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A—4 FOUR-SYSTEM RAIL PLANBEFOREL.C.C. Carriers Ask Commission to Accept Proposal in Place of 5-System Setup. Continued From First Page) stant’al position, where the remainder | necessary to constitute control is de-| clared in friendly hands. i This line-up dismempbers the northern | portion of the fifth system—Wabash- | Seaboard provided in the commission plan. The Wabash, as has been said would go to the Pennsylvania, while the | Seaboard, now in receivership, is left| untouched ! It also leaves out of consideration the | New England roads, although it dips into allocations made to these and to other systems proposed in the commis- | sion plan whicn was Nation-wide, pro- viding for 21 groupings, including twe | that reached over the Canadian border | to get in the Canadian National and Canadian Pacific. Meets 1. C. C. Requirements. In their petition, the carriers say that the set-up they propose would meet the requirements of the Interstate Commerce act providing that competition shall be preserved as fully as possible, and that the systems shall be arranged so that the cost of transportation also the same as far as practicab; each may employ uniform rates and earn substantially the same rate of re- turn Benefits are cited as follows: Each of the four systems would have adequate main stems between the Atlan- tic Seaboard and Middle West and direct routes between important cities and industrial centers. Nearly all the principal producing, eonsuming and population centers of the eastern territory, excluding New England. would be served by two or more and in many instances by all four systems. Each system would have access to sources of fuel supply as well as parti- cipation to s large extent in the com- mercial distribution of coal. The line-up would provide access for each system to at least two of the five principal North Atlantic ports, none of which would be without competitive service. Fach system would have substantial access to the lower Great Lakes ports, Ohio River crossings and Lake Michi- gan ferry routes, and thus participate in the transportation of the large vol- ume of traffic passing through and over them. Would Serve Public. “The four systems proposed would have the necessary physical and finan- cial strength to serve the public effi- clently and economically and to co-or- dinate their services with waterways. highways and other modern means transportation,” the petition says, ding that “in addition to their pi and financial strength, the four systems would be well articulated and reasonably balanced with one another and would thus assure a greater amount of effec- tive competition than would be possible Wwith any number of systems in eastern territory greater that four.” The controversial issue of trackage rights which the Pennsylvania sought over the Nickel Plate, along the south share of Lake Erie, which would have “tied in” some of its short lines and put it into competition with the New York Central, has been held in abey- ance, it developed with the filing of the petition. New York Central Opposes. ‘The Nickel Plate was willing to make this grant, but the New York Central | steadily held out against it, and under the circumstances the matter was left for adjfudication later. Pennsyivania withdrew its claim for this facility, it was understood that | the New York Central also would with- | draw certain demands. Another matter over which the rail- road managements were at odds, name- 1y, the disposition of the Virginian, would be settled by allocating it between | the Pennsylvania and Chesapeake & Ohio, and giving to the New York Cen- | tral joint rates and through routes, over | it. This will give the Central an outlet | at Hampton Roads. The Virginian, & coal road, is owned by the estate of H. | H. Rogers. { The grouping Would also result in| giving the Van Sweringens their long- | sought extension for passenger service | into New York City. Principal 1. C. C. Changes. i The principal changes in the Inter- state Commerce Commission’s plan would be as follows: The Delaware & Hudson from the | Boston & Maine system to joint owner- ship of the four proposed systems. | The New York. Ontario & Western from the New Haven system to the New York Central. The Lehigh & Hudson River Ratlway from the New Haven to the Baltimore & Ohio. The Lehigh & New England Railroad from the New Haven to joint ownership