dele- {are times whea we must suffer for|gation I accept the proposal to limit the tonnage of light cruisers to 10,000 and the caliber of guns car- ried by such ships not to exceed eight inches. However, permit me to make a suggestion while T am on my feet. The question of large mer- chant ships with high speed should be considered according to the prin- ciple enunciated in paragraph 30 of the original American plan. Unless this question is settled 1 am afraid that the limitation made upon light cruisers will remain meaningless. Merchantmen Later Subjfect. The chairman said, with reference to the last suggestion of Baron Kato, that he ought to say that the ques- tion of merchant ships and appro- priate regulations with regard to their use or to the armaments applied upon ‘them, to the end that they should not be used to contravene or make futile the limitations upon which the committee might to able to agree, would be brought up later for discussion. That was & yery im- portant matter. ‘With respect to the range of appli- cation of the present resolution, he felt bound to call the attention of the committee to the fact that originally it had been proposed to refer to aux- iliary cruisers, but that at the sug- gestion of Lord Lee that resolution had been amended to read as follows: “No ship of war other than a capital ship or alrcraft carrier”: he asrumed thot the Timits tien thorin e 1 referred to every ship of war other than a capital ship or aircraft car- rier, of every sort built hereafter. There were three exceptions to the application with respect to tonnage displacement and armament, and those three exceptions were capital ships, aircraft carriers and ships now ex- isting. These were the three excep- tions. This did not apply to any ship existing, but it did apply to every ship of war hereafter built which did nat come within the cate- gory of capital ship or aircraft car- rier. It was important that that be understood before it was acted upon. Suggests This Change. If he had Interrupted the amended resolution correctly, he was inclined to view that its meaning would be clearer If there were some change in the arrangement of the words, and he suggested the following: “No ship of war hereafter built, other than a capital ship or aircraft carrier, shall exceed a total tonnage displacement of 10,000 tons, and no gun shall be carried by any ship of war_hereafter, other than a capital ship, with a caliber in excess of eight inches.” The chairman then asked whether the committee should proceed to a discussion of this question. Admiral Acton accepted for the i Italian delegation the proposal just ; read by the chalrman. The chairman_then | Situation was that all the powers | present had accepted the resolution with the exception of the French delegation. which had not us vet re- ! ceived definite instructions upon the | point. The matter would. therefore, i be delayed until he was notificd that | such instructions had been received. The meeting was then adjourned until 3 p.m., December 30, 1921 The Eleventh Meeting. The cleventh joint meeting of the committee on the limitation of arm ment and the subcommittee on naval iimitation was held this afternoon, December 30, 1921, at 3 o'clock, in the Pan-American building. The chairman (Mr. Hughes) said that he assumed that the next subject to be brought before the committec for discussion was the proposal with re- gard to the total tonnage of airplane said that the H carriers which each of the powers should have as a maximum under the proposed agreement. This was jtem 23 of the proposal circulated at the opening of the conference on behalf of the American government. 1t was proposed that the total tonnage of air- plane carriers allowed each power should be as follows: United States, 80,000 tons: Gireat Britain, 80,000 tons; Jupan, 48,000 tons, “Prévided, however, That no power party to this agreement whose total tonnage in airplane arriers on No- vember 11, 1921, exceeds the preserib- ed nnage shall be required to scrap such exces tonnage until lace- ments begin, at which time the total tonnage of alrplane carriers for cach natioy shall be reduced to the pre- seribed allowance as herein stated. “24. (a) All airplane carriers whose keels have been laid down by Novem- ber 11, be carried to com- pletion. 