Evening Star Newspaper, February 9, 1930, Page 39

DELAYED REPLACEMENTS HELD MENACE TO PARITY Talk of Suspending Treaty’s Scrapping Schedule Recalls - ority of U. S. in BY WILLIAM L. McPHERSON. ODIFICATION of the provisions of tige Washington treaty gov- erning battleship or capital ship replacement is one of the items of the agenda of the London Conference. Postponement of replacements and reduction of the size and number of capital ships are pretty certain to be considered as supplements to any agreement reached for limitation of auxiliary vessels. In reopening the replacement schedules the conference will only anticipate by a year and a half a proceeding authorized and made mandatory by the treaty. Article 21 of that instrument provided: “In veiw of the possible technical and scientific developments, the United States, after consultation with the other contracting powers, shall arrange for a | conference of all the contracting powers which shall convene as soon as possible after the expiration of eight years from the coming into force of the present treaty to consider what changes, of any, in the treaty may be necessary to meet such developments.” Modification Limits Fixed. 1 ‘The Washin February 6, 1922, but did not become effective until August 17, 1923, when | ratifications were exchanged in Wash- | ington. The eight-year-later revision is due in the latter half of 1931. It has been considered more convenient, if all | the signatory powers are willing to waive technicalities, to allow the auxil- fary limitation conference now sitting to deal coincidently with the capital £hip replacement program and to mod- ify it within certain lmits. These limits were fixed in the sum- | mary of the results of preliminary con- | versations between Washington and London attached to the invitations sent out by the British government. It said: “The question of battleship strength | was also touched upon during the con- versations and it has been agreed in these conversations that, subject to the assent of other siguatory gowers, it ;‘ofid l‘;e desl‘rnble to reconsider the attleship replacement programs pro- vided for in the Washington tnlt;no( 1922 with the veiw of dimishing the amount of replacement construction * implied in the treaty.” Treaty Provisions Reviewed. Diminution of replacement is thus brought before the London Conference cither as an end in itself or as an addi- tional contribution to a successful scheme of auxiliary limitation, whether involving substantial tonnage reduction or not. This battleship or capital ship replacement diminution may be brought about either by reduction in the maxi- mum tonnage allowed to capital units, by scrapping units without replacement or by merely posiponing replacements. But since replacement is one of the controlling factors in capital ship parity and, in fact, the chief means under the treaty of producing actual parity be- tween the United States and Great Brit- ain, the problem of modification is one of peculiar importance to this country. It can be properly understood only by careful study of the provisions of the treaty which were intended to relieve, and ultimately to correct, a material left-over disparity in capital ship strength. The treaty, in Chapter II, Part I, designated 18 battleships to be retained by the United States. Their total ton- nage was 500,650. Twenty-two battle- ships and battle cruisers were to be re- tained by Great Britain. tonndge was put at ,450. Their total Replacements Designated. By special arrangement this country was to replace the North Dakota and | the Delaware, each 20,000 tons, with the ‘West Virginia and the Colorado, each of 32,600 tons. That exchange was in- | tended to bring the American battleship Great Brftain was onjigated reat Britain was to replace the Thunderer, the King George V, the Ajax and the Centurion—the first named of 22500 tons and the other three of 23,000 tons apiece—with the Nelson and the Rodney, of 35,000 tons apiece, actually of 33,500 and 33,900. That exchange was designed to bring | the British battleship and battle crul.ser‘ tonnage down to 558,900 tons. | These substitutions were made some | years ago and today, in advance of the Tegular 1934-1942 replacements, there is, according to the treaty res, a at the expense of the Ameri- can battle fieet, ‘of 33,100 tons, almost one maximum size battleship. This inequality was to be overcome through the replacements be; in 1934, the first substitute ships to be laid down in 1931 and completed three years later. The United States was to scrap in 1934 the Florida, the Utah and the Wyoming—the first two of 21,825 | tons apiece and the last of 26,000 tons, | Efii building two new 35,000-ton battle- wr(x_: and gBaLn 70,000. reat Britain, at the same time, would scrap the Iron Duke, the Marl- borough, the Emperor of India and the Benbow—each of 25,000 tons—and re- mll:e them with two new 35,000-ton ttleships. Her total battleship and battle cruiser tonnage would then fall from 558,950 to 528,950 tons. Absolute Parity by 1942, ‘The first replacement is the crucial on~ in the series, so far as the United States is concerned. It would produce for the first time practical parity be- tween the two capital ship fleets, ac- cording to the schedule of tonnage ca Tried in the treaty. which are loosely de. scribed as regulated by “national” SyS- tems of measurement. These systems :& lz'nel:}:rege::, pto‘gucéng unequal re- , replace ;m?g:;u Bl Pl y the treaty v there be an absolute parit not only in tons, but in the ton mm’-’ urements used for each and every unit, After the 1934 adjustments are made | ba the British battleship and battle cru tonnage will be 528,950 and the Am‘:reit can 526.200. In 1935 our fighting fleet Will forge ahead. In that year the Brit- ish lose four