of the four svstems. The Virginian Railway from the New York Central to joint ownership by the Pennsylvania and Chesapeake & Ohio— Nickel Pl Because the | Toledo & Ironton, from joint ownership by Baltimore & | Ohio and Wabash-Seahoard to the | Pennsylvania. . | The Delaware, Lackawanna & West- | ern Railrond, from the Chesapeake & | Ohlo-Nickel Plate to the New York | Central The Wabash Railway, Toledo, Peoria & Western Railroad and the Norfolk & Western Railway, from the Wabash- Seaboard to the Pennsylvania ‘The Lehigh Valley Railroad. Wheeling | & Lake Erie and Chesapeake & Ohio | Railroad of Indiana. from the Wabash- | Seaboard to the Chesaprake & Ohio- Nickel Plate, Joint Ownership. The Pittsburgh & West Virginia, ex- cept that portion west of Gould's tuntel | —three miles west of the Ohio River- and the Akron. Canton & Youngstown Railway, from the Wabash-Seabeard to jaint ownership of the four systems. That portion of the Pitisburgh & West Virginia_west of Gould's Tunnel would ! g0 to the Chesapeake & Ohio-Nickel | Plate Western Maryland Railway and Ann Arbor Railroad from the Wabash Sea- board to the Baltimore & Ohio. ! Chicago & Eastern Illinois Raflway | from_the | the ake & Ohio-Nickel Plate. | Chicago. Indianapolis & Louisville Railway (Monon) from joint ownership { of the Baltimore & Ohlo, Atlantic Coast Line and the Southern Railway to | the Baltimore & Ohio. Monongahela Rail from joint' ownership by the New York Central, | Pennsylvania and Baltimore & Ohio to Joint ownership of the four systems. Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiogheny Railway from joint ownership by the New York Central and Pennsylvania to_joint ownership by the four systems. Montour Railroad, which was not al- Jocated in the commission plan, would g0 to the four systems jointly. ‘The plan also makes changes in the allocation of short lines. All Make Concessions. | The petition tells the commission that “probably no single one of the group herein proposed is exactly what those interested in the group would wish it to be,” adding that “in order to reach a common understanding it has repeatedly been necessary for all of the interests involved to make con- cessions.” “It is believed, however, that each of the systems resulting from the su uping will be able to te tly and serve_the T Curtis Has Portrait Painted THE SUNDAY STA.RL WASHINGTON, Vl("l: PRESIDENT POSES FOR MUNICH ARTIST. HE photograph shows Vice President Charles Curtis in his office at the Cap- itol, posing for Eduard Illig, Munich portrait painter. —Underwood & Underwood Photo. Railroad Merger Plan Eastern Companies Submit Principal Groupings T'nder Four-System Plan to Interstate Com- merce Commission for Approval. The principal oupings under the foursyiem plan’ supmitted by _the Eastern railroads to the Interstate Com- ‘merce Commission yesterday follow: New York Central System. New York Central, Fulton Chain Rail- way, Racquette Lake Railway, Chicago River & Indiana Railrond, Louisville & Jeffersguville Bridge & Railroad Co. Mungt® Belt Railway, Federal Valle: Railway, Pittsburgh & Lake Erie, Lake & Eastern, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Harlem Transfer Co. New York, Ontario & Western and Ulster & Delaware Railroad. Added to this will be certain trackage rights on the Reading, Lehigh & Hud son River Valley, Pere Marquette, Le- high Valley, Pittsburgh & West Virginia | and Wheeling and Lake Erie. Pennsylvania System. Pennsylvania Railroad. Long Island Railrcad, Baltimore & Eastern. Penn- sylvania & Atlantic Philadeiphia & Beach Haven, Rosslyn Ccnnecting Rail- road, Waynesburg & Washington, West- ern Allegheny, Philadelphia & Camden Ferry Co., Toledo, Peoria & Western; Norfolk & Western, Wabash, New Jer- sey, Indiana & Illinois, Detroit & West- ern and Detrcit, Toledo & Ironton. Trackage rights are granted at cer- tain points on the Baltimore & Ohio, Lehigh Valley and Pere Marquette. Baltimore & Ohio System. Baltimore & Ohio, Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal Raiiroad, Dayten & | Union Railroad, .Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway, Reading, Atlantic City Railroad, Peoples Railway, Central Rail- road of New Jersey. Lehigh & Hudson River, Western Marylana, Ann Arbor, Manistique & Lake Superior Railroad, Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh; Buffalo & Susquehanna, Chicago & Alton and Chicago. Indianapolis & Louisville (Monon route). Trackage rights on the New York Central, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western; Pennsylvania, Chesapeake & Ohio, Pére Marquette and Wheeling & Lake Erie are included In this set-up. C. & O.