2 “(b) No new airplane carrier ton- nage, except replacement tonnage, is provided herein, shall be laid down during the period of this agreement: Provided, however, That such nations as have not reached the airplane car- Tier tonnage hereinbefore stated may construet tonnage up to the limit of their allowan Airplane carrie shall be serapped in accordance with methods to be agreed upon.” New Proposal Made. And there was supplement to those proposals the additional proposal as ws: No airplane carrier shall be laid down during the term of this agree- ment whose tonnage displacement is in excess of 27,000 tons, and no gun shall be carried by any such sh other than capital ship with a cali- | b 1921, ma ber in excess of § inches.” The chairman said that he ought to add that the allowance to the United States, Great Britain and Ja- pan, as stated in item 23 of the pr posail, was based on the ratio which had been proposed with respect to capital ships of and, if the were provided with re- rance and ltaly as would furnished by the relation of the capitul ship tonnage @greed upon, of course the figures would correspond accordingly. There were number of points embraced in the proposition. He sup- ed that it would be an advantage the committee should not scat- ter the discussion by talking to dif- ferent points at the same time; and, it it was quite agreeable to the del gates, he would suggest that the com- mittee begin with the discussion of the maximum limitation of total ton- nage, i.e., the maximum allowed for the total tonnage of airplane car- riers—not the maximum for indi- vidual carriers, but the total tonnage allowed for airplane carriers as stat- ed in this proposal—nameiy. United States, 90,000 tons; Great Britain, 8 000 tons; Japan, 48,000 tons, and so on in proportion to the capital ship tonnage allowed. Italy Asks Amendment. Admiral Acton then read the fol lowing statement: “With respect to aircraft_carriers ! the American proposals assign to Italy 28,000 tons. corresponding to the cap- ital ship tonnage of 175,000 tons al- ready determined upon. This would permit the construction of only one {aircraft carrier of the maximum of 27,000 tons agreed upon for this class of vessel. Tt must, however, be taken into consideration that if a single ves- sel of this character were obliged to %o into drydock or were to be sunk at sea Italy would find herself under these circumstances temporarily or definitely without any aircraft carrier whatsoever. We believe it therefore to be indispensable that we should be equipped with a totai tonnage of air- craft carrier superior to that whtch has been assigned to us. To be pre- cise, we ask as our minimum a ton- rage corresponding to a figure double that of the maximum tonnage as- signed to us for vessels of this class, i.e., 54,000 tons. It is, moreover, un- derstood that if a tonnage superior | to 54,000 tons is assigned to any other Mediterranean power we demand a parity of treatment in this respect— ie, we demand the allowance of an egual amount of tonnage.” The chairman said merely as a mat- ter of clarification he would like to ask -whether, when Admiral Acton spoke of “any other power in the Mediterrancan” he included Great ritain. Admiral Acton replied: “No." Gains British Sympathy. Lord Lee said he had listened with at- tention and’with a certain sympatay to the remarks of Admiral. Acton, because the admiral had suggested a situation which migtt and perhaps must occur in every navy through a ship being out of action at’intervals during her career. The admiral had complained that, hav: ing only one airplane carrier, the Italian navy would be deprived altogether of that arm if their one ship happened to be in dock or out of action. Looking at the matter impartially, it appeared to him_that the claim put forward by the Italian delegation was very difficult to |resist. Since the proposal of the United States delegation to limit the maximum size of airplane carriers to 27,000 tons with an_armament not to exceed tae eight-inch gun, he himself had had an opportunity to’ discuss the matter with his experts. They regarded those limits as reasonable and In strict accordance, go far as the British empire was con- cerned, wita the up-to-date needs of air- plane carrier construction. Without claiming undue credit to the British navy, he thougit perhaps that it had more experience of this class of vessel than had any other fleet, and in-the opinion of his experts the limits pro- posed provided all that was necessary. At this point he would like to mention that the airplano carrier was essentially an auxiliary to a modern fleet, and it was therefore important that the num- ber of afrplane carriers should be ade- quate and proportionate to the size of the fleet. For this reason the British empire delegation associated themselves ‘with the view taat the ratio of capital ehips should be applied also to airplane carriers in order to bring both number and_tonnage -Into line with actual re- Tiemeits, At the r.