units—one battle cruiser, the Tiger, of 28,500 tons, and three bat- tleships, the Queen Elizabeth, ‘Warspite and the Barham, each of 27,500 tons, ‘We lose the Arkansas, the Texas and the New York—the first of 26,000 tons and the other two of 27,000 tons aplece. Each navy gains two 35,000-ton battle- al’llg:_’ "sl;lle H;in:)i‘shAmnnlfle total falls 950, an e American total fal to only 516,200. = Totals Fall in 1936. In 1936 the balance on replacements favors Great, Britain a little. She scraps the Malaya, of 27,500 tons, and the Royal Sovereign, of 27,750. We scra) the Nevada and Oklahoma, each of 27,- 500 tons. One new standard battleship of 35,000 tons is added to each nav; Our total falls to 496,200; Great Brl{ 2in’s falls to 469,700. In 1937 two battleships—the Arizona and the Pennsylvania—disappear from our list and two more, the Revenge and the Resolution, from the British list. ‘Two standard battleships are added on each side. Our net gain is 7,200 tons, and the British net gain is 18,500. The American total tonnage rises to 503,400, and the British total tonnage to 488,200. In 1938 there is only a single replace- ment aplece. We scrap the Mississippl, ©f 32000 tons, and the British Navy gcraps the Royal Oak, of 25,750. Our total tonnage rises again to 506,400. Great Britain's rises to 487,450, Britain Gains in 1939, ‘The 1939 replacements turn the scales once more for Great Britain’s favor. We lose the New Mexico and Idaho, each of 32000 tons. The British lose the battleship Valiant and the battle |'* crutser Repuise, tons and the latter of 26,500. Our total battle tonnage increases to 512,400, gton treaty was signed on | | fected by the ps this country would lose 69,950 | 205 10 42,100 tons, a gain of only 900 replacements go on and | by, the former of 27,500 | States. Continued Inferi- Naval Tonnage. | while Great Britain's 513.450. In 1940 we suffer another relative set- back. We scrap the Tennessee, of 32,300 tons; Great Britain scraps the battle cruiser Renown, of 26,500 tons. Adding in each case a new standard battleship of 35000 tons, the American total mounts to 515,100, but the British total mounts to 521,950. | ®The year 1941, under the treaty, sees | the end of the pre-Washington treaty, battle tonnage. The United States dis- cards the California and the Maryland, the first of 32,300 tons and the second {of 32,600. The British Navy loses the | battleship Ramillies, of 25,750 tons, and | the gigantic battle cruiser Hood, of 41,- | 200 ‘tons—the largest warship afloat. Adding for each navy two standard | battleships, the American total reaches 520,200 tons and the British total reaches 525,000. 525,000 for Each in 1942. ‘The British battle fleet is now at the permanent treaty maximum. It will not be affected by the final replace- ments of 1942, since the Nelson and the Rodney, the two standard battleships | built by special arrangement in 1927 are exchanged for two other standard |units. We shall scrap the West Vir- ginia and the Colorado, completed in 1923, which are slightly below standard, and our total will rise, through the ex- changes, to treaty tonnage parity— 525.000. It must be taken into consideration that the treaty schedules do not use /She same yardstick in msasuring the tonnage of American and British bat- tl: units. The treaty allows this double and conflicting method of valuation. It says in the paragraphs which define standard displacements that ‘“‘vessels now completed shall retain their pres- ent ratings of displacement tonnage in accordance with their national system of measurement.” The American standard of displace- ment—the standard to be applied to all ships built under the provisions of the ‘Washington treaty—is ‘“the lace- ment of the ship complete, fully manned, engined and equipped ready for sea, in- cluding all armament and ammunition, equipment, outfit, provisions and fresh water for crew, miscellaneous stores and implements of every description that are intended tQ be carried in war, but with- m dfuel or reserve fresh water on British Use “Legend” Ton. ‘The standard tonnage of a battle unit is its tonnage when so loaded. The British, however, employed what they called the “legend” ton as a measure and the treaty displacement of their holdover battle units is a displacement without full loading. It is manifest that a ship will be charged with less tonnage under the legend system of measurement than it will under the standard system. With warships of more than 20,000 tons this undervaluation is sometimes as high as 5,000 tons. The real tonnage of the British bat- tleships and battle cruisers is therefose considerably in excess of the “legend” tonnage which figures in the treaty tables. The complete summary of the tonnage in all categories of the navies increases %o THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, FEBRUARY 9, BY WILL IRWIN. VER since President Hoover came to the White House there has | hung over the mantelplece of the “Lincoln study” a steel en- graving which seems to mirror the room itself. Engraved by Ritchie from the painting by Carpenter, it represents the moment when in that spot President Lincoln read his Emanci- pation Proclamation to his cabinet. A familiar, old-fashioned American print, its replicas hung by thousands in humble parlors from Maine to Cali- fornia; a few years ago, before the an- tique business awoke to an interest in the Victorian, it could be bought in second-hand stores for $2 or anything you might offer. But this particular copy had an interest apart from fits exalted position in the heart of the Nation. For one thing, it is the Presi- dent’s personal possession—he has owned it and lived with it for nearly a quarter of a century. For another, it has made domestic history in the White | House. With its careful and