-Nickel Piate System. Chesapeake & Ohio Rallway, Coving- {ton & Cincinnati Elevated Railroad & Transfer & Bridge Co., Pere Marquette, Flint Belt Railroad, New York. Chicago & St. Louls: Erie, Chicago & Erie; New INSLAYING OF TWD for Murder of Sisters. Wife May End Life. By the Associated Press. NEWKIRK, Okla, October 3 —Earl ! Quinn, former Missouri convict, faces death in the electric chair through his conviction late today on a charge of murder in brutal slaying of Jessle and Zexia Griffith, December 28, near Ton- kawa, as the sisters, teachers, returned to work after a Christmas visit at their Blackwell home. The well groomed defendant heard the verdict without emotion, but soon lost his composure and tears welled in his eyes. Wife Threatens Suicide. His pretty. blonde wife hysterical sobbing. If Earl is convicted T'll commit sui- cide,” she had declared in advance of the ‘verdict, prehensively. Hearing on & motion for a new trial was set for October 9. Quirn returned to his cell declaring he had nct slain the two young women whose bodies were found on the Salt Fork River 17 miles from their blood- stained automobile. One of the sisters had been criminally assaulted. Drunken Attack Charged. ‘The State charged that Quinn, an admitted liquor runner, shot the teach- ers to death while he was inflamed by drink. ‘The defense boldly charged that Amos Griffith, described as a shell- shocked brother of the sisters, was in- volved in the slayings. Later bringing in the name of an alleged accomplice. James Mathers, defense attorney, also told the jury in his arguments he would gave way to Chicago & Northwestern to have brought the “slayers into the court | room” during the trial had he not feared the heart-broken mother of the girls “would commit suicide.” He was rebuked by the judge. LOCKED UP FOR SHOTS Target Practice. George Rosemarish of New York City was locked up after he sent two bullets into the apartment of Willlam J. Stewart. Rosemarish said he meant no harm and was only holding a little target practice with a .32-caliber rifle. operated in a less co-ordinated manner as at present,” the petition concludes. The mileage of the respective sys- tems would be: B. & O., 11,000; Van Sweringen, 12,500, Pennsylvania, 16,500 and New York Central, 13,000. Exhaustive hearings by the Interstate Commerce Commission now are in pros- pect as the result of the consolidation proposal being laid before it. Inasmuch as the commission now is grappling with the frellhthrl'a case the consoli gty hA iy Officers watched her ap-' York, Susquehanna & Western; Wilkes- | Barrfe & Eastern, New Jersey & ®ew | York, Bath & Hammondsport, Lehigh Valley, Bessemer & Lake Erie, Chicago & Eastern Illinois, Chicago Heights Terminal Transfer, Wneeling & Lake Erle, Lorain & West Virginia, Pitts- | burgh & West Virginia (west of a point at or near Goulds Tunnel), Pittsburgh & -Shawmut, Pittsburgn, Shawmut & Northern; Detroit & Mackinac, Mani- stee & Northeastern and new construc- tion, Portland, N. Y., to Portage, N. Y. With this will go certain trackage on the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western, Michigan Central, Kanawha & Michi- | gan, Pennsylvania, Baltimore & Ohio, | Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh and Lehigh & Hudson River. Joint_allocations are | New York Central, Pennsylvania, Bal- timore & Ohio and Chesapeake & Ohio- Nickel Plate—Delaware & Hudson, Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley, Green- | wich & Johnsonville, Schoharie Valley | Railway, Napierville Junction Railway, Lehigh & New England, Montour Rail- | road, Pittsburgh, Chartiers & Youghiog- heny Railway: Monogahela Railway, | Pittsburgh & West Virginia (east of a point at or near Guold's Tunnel), Elgin, | Joliet & Eastern, Akron & Barberton Belt and Akron, Canton & Youngstown | “New York Central and Pennsylvania— Central Indiana, Cherry Tree & Dixon- ville, Cambria & Indiana and Lake Erie & Pittsburgh. New York Central (60 per cent), | Chicago & Northwestern (20 per cent) and Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pa- cific (20 per cent)—Indiana Harbor Belt. | _ New York Central and Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific—Kankakee & Seneca