\v;m’nt time the British navy possessed five airplane car- riers, which included four vessels which were really experimental and three of which were small and inefficient. These vessels, in fact, were in the nature of gropings in the light of the experience gained by the war, and certainly four of these -were experi- mental and obsolete. In these circum- stances whatever decision might be reached as regards the total tonnage he:would have to demand that Great Britain should be entitled, in spite of the rule as regards new construc- tion which would be discussed later, to scrap at any moment the exper mental ships which they now pos- sessed and to replace them with new ships designed to meet the require- ments of the fleet. Britain Refects Proposal. This was the only way in which the British fleet could attain that equality with other fleets to which it was entitled. With that reservation the British empire delegation regret- ted, in view of the fact that subma- rinés, which were an important weapon of war, were to be continued, and airplane carriers were an equal- ly important weapon of anti-subma- rine defense, that it would be impos- sible to reduce their airplane car- riers for fleet service. In these cir- umstances the delegation to which he belonged felt that the tonnage laid down In the original American pro- posals was inadequate to the essen- tial requirements of the British em- pire, as, indeed, they must be if the British navy was (o have numbers proportional to the two ships which Italy had demanded. Before coming 10 the exact figures at which he thought the total tonnage 1imit should be fixed he would be glad to hear the views of other delegations. The Brit- ish empire delegation were most anx- lous, as, indeed, they had shown, to limit not only armaments, but ex- penditure on”armaments, and they were most anxious to avoid competi- tion in every class of craft, and ther fore to limit the numbers and tonnage of airplane carriers to the lowest point compatible with safety. He would now like to hear the views of his colleagues on other delegations. Sees No Definite Decision. Admiral de Bon said that the ques- tion of the total tonuage of aircraft carriers was evidently intimately re- lated to the maximum of each unit. Now in this respect there was evi- dently great uncertainty, aircraft being stll the subject for further study and examination, and he did not see that in any country definite views concerning a type of aircraft had been reached. If there were un- certainty with regard to aircraft this uncertainty would evidently apply to the ui t carriers. The decisions which committee could take on were therefore marked - of weukness to this uncertainty, and could efore he only provisional. Having made this reservat miral de Bon asked nothing better than to support the views of other members of the committee. the present case it could be assumed that about 25,000 tons would be the maximum fonnage of an ordinary aireruft carrier. The French delegation considered that France actually required two aireraft carriers for European water: This followed the same line of r They als was nec olonial poss Aft for police purposes in the colonies was consid- ered by them as of the greatest ser ice. )T newspaper reports might be believed, the French delegation sug- gested that an actual example of this fact was now offered in Lgypt, where, the this subject in advance by a deg du th on, Ad- soning advanced by Italy. considered a” third e in their in_order to maintain order, the ef- fect created by the presence of air- craft was invaluable. dmiral de Bon_stated that in view of the above the French delegation con- dered that three aircraft carriers were necessary for the needs of France. If each one of these were of 25,000 tons that would make a total of 75,000 tons But_in order more nearly to approach the general wishes expressed he said that he would voluntarily agree that 60,000 tons might be sutficient for the present and by a rearrangement of ton- nage, three vessels might be built in conformity with this aliowance. Approves Italian Ple: aron Kato said: have listened with pleasure to the remarks made by Lord Lee on the question of airplane: carriers. His sym- athies with the Italian demand for two carriers are in accord with my position. I. 100, believe that the Italian demand is justifiable. ow the American proposal allows Jupan a total tonnage of 45,000 with whieh she can construct only one and a half airplane carriers. That will not, in my judgment, give us a sufficient force for our protective purposes. Per- mit me to call your attention again to the insular charzcter of our country, the extensive iine of our coast and the location of our harbors and the sus- ceptibility of our cities built of frame houses to easy destruction by fire if at- tacked by air bombs. All these neces- sitate our having a certain number of airplanes and “portable” airplanes—that is to sav, a means of distributing air- s in ‘such a manner as to adequate- meet our local needs. We cannot have an enormous number of airplanes to'be stationed in all places where they are. needed because we are economically incapable. To meet all these needs | Japan is’ exceedingly desirous to have !three airplane carriers of 27000 tons jeach, or a total