authentic | record of detail. it has stood as a model for an attempt to restore that study to something of its furnishings of the five Washington treaty signa- tory powers, just published by the Navy League of the United States, discloses for the first time the additional Brit- ish tonnage in the battle units due to e Tt o, e y, the total battleship and battle cruiser ton- nage, prior to the 1934-1942 rep! ments, is to be figured at 535,850, but the actual British total, translated into standard tons, is 606,405 tons, while the present American total is only 523,400. The apparent treaty excess on the Brit- ish side of 33,100 tons is converted into :gos'-)cmnl standard basis excess of Measurements Vary Widely. It is interesting to note the differ- ence between the “legend” and stand- ard tonnages of the British ships. The Royal Sovereign, the Royal Oak, the Revenge, the Resolution and the Ramil- lies, all classed in the treaty as of 25,- 750 tons, show 20,150 tons aplece by standard measurement. This is a gain for each of 3400 tons. The Malaya, the Queen Elizabeth and the Warspite, credited with 27,500 tons in the treaty tables, are carried at 31,100 in the cor- rected measurement. The Valiant and the Barham, which are undergoing bulging, will aiso rise from 27,500 tons apiece to 35100 when the bulging is completed. - In this class the gain a vessel is 3,600. The Benbow, the Iron Duke, the Emperor of India and the Marlborough, rated in the treaty at 25.000 tons apiece, weigh on the standard basis 26,250, a gain for each of only 1,250. The huge cruiser Hood is hardly af- shift in measurement. She tons. The Tiger's tonnage rises only 400 tons, from 28,500 to 28,900. On the other hand, the battle cruisers Renown and Repulse jump from 26,500 in the treaty tables to 32,000 in the revised and mndn;dhzd schedule. They gain 5,500 apiece, 5 Real Disparity Not Expressed. ‘The real disparity in battle stre between the "American and Brit navies was not expressed in the ires in the treaty. At Washington in 1921 22 the Uniied States exchanged p spective supremacy on the sea for an agreement on parity with Great Britain | —an agreement which did not even es- tablish immediate parity, but merely promised it in the future. Actual parity was to be brought about by a process of equalization through replacements luu;;zllmtfl 1’t.“i.l BL'I’I"h pkptnl. followed 'placement e key to 1 ship equality, 4 S cerned. ‘The much larger actual disparity in ttle tonnage now dmloled"uny overcome by replacements as effectually as the smaller disparity indicated in the treaty. For example, if the replace- ments of 1934 and 1935 are made they jWill involve .under the new tonnage measurements net British loss of 35,100 l::c:rl’:g fll’sio{ellr {.l’_;gsn( 42,200 in the i—a total of ,300. The Bfltwlsh advantage is 83,050. PR Danger Seen in Postponement. I 80 far as we are con- $300, There is talk of postponin lace- ments at London and mnh‘en’l’n‘;fie come obsolete in 1934 and 1935, Un- conditional lement of the appli- cation of the treaty’s scrapping ugned- ules hoxfpoud in this country's interest, It would delay for five or six years the attainment of the main purpose of the :;\:5; ::namer}t limitation of 1922, I nfirm for an unnecessary extrs period the marked superiority J'Aybllll: lives of battle units which are to be: | it units which Great Britain has since the Washington Conf!l’!nce:mm Mere continuation of the battle fleet. status quo would be highl, ble to those elements in Great flm Wwhich do not believe in naval parity with the United States and are reluctant to fol- low Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald in his policy of friendly naval equali- zation. If “replacements are dfiaud equalization ought not to suffer thereby. It 1s to be assumed that the treaty idea of parity adjustment in capital ships will be carried out whatever modi- | fication of the treaty process may be authorized. We have 18 capital ships and Great Britain has 20. Whatever else happens, each navy ought to have gl;;ou?zdnumhbn l;lf‘ gplhl units in . And each ou have equal total tonnage T From another rolnt of view, pro- longation of the life of existing battle units and the forgoing 'of replace- ments would operate t the . Our oldest battleships—the Plorida, the Utah, the Wyom! and the Arkansas—are armed ylfih 12-inch and appearance in the Lincoln day. Once, early in the century, Herbert Kept With Him. Hoover was temporarily back in the old home town where he kept his head office—San Francisco. Most of his re- turns were temporary just then; the exigencies of his international mining business kept him shooting to Australia, Asia or Europe. Strolling up Vallejo street he saw this engraving in the window of a second-hand store. Those were the days when persons possessed of the pink intelligence used feebly to fan themselves when they thought of any object of art or decoration turned out in the Civil War period. Only lately have connoisseurs with wider and more natural judgment revived an in- terest in the merits of the Victorian age. Hoover liked it—probably for its forthright old technique; still more probably because it registered a great moment in American history. On im- pulse, he went in and bought it for a dollar or so and carried it home. Thencefc:th it went with him on all his travels. Wherever they alighted the Hoovers always created a home about them- selves, and they have the same fidelity to old pictures as to old friends. A painting of a boy faun piping to a dance of black panthers, which the President saw and admired in a Lon- don exhibition, has traveled with them 1930—PART TWO,, Restoring Lincoln Study Picture by Carpenter Now at White House Is One of the Things President Hoover Always Has LINCOLN AND HIS CABINET—A REPRODUCTION OF RITCHIE'S