Pennsylvania and Chesapeake & Ohio-Nickel Plate— Virginian Baltimore & Ohio and Chesapeake & | Ohlo-Nickel Plate—Detroit & Toledo Shore Line, one-half interest now owned Ly Grand Trunk to Baltimore- & Ohio System and one-half interest now owned by Nickel Plate to Chesapeake & Ohlo-Nickel Plate System. In addition to these, about 125 small lines over the territory taken in in the | proposal, which would be distributed among the carriers according to their needs. About 25 other small lines, classed as plant facility and common | carrier railroads are not allocated. QUINN HELD GUILTY 'U.S. REPORT GLEARS - LINDBERGH MISHAP iLiguor Runner Is Convicted Colonel’s Wife Also Thrown in Water, Consul’s Note Says. An official report of the capsizing of the airplane of Col. and Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh, throwing the famous air travelers into the flood waters of the Vangtze River at Hankow, was received | ! by the State Department yesterday | from Walter A. Adams, American con- sul general at the Chinese port. | The report settled definitely that Mrs. Lindbergh had been thrown into | the river with her husband when the | swift current tilted their plane up after it hed been lowered into the water from | the British warship Hermes. It also | showed that Mrs. Lindbergh had acted | With great. coolness throughout. | ,‘When the plane touched the water after being lowered from the deck of | the Hermes,” Consul General Adams cabled, “The 4-knot current swept the plane sidewise and it tipped until one | wing went under and the plane tilted ! to _about 90 degrees. “Mrs. Lindbergh attempted by press- ing a lever to inflate & collapsed rub- ber life belt which she was wearing. ‘The belt failed to inflate and, appear- ing quite unperturbed. she followed the instructions of. Col. Lindbergh and dove |into the water and passed under the | plane. | ""“Col. Lindbergh also dove at the same time and passed under the plane. | Both were swimming easily and were | picked up a short distance down stream a boat from the Hermes.” 'APPROPRIATION BILL | DELAYS FORECAST ‘La Guardia Says Tax Increase i Measures Will Be Put Ahead | by Independents. | | Man Says He Was Only Holding B the Associated Press. Confidence that Republican Independ- | ents will prevent the House from con- | sidering appropriation bills before | measures increasing taxes are passed | was expressed yesterday by Representa- | tive La Guardia of New York. | " He sald party leaders in the House | appeared timid about saying taxes must | be increased next year to meet the grow- ing_treasury defict. “It is obvious that the Progressives will have to take the initiative in pulling the country out of debt,” he continued. It would be easy, he asserted, for Con- gress to “avoid the inevitable necessity of increasing the government revenue” on th “eve of a national election.” He added, however, “I am certain that the Progressives wiil not be & party to any such policy.” R Rumania is a leading part in the movement the. of an itural union of Europe, mm-.o! % . IRAILWAY WORKERS FIX MERGER RIGHTS Robertson Says Demand Will Be Made for Maintenance of Status. Defining the attitude of the organ- ized rail workers of the country on the question of consolidation raised by the application of the Eastern carriers of the Interstate Commerce Commission for permission to merge into four great systems, David B. Robertson, chairman of the Railway Labor Executive Asso- ciation, yesterday set out two principles for which the unions will stand: First —"“Unquestionable of livelihood, rights and interests of railroad employes in the industry and in their homes.” Segond—"A definite labor policy of railroad management, including com- plete willingness and good faith in deal- ing with the self-chosen tives of rallway labor in respect to pro- moting their separate and joint rights and interests.” Summed up, that means, to start with, that the employes propose to de- mand that in any grouping of the lines, their positions be maintained in the present status, and lastly that there be a fuller measure of co-operation with the unions on the part of rail execu- tives. Common Interest Factor. On that basis, Robertson said, “the policy of labor is agreeable to & com- mon interest in promoting the greatest success of private ownership consistent with the public interest.