tonnage of §1,000. In lasking for this increase, I shall, of course, raise no objection for a propor- tionate increase on the part of the United States or Great Britain.” Chairman Outlines Situation. The chairman said that, as he understood it, the situation disclosed by the discussion was as follow: Great Britain desired five carriers at 'whatever the maximum for each individual ship might be taken to be, and, if that were 27,000 tons. it would mean a maximum of 135,000 tons. France desired 60,000 tons, which, of course, could be di- vided in such a way as would be deemed best suited to the special needs of France, Italy desired two, which, at a maximum of 27,000 tons. would make an allowance of 54.000. Japan desired three, which, at the maximum of 27,000 tons, would be 81,000 tons. Now, this appeared to be, with the single exception of a very slight dif- ference between 54,000 and 60,000 in the case of France, in the ratio of the pital ships. It was quite apparent, for the reasons that had been very cogently presented, that the original figures of the American proposal would not meet what were deemed to be the needs of the various gov- ernments. He also understood that therq was agreement by all that the ca.llb‘:r of guns carried should be lim- ited to eight inches, in connection with the suggested maximum ton- nage of 27,000 tons. 1f that disposition was agreeable to the other powers, he saw no rea- son why the American delegation should not accept it, with the maxi- mum allowance for the United States ‘correspondlng to that which Great Britain had asked. And he assumed also that there would be no objection if France had this slight excess over Ithe exact amount allowed by the ratio, that is, 60,000 tons instead of 54,000 tons, in allowing Italy a cor- ! responding amount on the basis of iparity for which Italy had always 1contended. . If that was agreeable, he would put it to a vote, unless it was desired to continue the discussion further. All Vote In Afirmative. The delegations being polled in thrn; each voted in the affirmative. . The chairman said that he under- ‘stood that that vote, in view of the :discussion which had preceded fit, might, without separate action, be taken to include the maximum of °27.000 tons for the individual ton- hage and the armament of eight- dnch ns. . In fr‘.’a course of his remarks Lord | Lee had referred to a fact which had been emphasized by other dele- Eates, namely that the development not only of airplanes, but of airplane carriers, was in an ‘experimental stage and that the airplane carriers which they now had were not deem- ed to_be anything more than experi- hénce that the proposal made airplane the | Ini AGREEMENT IS REACHED ON AIRPLANE CARRIERS Powers Raise Italy’s Allowance After Protest. Auxiliary Ships Await Advices From Home Governme nis of Delegates. at the beginning, which was stated in item 24 of the proposal, that: “No new airplane carrier tonnage except replacement tonnage shall be laid down during the period of the agreement” would not he applicable o the situation in which the powers found themselves, because the exist- ing tonnage was not of a definite type. but provisional and experi- mental; and that, therefore. th who had carried their experimenta- tion to the point of having actual ships would be placed at an inequit- able disadvantage as compared with those who had not built their ships and who could take advantage of the latest information and inventions. That seemed to he a very reasonable position, and the Americian delegation | would bring forward a proposal based on the liberty of the powers to congider the existing airplane car- rier tonnage as an experimental ton- nage and to provide for replacement from that standpoint Subject to that matter of replace- ment of airplane carriers (which he assumed, might well go with th other provisions now under consideration by the te 1 staffs), he believed that th was nothing more that need be con- sidered at this time with regard to airplane arriers. He asked whether he was right in this assumption. Askx for Expression: Tn view of what had bee id the general discussion, he understood that that was the view of all present. but perhaps he should ask for a def- inite expression. Without awaiting the drafting of a specific resolution at the moment he would ask whether there was assent to the proposal to | regard existing airplane carriers as { being of an experimental character and to the principle that. in defining the ruie of replacements s to air- plane carriers. each power should he entitled to proceed to supply itself, to the maximum stated, with airplane carrier tonnage. Lord Lee asked, misunderstanding. as to repiacemen in | in if order to avoid it was under- { ment, which he had indicated as de sirable. were accepted.. The chair- jman answered that this was. of | course. so. with