ENGRAVING FROM THE CARPENTER PAINTING. since long before the war; also, since | the very morning of his death already the days of the Belgian relief, a paint- ing of a European peasant woman weeping before a background of a bat- | tered and deserted town. Lincoln Engraving Pioneer. ‘This last was a present in recognition of Hoover's relief work. But the Lin- coln engraving was the pioneer of them all. That little piece of American hung on the walls of a bamboo-and-paper house in Tokio, of a somber little resi- dence in St. Petersburg, of a bungalow in Mandalay, of a Georgian country house, now islanded by the growth of the city in London. It returned to California with an intention of perma- nence about 1911; it crossed to London in 1914. When the war was over it went into the new house on the hill | above Stanford University. In 1921 it shifted to Washington for a long stay in the house on S street. And, finally. | house noticed an interestin, was familiar. Lincoln used it for a study; and, as his administration found itself, met his cabinet there instead of in the more pretentious adjoining room. Each occupant of the presidency has changed things about to suit his tastes and needs. Although a tablet in the mantelpieces announces that the Eman- cipation Proclamation was signed here, the room has served various uses. Be- fore the White House had executive of- fices Roosevelt moved in with a_ large, growing and strenuous family. Put to every device for room, he was forced to turn it into a bed chamber. Represented Very Room. President Hoover, making his own re- | arrangement, decided to devote this room to other uses. Tentatively he had | the Emancipation engraving hung over the mantel. Then the familiars of the thing. The as though_ coming home at last, it| Carpenter picture, from which Ritchie moved, on March 4, 1929, to the White | made his engraving, not only represent- House. | ed thi at very room, it must have been As a cabinet member for two admin- | Painted in that very room. Nothing else istrations, as a frequent guest, Herbert | could account for its fidelity and detail, Hoover already knew the White House. | The fireplace in the central background That room where Lincoln sij gned the | of the engraving reproduced almost Emancipation Proclamation and where | Photographically the fireplace below— he worked out his herculean task until ' (Continued on Sixth Page.) The Story the Week Has Told BY HENRY W. BUNN. HE following is a brief summary of the most important news of the world for the seven days ended February 8: * K K K GREAT BRITAIN.—The Labor gov- ernment is maneuvering anxiously in order to carry on at least past the naval parley. The Lords the other day amend- | ed the unemployment insurance bill so as to limit its term to one year. The government, to avold going to the coun- try, which flat rejection by the Com- mons of the amendment would compel, i agrees to a three-year limit, in which | compromise the Lords are expected to | acquiesce. The government, moreover, | has made an arrangement with the Lib- erals whereby the final Commons debate in the most controversial feature of the coal bill—the compulsory marketing feature—is to be postponed. On the other most important features of that bill, those, namely, relating to hours of labor and amalgamations, the Lib- erals make no issue with the govern- ment, and, of course, the combined votes of the Laborites and Liberals could carry the bill in the Commons. | * ¥ k% | SPAIN.—Who could wish to be a dic- | tator? There's no let-up. Suppose | your dictator to have notably bucked up the general economy, and then a | slump to come, such as under “con- stitutional normality” would most like- ly be re as in the nature of things, as correspondent to economic law; why, then, the dictator is blamed, his position is imperiled. Something like this happened in the case of Primo De Rivera. Before his coup d’etat in 1923 there had for some years been budget deficits averaging| the annual equivalent of about $200,- | 000,000. He never quite succeeded in | balancing the budget, but the 1928 | deficit was only about the equivalent | of $50,000,000. In the three years pre- ceding the coup d'etat the balances of foreign trade were adverse by an an- nual average of about the equivalent of 000,000. In 1928 the unfavorable excess was down to $100,000,000, So far, improvement. But in 1920 the foreign trade balance had a serious relapse. This had a bad effect on the guns. They are the only units in the two fleets carrying guns of so low a caliber. They antedate—two by two years and two by three years—the four oldest battleships of the British fleet. These four and the battle cruiser Tiger, of the same age, carry 13.5-inch guns. The Texas and the New York, which, with the Arkansas, are due for replacement 1935, have 14-inch guns. The four British ships on the treaty list for re- lacement, except the Tiger, have 15- ch guns. Battery Equalization Needed. British caliber superiority, in fact, all down the line until the last three American units are reached. The Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Ari- zona, Mississippi, New Mexico, Idaho, Tennessee and California carry 14-inch guns. The corresponding British battle- ships—the Malaya, Royal Sovereign, Revenge, Resolution, Royal Oak, Val- iant and Ramillies—and the battleship cruisers mx‘;own, Repulse and Hood carry 15-1 guns. '?‘ge ‘Maryland, West Virginia and Colorado of our Navy and the 1927 British battleships—the Nelson and the Rodney—carry 16-inch guns, the first three eight apiece and the last two nine aplece. pAd justment of the fighting power of the two battle t?”