™ Robertson, who is president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and_Enginemen, acts, in his capacity of chairman of the labor group, as the spokesman for 21 organizations with a membership of 1,500,000 The state- ment was telegraphed from his office in Cleveland in response to a request for_comment on the consolidation plan. So far as the question of employ- ment is concerned, the expression of the brotherhood leader, which is re- iteration of established policy, ewed importantly in as much as it PNcges the nature of the fight that will be waged in event there guarantee against further incr the ranks of the idle rail men who now total about 350,000 In the last session of Congress, after the merger plan was announced at the White House, legislative moves were made in both House and Senate to safeguard the rights of the workers in any consolidation, this being beyond the province of the Interstate Commerce Commission. No final action was taken, but there was & feeling that the scheme never would be put into effect until Congress had a chance to have its say. A comprehensive merger hearing is due to be held by the commission, which right now is engaged with the freight rate case, and this probably means that Congress will have a good start on the new session and be in a position to move on the consolidation | issue before threshed out. . Seniority Rights Involved. Bound up with the question of con- tinued employment is also that of seniority rights, an important matter to the railroad employes, particularly in the transportation groups, where the preferred runs are the fruit of long service, and, as Robertson makes clear here also the workers want safeguards Bearing on the same question of em ployment s the fact that any rearrang ment of terminals effected by the co solidations could be responsible for em- ployes having to move their families into new homes distant from the points where they are now established and mx:‘f more the matter of compensation arises. In calling for more cooperation by railroad managements with representa- tives of organized labor, the unions, it is known, are seeking among other things to improve the conditions of some classes of workers on some of the roads where things are not entirely to their liking. While the power “big four” train brothers and other of the principal unions have fared well, some of the weaker groups have had their troubles even to get recognition, it is said, and this is the situation that the s are seeking to remedy. ‘There has been a current of dissatis- faction in labor ranks also because of the declination of the railroads to hold a national joint conference to discuss unemployment, as a result of which the unions propose to go to Congress with a relief plan based on the idea of a shorter work day. There is a feeling in union circles that the cooperation of organized labor is necessary to the roads which them. selves are seeking relief from the com- petition of other transportation agen- cies and on that grounds the labor men propose to base their own demands. Inasmuch as the eastern consolida- tion scheme is viewed as the forerunner of others covering the rest of the coun- try, the adjustments reached im this {ance will establish precedent, which is added reason for the unions to have their position clarified, the commission gets it preservation | representa- | D. C o HALE ASKS NAVY OF TREATY POWER Declares for Legislation as Holiday Movement Is Rumored. —_(Continued From. Firs gress appropriated at the last session. This procedure will enable the Navy Department and the Bureau of tne Budget to present to us an orderly pro- gram of ship building which Congress can follow out in its annual appropri- | ations, and should it appear that the other powers parties to the treaty are not building all of the ships allowed them we on our part can follow suit and the ships not needed to keep up to the ratio terms need not be built, Legion Approves Plan. . “This plan to authorize at once the building up to the limitations of the London treaty has already been a proved by the American Legion in the report of its Committee on National Defense, at the recent convention at Detroit, which report was approved by the convention. “This plan, if enacted into legislation by the next Congress, will uphold the position taken by our delegates at the London Conference, and will obviate the inevitable annual fight for authori- zation to bulld up our Navy, which fight | causes s0 much distress and agony to