the understandine that the old experimental carricrs should be scrapped. The chuirman said that it was un- derstood that this liberty was a liber- ty of replacement. not” a liberty of addition. The chairman said that the United States of America a nted to the proposal he had just made. He then polled the other delegations, and each replied in the affirmative. Proposal Unanimously Adopted. The chairman said the proposal was unanimously adopted. = The chairman said that there were a number of points stated in the American proposal with respeet to replacement and scrapping and other restrictions and regulations. He had no desire to preclude discussion in the slightest degreee on any of these points, hut possibly it would be they were almost all of a technical character, of advantage to have the «Xperts, who were considering the re LORD LASGELLES NOTED AS SOLDIER Princess Mary’s Fiance De- scribed as Man of Many Attainments. By the Associated Press. LONDON, December 14.—Viscount Lascelles, the thirty-nine-year-old-fi- jance of Princess Mary, is tall and slim, with a blond mustache. He has a soldierly bearing, is always well- dressed, a sportsman and a good after-dinner speaker. Consequentl his contemplated entry into the roy- al family of Bngland is regarded with popular favor. The courtship of betrothed couple, love making. They have ridden to- gether in Rotten Row., and’ have walked together through London streets. Country house parties at which the princess has visited have included Lord Lascelles among the guests. He was a guest at Sandring- ham during the recent stay of the royal family there. He went shoot- ing with the king, and the princess jaccompanied the guns. It was here that the mutual regard established at earlier meetings ripened into something more. Asks King's Consent. Lord Lascelles approached the king before proposing to the princess, and the royal parents, like any well-ord- ered family, talked it over with their daughter. Princess Mary soon show ed that she was as much iv leve as the viscount, whereupon the king gave his consent to Lascelles pay- ing his formal suit to the princess. The viscount won golden opinions when fighting in_France with his regiment, the Grenadier Guards. One of his fellow officers says that Lascelles never lost his cheerful smile even in the hottest fighting; the only exception being when to- bacco ran short. “A bally million- aire and not a cigarette to bless myself with,” he grumbled. He had successfully circumvented many attempts made upon his single estate by matchmaking mothers and had come to be regarded as a con firmed bachelor. He was not sup- posed to be a “ladies’ man” and h tastes ran more in_ the direction of sport. He is a hard rider to hounds and has lately established a pack in Yorkshire of which he is the master. Lord Clanricarde, from whom Lord Lascelles in 1916 inherited 'nearly £2,500000, was supposed to be the worst dressed man in the house of lords. The rent roll from his Irish estates ran into £30,000 a year. London Home Famous Mansion. The Lascelles' London residence, Chesterfield House, a famous May- fair mansion fronted with tall col- umns and facing Hyde Park, was used as the headquarters of the league of nations until the league moved to its permanent offices at eneva. 3 G latawood House, the Lascelles an- cestral seat, near Leeds, is remark- ablo for its seventy-six doors made of solid mahogany, which were made on the family's estates in Barbados. Most of the wealth of the Earl of Harewood, the prospective bride- groom’s father, is derived from sugar plantations in the West Indies. - Harewood House has a wonderful collection of china, valued at $1,000,- 000 and surpassed in this country only by the Windsor collection. The family arms are two bears support- ing a_shield with with the motto * “Salvation in God aloned. R stood that the principles of replace- | according to accounts, has been reai | |placement chart, consider all these detailed matters relating to capital |ships and airplane carriers, the two subjects upon which un agreement had been reached, and bring in for the |consideration of the committee a | statement both as to replucement and the particular regulations as to crapping which they proposed 1o suggest and as 1o any other restric- tions or modifications of restriction contained in the American proposal Those matters being relegated for the moment to the consideration of the subeommittee of experts, he asked | whether th wax Any - question which the committee desired to dis- cuss in relation to the limitation of naval armament. Agreement in Order. The chairman then said that he supposed it would be in order 1o have a formal agreement prepared relating to capital ships and em- bracing the points that the commit d upon in connection with rrivrs, including the limi- tation of the size of individual ships of war