“ is dl?pendenl' on batte ualization as well as on ton- mzean:Iq can be accomplished within the treaty only by replacement. If the treaty is modified by the suspension of replacements, a better approach to par- ity in gun calibers ought to be assured in whatever build truce scheme is adopted by the conference. Mr. lll’mflfl has promised the United States “parity heaped up and flowing over” and such a parity should be reaiized at London, peseta, an effect greatly exaggerated by those vermin, the international ex- change speculators. The marques pleaded for the time necessary to give effect to measures aimed at correcting the trade balance. No; the dictator must show the goods, pronto! Some are disposed to miminize the improvements that Primo De Rivera is allowed to have effected, saying that they are no greater than was to be expected had there been no interrup- tion of the old regime. This writer does not agree; in my opinion the dictator effected quite extraordinary things in the economic fleld. Quite likely it is better that some other should preside over the restoration of constitutionalism, but it would be calamitous were his improvements allowed to lapse. This was only as to economic matters, but no less as to certain matters of government, such as the restoration of the anclent municipal and provincial bodies. On February 6 King Alfonso issued an amnesty decree of a very sweeping | nature, releasing all political prisoners, | allowing the return of all political ex- | iles, quashing all pending prosecutions | for political offenses; the decree ap- plying to the entire reign. * ok ok % ESTHONIA—On February 24 the Republic of Esthonia celebrates the twelfth anniversary of its foundation. t has an area of about 23,000 square miles (New York about 49,000), and a population lprrov:hlnu 2,000,000, It is a singularly upstanding and well managed little state; the people are displaying a talent for self-government equal to the striking valor they dis- played in their war for independence. The Agrarian reform of 1919, which made Esthonia a country of small-land holders, has proved a success. Scien- tific farming and dairying methods have been promoted by ‘the state and the private co-operatives, the co-opera- | tive movement promising to emulate | its success in Denmark. Stock and dairy farming are the chief activities, the export of butter and meats b2ing important and expanding. Other ex- ports deserving mention are flax, tim- ber and cellulose. A new industry, that of oil shale, is of especial promise, the all-shale beds being extensive and the shale singularly rich. These many years now the budget has been balanced and the currency stabilized, the gold standard obtaining. The railroads are owned and managed by the state, and apparently well managed. Both rail- way and highway systems are being rapidly expanded and improved. Ex- traordinary generous provision is made for public education. The folk lore is rich and passionately cherished, and these people are probably on the whole as happy as any on earth; they do actually sing as they work. They are Finno-Ugric, that is, Mongoloid, and their success and that of their near- kindred the Finns, in self-government, goes far to explode certain racial theo- ries. Congratulations, little sister. * K K * UNITED STATES.—Willlam Howard Taft having, on account of ill health, resigned as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Charles Evans Hughes has been noi inated by the President to succeed him. Mr. Taft goes on the retired list. He was 72 years old on September 15; Mr. Hughes will be 68 on April 11. Jt will be recalled that Mr. Hughes resigned as associate justice of the Supreme Court in 1916 to become the Republican candidate for the presidency. It is understood that Mr, Taft is very seri- ously Il It does seem a little absurd, does it not, that the Smithsonian Institution should be compelled to make special urgent appeal for contributions to swell its fund in order that the latter may be adequate for proper expansion of the institution’s activities in accordance with the purpose of James Smithson that it “should be an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowl edge among men,” and with the ad- No Answer BY BRUCE BARTON HE traffic light flashed red, and a big ca short. The car brushed the front ca Nothing of any importance. 1 rer. Just a bump. Instantly the driver of the first car was on the pavement. No one could bump him with im- punity. He'd show the world. | stopped to watch the per- formance, and the action of the other driver gave me a smile. Mild and innocent, he H did not turn his head. He never said a word angry acc had to climb back into his driver’ seat, and before he could get going angry horns were blowing all around him. He had had the satisfaction of his outburst, but ti ent man won. Years ago | received a very bitter letter. The writer wi wrong in his. facts .and unjus- tified in his ton | carried the my pocket. started to dictate a hot reply. Then | would think of something meaner and decide to wait and try again, On the third morning | had an inspiration. “The most paraly: ing answer | can send to this man is no answer at a Looking eagerly in to find my letter. ning out in his mind the things he will say in reply. Men- tally lashing me to the mast. “And | am going to disappoint him. I'm going to | him 1 d up, stewing in his own ju Peace came over me. It's not an original id D. Rockefeller, days, w i at his a man and began to denounce him in violent terms. Mr. Rockefeller to a story of He did not , looking rather foolish. Mr. Rockefeller quietly picked up his pen and went on with his work. old verse : U t the earth.” Is it true? Look areund you. ‘The meek do not make a spec- tacular showing. They lose es to announce rights and defend their honor and show what tough f lows they ar But they certainly do Inherit. (Copyright, 1930.) | never | | thought of