the pacifists of the country and to the foreign naval powers who are willl to concede to us the ratios of the Lon: don treaty provided we do not build up to them. It will make us immeasurably stronger at the Geneva Conference, or any ensulng conference that may be held, in standing for our American rights, and will in the long run cause the other naval powers to lessen their programs when they understand that bullding of them means inevitable build- ing by this country.” First Line of Defense. Senator Hale, pointing out that the |Navy is the “first line of defense,” declared it must be maintained “to support our foreign policies and to pro- tect our commerce and our citizens and to guard our possessions at home and abaard.” He continued: | “If the Navy is not needed for these | purposes it is the height of folly to keep it up. If we concede that it is needed all that we have to determine is the necessary degree of naval strength to be kept up to enable it to carry out the purpose for which it exists. ~Obvious- ly that degree of naval strength is d pendent upon the degree of naval strength kept up by the other naval powers in the world. “The American people do not want to engage in & war. It is in every way | W our advantage not to do so. If the worst comes o worst and we are finally forced into a war the stronger our navy the better our chances of winning the war. If we over-strengthen our navy, it will not, with our desire for peace, get us into a war since our superior strength will not be used for aggres- sion and will discourage attack or in- terference with our rights. 1If, on the contrary, we allow our navy to de- | teriorate we unquestionably invite {attack. | Equality With World Powers. “At the “three Naval Conferences on Limitation of Armaments that have been held—the Washington Conference the Geneva Conference, and the Lon- don Conference—the American de- mands, based on the judgment of our leading statesmen and naval experts, have crystallized into a demand for a navy equal to that of any other one naval power in the world, which means the navy of Great Britain, and a ratio of substantially five to three with the navy of Japan. “Our Navy is rapidly becoming a col- lection of antiquated ships. Under the terms of the London treaty the life of a destroyer is fixed at 16 years. By the end of the year 1934 we shall not have a destroyer in our Navy that is not, under the terms of the treaty, obsolete. The quota allowed us under the treaty is 150,000 tons, which means substan- tially 100 destroyers of 1,500 tons each. At the last session of Congress $10,000,- 000 was appropriated to start, during the current fiscal year, the construction of 11 of these destroyers, a little more than one-fourth of the treaty comple- ment. The smallest number of de- troyers needed with the fleet under the economy plan now in force in the Navy is about 80, and yet with the sit- uation facing us where all of our de- stroyers will be obsolete inside of three years, for some unknown reason the powers that be have decided that the 11 destroyers authorized and appropriated for by Congress in the interests of economy should not be built and have awarded contracts for only five. T am wondering what steps in the interests of disarmament will be taken |by our foreign brethren to prevent the | building of "these five destroyers just contracted for?” Recent efforts to stimulate traffic be- | tween the Dominican Republic and South Afnerica, Panama and Gulf ports are said to have been March through your bills like a general. Take command of your private obligations and get them “in step’” with your campaign “to win.” A loan may enable you to be your own Chief-of- Staff. You may obtain such a loan from this bank. Come in—You'll like us and the way we do things. Morris Plan Bank Under Supervision U. S. Treasury Loaning Hundreds to 1'ho|uu'xdl OCTOBER 4, 1931—PART ONE. HOOVER NAVY CUTS PLAN HELD BASED ON PROSPECT OF PEACE Administration Believes War Is Unlikely With Either Britain or Japan. Both Already Troubled. BY FREDERIC WILLIAM WILE. Bluejackets in John Bull's great At- lantic fleet mutiny and refuse to put to sea for maneuvers. The gold standard is scrapped by the Bank of England and the proud pound sterling crashes to the lowest value in cont¢mporary history. Chinese and Japanese troops clash in Manchuria over the execution of a Nip- ponese military officer. Mukden is oc- cupled by the Mikado's