and the armament of indi- vidual ships of war other than capi- tal skips and airplane carriers, as well as the limitation upon the size and the armament of wirplane car- riers themselves, That agreement might be put in course of prepara- tion while the experts were dealing With the replacement chart in detail. In other words, the committee could have the genersl form of it, the ar- ticles upon which it had agreed. in the course of preparation and that could await the insertion of the par- ticular details of replacement, etc. Wwhen they were ready His suggestion, then. would be, if the committee had nothing further it fwished to disc s at the moment in relation to naval armament, that a committee be formed, consisting of the heads of the delegations. merel to take note of the progress that was made with the preparation of the agreement and of the progress that was made by the committee of ex- perts and to have such informal con- sultations as might seem helpful in | the course of that work, and that the committee should adjourn subject to the call of the chair and a meeting could be had when these agreements were ready 1o he presented for con- sideration and approval. He inquired | whether this was acceptable. He said |he should add to this that, as he understoond it. in the matter of the resolutions presented by Mr. Root. which the committee had had under |consideration at the morning meet- ing, inciuding the second and third resolutions as w. with resard to th i1 &s the resolution tonnage of indi- uxiliary craft. the commitiee aiting the ipt of instruction | rtain of the delegations, and that {as soon us the commitiee could tuke them up the chair would call a meet- ing for thut purpose. There was also [the xubcommiftee dealing with the first resolution. as to submarine war- vidual ifare, and whenever that committee | was readyv to report the chair would be advised | Whereupon, at 4:45 mittee adjourned subject to of the chair. GERMANS LAUNCH BIG CANAL PROJECT Waterway Will Connect Rhine, Main and Danube. Corporation Formed. By the Assor Press, ! MUNICH. Germany, December 30.— | A corporation with an fnitial capital fof 1.200.000.000 marks has been or- ganized for the construction of a canal connccting the Rhine, the Main and the Danube_ the bizgest water- way project ever undertaken in Eu- rope, which will require twenty years for completion. The executive board consists of six- ty-one members, eleven of whom will represent the central government and eight the Bavarian government Twen- ty-two shares are to be taken by in- dustrial, shipping and banking ciycles in Germany. $ Sixty Locks Required. Part of the canal, work on which | will begin on January 1, will be built across a 1.200-foot elevation, requir- ing sixty locks over a stretch of 700 kilometers. Forty power plants, ca- pable of developing 400,000 horse- power, are to be erected, designed to furnish 2,500,000,000 kilowatts of pow- er per hour, at an estimated saving of 8,000,000 marks' worth of coal every year. The total length of the waterway to be created will be 3,437 kilometers and will be able to accommodate 1,500~ ton ships. The canal is designed as a thorough- fare between the North and Black seas, with continental connections which its promoters believe will make it of inestimable value to foreign as well as domestic shipping. Capital Available. The meeting at which the company was founded was attended by repr sentatives of every branch of Ger- man industry, as well as by officials of the central, Bavarian. Baden, Hesse and Thuringen governments. It is understood - that sufficient private apital, in addition to governmental has been pledged to insure success of the project. —_—— ARMY AND NAVY TO PAY RESPECTS TO PRESIDENT — High Ranking Officers to Proceed in Line to White House on Monday Forenoon. High ranking officers of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, in active service in this vicinity, today were ordered to assemble gt the State, War and Navy building, Monday morning at 11:30 o'clock, and proceed in line to the White House, to pay their r spects to the President. The service line will be much smaller than at any previous New Year reception. The Army and Ma- rine Corps line will be limited to of- ficers of the rank of colonel and above, and the Navy line to officers of the rank of captain and above. Gen. Pershing will head the Army line, Adrmairal Coontz the Navy line and Gen. Lejeune the Marine Corps line. President Harding has arranged to give a special evening reception later in the season to all officers of tha Army, Navy and Marine Corps, in- Ccluding those on the retired list and others not on the official program for the New Year reception. Secretary and Mrs. Weeks will ko:‘p active and Pee “open house” New Year day for tired, and the public generally. p.m.. the com- the cal ! ficers of the Army,