the man again. i . John | | ounger i leaned back H | | 1 !'as per the schedules of the mirable “program of organization” drawn up by the first secretary and director, that very great scientist and administrator, Joseph Henry. The first paragraph of Henry's pro- gram reads as follows: “To increase knowledge—It . is 1) to stimulate men of talent to make original researches, by offering suitable rewards for memoirs containing new truths; and (2) to appropriate annually a portion of.the income for particular researches, under the direction of suitable persons. To diffuse knowledge— It is proposed (1) to publish a series of periodical reports on the progress of different branches of knowledge, and (2) to publish occasionally separate treatises on subjects of general interest.” To direct, stimulate and co-ordinate scientific researches and to diffuse in- formation concerning the results of scientific research throughout the world—these have been the grand aims of the institution. Aims superbly car- ried out. Indeed, it is doubtful if any other human institution has accom- plished greater results in comparison with means. The achievements of the institution, or vitally beholden to its auspices, have been especially remark- able in the fields of meteorology (the ‘Weather Bureau is its child), ichthyol- ogy, North American archaeology and ethnology, astrophysics, aerodynamics and aeronautics. Samuel Langley, di- rector from 1887 to 1907, is the most important name in the science of aero- nautics. Why should the institution be con- strained to appeal for private aid? No doubt, largely because of the false pop- ular bellef that it is a Government bureau, 1t is not, though it administers seven | scientific bureaus of the Government because they arose out of Smithsonian activitles. It is a private institution under Government protection. Congress constituted itself trustee of the fund in- stituted by the $500,000 bequest of the Englishman . James Smithson, which became available in 1838 and in 1846 passed the act of incorporation which prescribed the government of the insti- tution and that the principal of the fund should be permanently invested and its income only available for use. Congress has given the institution (none too generously) buildings and equip- ment and has appropriated for activ- ities definitely in the Government's in- terest. But the main work of the ‘nstitution—namely, disinterested re- search and publication and diffusion of sclentific knowledge—has been carried on mostly through the income of the fund whereof Smithson’s bequest is the basis. That fund has been frequently added to, but it is still far too small for requirements. It would not be amiss should it be largely swelled by contribu- tions from oil magnates, in view of the fact that studies under the institute's auspices of its great collection of foraminifera “have brought about the principal advance in the geological, technique of oil finding.” 1t is to rejoice in the by the House of the Cramton bill, which con- templates preservation of the Falls of the Potomac, emparking of the sur- rounding area and construction of a parkway along the Potomac from the Falls to Mount Vernon. * ok ok % ‘THE NAVAL CONFERENCE—I am not proposing to follow in detail the developments of the Naval Conference, but only to note briefly some of the | more significant. We are told that the British and American delegates are consenting to a plan under which the | British and American capital ship fleets | should be reduced to 15 vessels each, and there should be no replacements ashington treaty, realization of which plan would involve immediate scrapping of five battleships by Great Britain and three by the United States. Presumably the RITISH Arbitration Policies” is the subject of a bulletin just issued by the Carnegle Endowment for International | ce. The author is Dr.| Norman L. Hill, associate professor of | political science at the University of Nebraska. “The modern period of ¢he movement for universal peace dates back to the foundation of the European state lys-‘ tem, which was well under way by the | termination of the Thirty Years War in | 1648." writes Prof. Hill. “It was during the middle of the seventeenth century that the movement to abolish war started in England, but for approximately 150 years its follow- ers were few and there was little pop: lar appreciation of its ideals and pur- poses. Among the earliest protagonists of peace in England was the Soclety of Friends, which was organized between 1647 and 1666, through the efforts of George Fox. Cromwell Blazed Trail. “Among the events which constituted the beginning of the British peace movement must be included the activi- ties of the government of Cromwell. Lord Protector of England from 1649 to 1658. Several treaties were negoti- ated by the British government during his rule, which furnished a new im- petus to the settlement of disputed claims by mixed commissions. “These treaties of the Cromwellian period were followed by similar agree- ments under subsequent governmental Under Charles II, in 1674, a pact was formed with Holland calling for the use of machinery of arbitration. ‘The treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, created two commissions, one to deal with the rights of the parties to designated areas in the Hudson Bay region and the sec- ond to determine whether William IIT was entitled to revenues of the Princi- pality of Orange. “Articles X and XI of the treaty of Utrecht, between England and France, signed in 1713, also provided for two commissions to deal, respectively, with boundaries in the Hudson Bay territory and with claims. Treaties of this type furnish evidence that British diplomacy became acquainted with the nature and process of arbitration at an early