army. President Hoover announces the practical aban- donment of any plans to build the | United States Navy up to London treaty standards—parity with Great Britain and superiority over Japan—and ordains | & $60,000,000 slash in the naval budget for the ensuing year. ‘These events may seem unrelated. They must be recognised, in fact, as definitely and directly associated with one another, From the American stand- point—if President Hoover persuades Congress to support his plans for dras- tic naval retrenchment—they - denote that the United States has scrapped for the immeasurable future all plans to build a fleet equal to the British navy, or 40 per cent stronger than the | fieet of Japan. The immediate purpose | and effect of the administration’s pro- | gram is to avold expending some $130.- | 000,000 required as a belated first step toward the creation of a “treaty fleet.” Underlying the President’s proposal is | an implied readiness to stabilize the | existing inferfority of American sea power—that 1is, our heavy deficiency in modern 8-inch guns, 10,000-ton cruisers and in up-to-date destroyers, submarines and aircraft carriers. It was to rectify this deficlency that the United States went to the London Limitation Conference of 1930 and there, | at the end of three months of per- sistent negotiation, achieved its pur- pose. That purpose, the White House | now signals, is not to be carried out. | Mr. Hoover is content to let Britain and Japan keep such margins of su- | periority as they then had and still | Ppossess. | Hoover Sharply Criticized. ! Big Navy advocates ass) variety of reasons for the President’s attitude— the naval expansionists whom the Chief Executive proclaims his willingness to “take on” in a knock-down and drag- out contest in the arena of public opin- fon. It is alleged. for example, that Mr. Hoover, true to his Quaker up- ! bringing and beliefs. is pacifist-minded. It is further insinuated that the Presi- dent, bitterly needing all the political issues he can get for 1932, is sacrificing national defense on the altar of econ- omy as a vote-making proposition. Still | other naval critics of the administr: tion assert that the administration, with an eye to “peace sentiment” in| the country, and the world, is bent on American leadership at the Geneva Dis- armament Conference and willing to “scuttle” the Navy in order to set an example there in February of next yea: Some or all of these reasons may in- spire the President’s procedure. Whether they do or not, he is able to adduce | great province of Manchuria. certain sudden developments in the in- | ternational situation—in Europe and Asia—as an unanswerable argument | that the reasons for a superpowerful American Navy are considerably less sound than they were a bare month | 2go. What has happened in that brief | interval to justify so sweeping an about- | ::&e in a {:\cllord American national | icy—a& policy adopted 10 years ago ' this Fall, when we demanded and se- cured battleship equality with the Brit- ish at the Washington Armament Con- | ference and a 5—3 margin of superior- | ity over Japan? Holds Events Responsible. The events responsible for this sen- sational American renunciation of the naval ratios fought for at Washington and London, respectively, in 1921 and 1930, can be briefly tabulated. They are: | 1. The dramatic and totally unex- pected revelation in _mid-September | that the morale of British enlisted naval personnel has been broken by the existing economic crisis. The men de- | clined to take the British Atlantic fleet t0 sea because of the government’s de- sire to cut sallors’ wages. The ships of the fleet were returned to their home ports, the maneuvers were abandoned, an dihe men's demands for restored wages were “adjusted.” 2. The equally dramatic and unex- pected abandonment of the gold stand- | ard by the Bank of England, and the resultant slump in the worth of the | pound sterling. with incidental shat- tering of the whole British commercial, industrial and financial fabric. 