date. Work of Limited Group. “These various expressions which the movement against war feund in Eng- land were the earliest that have been recorded for the period of history that begins with the modern State system. ‘They were, of course, immature, and, in some cases, hopelessly idealistic. They were the work of limited groups and were not representative of an attitude which was shared by the public as a whole.” An introduction by the endowment's president, Dr. Nicholas Murray Butler, and an_ outline of the workings of “Peace Societles in Great Britain™ contained in the document, including a description of the “Anti-War Efforts of the Manchester School of Economics,” which, under the leadership of Richard Cobden and John Bright, propounded the doctrine that only defensive warfare is justifiable. The school regarded ag- gressive combat as not only contrary to religion and morality, but incon- sistent with the economic good of a nation. “Several lists of arbitration cases which occurred during the nineteenth century have been compiled. It is clear from all of the lists that during the nineteenth century Great Britain en- gaged more frequently in the arbitra- tion of disputes than any other nation,” Prof. Hill points out. “Mr. Darby's group arranges the leading nations of 1 ¢ | the number of arbitration cases as | stated: “Great Britain, 166: &ermany. 113; Prance, 105; United States, 96; Turkey, 56; Austria-Hungary, 48; Italy, 45, and Russia, 42. In the compilation of M. La Fontaine, Great Britain is credited with 70 cases, the United States with 56, Chile and France, 26 each, and Peru, 13, Since the opening of the twentieth century England has con- tinued to resort to peaceful methods of settling international disputes. “The United States and England have each been involved in six cases which have come before the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Great Britain also has been a party since 1900 to several arbi- tration cases which have been referred to special tribunals. There are four such cases recorded in the British and foreign state papers, including disputes with Brazil, rtugal, Germany and Peru, which were settled bodies in 1904, 1904, 1911 and 1922, re- spectively, British Jurists Often Employed. “The favorable attitude of England toward arbitration as a method of deal- ing with international differences may also be seen from the fact that her Jurists have often been employed as the neutral members of the arbitral tri- bunals. Among the most significant disputes of the nineteenth century in which Great Britain was the arbitrator were the following: “Dispute between Prance and Mexico regarding claims, which was settled in 1844; controversy between China and Japan relative to the murder of a Japa- nese subject by a Chinese, decided in 1875; boundary question between Ar- gentina and Chile in 1896. Of the 13 States, eight by Great Britain and six by Japan. The saving contemplated is seen to be tremendous. The annual cost of maintaining an American capi- tal ship in commission is about $3, 0 and the cost of a battleship ex- ceeds the endowment of any but the very greatest American universities. There seems every reason to expect action approximating the plan glanced at. LR NOTES.—The world is watching with great interest the developments in Paris, the evident trend and aim of which are to make Paris a serious rival of New York and London as an international money market. The Reichsrat, or Federal Council, of the Reich, by 48 to 6, has approved the sundry bills embodying and framed to give effect to the Young plan, and has forwarded them to the Reichstag. City and county elections held throughout Rumania on February 6 re- party government headed by Premier, Maniu. February 3 was the 100th anniversary of the signing by certain powers of the protocol which established the inde- pendence of Greece. There will be! much celebration throughout the year, as is meet and right. by its execution of some 300 naval of- ficers of the tsarist regime scattered through all Russia. No trials, it would seem. Allegation, belike of some kind of treasonable organization, perha) only of aristocratic or mentality”; the latter offenses having heretofore sufficed for such “liquida- tion.” 1It's all one; the commmwenl'a en millennium. May the decade just ended boast any- thing more remarkable than the evolu- tion of that same new Turkey? And since Mustapha Kemal was certainly the chief agent in the creation and evo- lution of the new Turkey, may the dec- plan contemplates correspondent action | ade boast by Japan, France and Italy, but on this heal information is lacking. The Washington treaty, I believe, authorizes the laying down before 1936 of eight repllceme):: capital ships by the United of too much absurdity are two other Easterners, namely, the new Sh>% of Persia and Ibn Saud of Nejd. s the world in the following order, with | the sulted very favorably to the Peasant | The Russian Ogpu has outdone itself | and established a new record of horror, \ps “alien | English must be purged of such vicious eleme | To make it "safe for the Communist | [MIXED CLAIMS SYSTEM CREDITED TO CROMWELL Carnegie Endowment Article Traces Growth of Movement for Peace to Cobden-Bright Thesis. cases not involving England it have that | come under the jurisdiction of the Per- manent Court of Arbitration, England has participated as a neutral on four occasions, in ‘'one of which she was the sole arbitrator. “The history of the diplomatic rela- tions of Great Britain and the United States include many instances of the settlement of controversies by the proc- ess of arbitration. J. B. Moore has listed 20 cases which occurred between 1794 and 1900. Some of them have in- volved highly complex situations that might have produced serious