3. Outbreak of long-smoldering con- flict between China and Japan over the Actual war was averted by joint representa- tions emanating from the League of Nations and the United States, but peace in Manchuria is doomed to re- main in peril because of the ungovern- | able bitterness which is the aftermath of the recent incidents. Matters are left in a condition that to most ob- servers and foreign governments seems nothing but a postponed, not a per- manently prevented war. Sees Possible Foes Busy. Reduced to naked essentials, what all these happenings mean is that, fn all probability and at least for the vis- ible future. neither Great Britain nor Japan will be able to do anything threatening the peace and security of the United States at sea. That being 80, the administration asks itself and the American people why in such times as these lavish unnecessary hundreds of millions of dollars on & navy that isn't going to have to clear for action? | With the menace of attack from the other two first-class sea powers, Great Britain and Japan. indefinite] gated, can the United States Navy not flord to rest easy, merely maintain existing strength in a state of efficiency, and trust to the future with compla- | cency, without adding new and costly units to the present establishments? = | Great Britain, as now viewed from | the Washington angle, for years to come will not be able seriously to think of a great foreign war. She simply cannot afferd it. That John Bull could and would fight, and fight magnifi- centiy, to defend himself against at- tack is indisputable, But that he could or would contemplate a war against such a power as the United States is regarded wholly out of the question— now, at any rate, or for a decade or more to come. Britannia has other troubles —mountains of them—within her ewn islands and people. She has India to think and worry about. Japan Troubled Now. Japan has not only her own dis- ordered economic state to keep in mind—she is confronted by a vast un- employment problem and financial crisis of the utmost gravity—but must now envisage the possibility, almost any day, of having to fight China. If she fights China, Japan must always | have in mind the chance that she will have to wage war with Soviet Russia, too. The Communist government at Moscow long has cast covetous eyes on China. It is easily conceivable that Russia would rejoicc tn make comr:on cause withy the Chinesc against the Jepanese, if Moscow considered that the final result would be an extension of Communist power into China. Uncle Sam (through the eyes af Herbert Hoover) looks at the world, faces these facts, and says that in a decade there has been no time like the present for the United States to stack arms, or at least to avoid spend- ing its substance on piling up new ones. ‘The President is prepared to go to the country on such a platform and con- vince the people that his program of “no naval expansion” is safe and sane. (Copyright, 1931.) LEE TO BE HONORED AT STRATFORD HALL Members of Memorial Foundation to Go to Birthplace on An- niversary of Death. Headed by Mrs. William C. Eustis, director for the District of Columbia, a group of local members of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Foundation will go to | Stratford, Va, October 12, to attend memorjal services commemorating the sixty-first anniversary of the death of Gen. Robert E. Lee. The exercises will be held at Gen. Lee’s birthplace, Strat- ford Hall, Westmoreland County. ‘They will be under the auspices of the foundation, which is attempting to complete the purchase and restoration of Stratford Hall. The speaker will be Francis P. Gaines, president of Wash- ington and Lee University. The invo- cation will be given by the last sur- viving member of Gen Lee's staff, Maj. Giles B. Cooke, chaplain general of the foundation. The program will include a report by Mrs. Chtrles D. Lanier, president of the foundation; messages from the vari- ous State delegations, a recital by Mrs. Orton Bishop Brown. director for New Hampshire of the foundation; a tribute to Gen. Lee from Judge Robert Worth Bingham; presentation of gifts to the hall by Mrs. Breckinridge Long and the reading of recently discovered letters of Ma Custis Lee by Miss Ethel Armes, historian and secretary of the foundation. e CITY NEWS IN BRIEF. FUTURE. _Luncheon, Alpha Delta Phi, Univer- sity Club, tomorrow, 12:30 p.m. Meeting, District of Columbia Con- gress of Parents and Teachers, Frank- lin Administration Building, Thirteenth and K streefs, tomorrow, 3:30 p.m Marx Celebrates Their 6th BIRTHDAY JUBILEE Our Gift to You! ABSOLUTELY FREE Vith Ever: chase of $16 or More Your This Beautiful g L] o -4 (-9 7] 8 =] = [] = E O O LT y Single Pur. Choice or Gorgeous New: Pastel Blue Bonnet Pattern 32-Pc. 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