conse- quences. Mixed Commission Set up. “The Treaty of Ghent, signed in 1814, which «restored peace between the United States and England, provided for the arbitration of three issues. They related to the ownership of certain is- lands in Passamaquoddy Bay and the Bay of Fundy, the boundary of the St. Lawrence and the determination of the boundary along the middle of the Great Lakes to the Lake of the Woods. The work of the commission which had to do with the first question, was unsatis- factory, and it was not until 1908 that the issues with which it dealt were finally settled. The other two arbitral bodies were also unsuccessful and the boundaries disputes over which they had jurisdiction remained unfixed until the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, in 1842, “In 1853 it was arran between England and the United States that all outstanding claims should be settled by a mixed commission. U. S. Leases in Sealing Dispute. “The fur-seal arbitration between the United States and England took place in 1892. The case involved the as- serted right of the United States to es- tablish rules in regard to the killing of fur seals beyond the 3-mile limit off the coasts of Alaska and in the Behring Sea. There were two representatives of each party to the dispute on the arbitral tribunal and three neutrals. The award denied American jurisdic- tion beyond the territorial waters under existing rules of international law and prescribed that the protection of fur seals be by joint action in the future. “One of the greatest benefits which Anglo-American diplomacy has derived from arbitration was the termination of the dispute regarding the North At- lantic fisheries, which had vexed public officials for over a century. From 1783, when the treaty of peace was signed at the end of the Revolutionary War, until 1910 the fishing rights of Americans off the coast of Canada were a_ perpetual source of friction. ' They been treated unsuccessfully in treaties formed in 1818, 1854 and 1871. Fewer Cases With France. “PFinally, by a special agreement signed on January 27, 1909, the matter was referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. There were |seven questions which were submitted to the tribunal. While the decisions of the tribunal on these questions were not categorical, three of the seven were more advantageous to England than the United States. “While British arbitrations with France have not been so numerous nor 50 important as those with the United States, there have been a few note- worthy cases. One was the Portendic case, the award of which was given in 1843. It had to do with certain meas- ures taken by the French government in 1834 and 1835 during the course of & war with the Trarsa Moors, which gave rise to numerous claims on the part of British merchants engaged gum trade on the coast of Por- tendic. There have been two cases in- volving Prance and Great Britain that have come before the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. Policy Adopted for Latin Ameriea. “Great Britain has had several™arbi- trations with Portugal, which, like those with France, have involved matters of considerably less significance than those which have occurred with the United States. “‘Great Britain has submitted a large number of disputes with Latin Amer- ican States to arbitration. There have been cases of carrying importance with Argentina, Chile, Nica: Haiti, Mexico, Peru, Venemiela and ta Rica. by arbitral | Party. diplomacy since 1 fairs in 1887 was such that diplomatic relations between the two countries were suspended. Finally, President Cleveland in 1895 intervened with the object of inducing Great Britain to ar- bitrate, justifying his action on the of the Monroe doctrine.. As a re- sult of his action an arbitral tribunal was gclecud. which in 1897 gave its award. Dispute With Brazil Settled. * “The case between Great Britain and Brazil, decided in 1863, dealt in with the British contention that the local authorities of Brazil had been culpably negligent in prosecuting cer- tain persons who had plundered Brit- ish property wrecked off the coast of | Rio Grande do Sul. It also had to do | with the English charge that three of | her naval officers had been attacked by | the Brazilian guard at Tijuca Hill. The arbitrator, the King of the Belgians, |rendersd a decision favorable to Brazil. “Great Britain has arbitrated two cases of importance with Germany. The first occurred in 1890 and had to do with the ownership of the Island of Lemu. & 1905 Great Britain, with Ger- many and France, settled a dispute with Japan in the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The case had its {in the extraterritorial jurisdiction w! | was maintained in Japan prior to 1894, {By treaties with England, France and | Germany formed between 1894 and 1896, the practice was abandoned, but Japan agreed to lease certain tracts of |1and to foreign citizens with the under- standing that no obligation could be { imposed upon the land which was not named in the terms of the leases. European States Lose. “Accordingly, !the European could be charge Japan, on the contrary, argued that the leases referred only to unimproved land and that_taxes could be levied against houses. In 1902 a compromise was ar- ranged and in 1905 a decision was ren- dered in favor of the contention of the European states. “Great Britain also has submitted one important dispute to the Commis- sion of Inquiry at The Hague. The af- fair involved the attack in lw4 Wy the Russian fleet “fl' British vessels under the misapprehension t the vessels were Japanese boats. The report of the made on February 26, 1905, found the actions of the Russian fleet unjustified, but that the were such as to_cast the command. 1 thal The new Turkey is now 10 years old. |