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? y MAGAZINE SECTION THE FARMVILLE ENTERPRISE -J 'J- :j ?? ? , ? ? 1 ? ? ' ' ? ? . r , ( ^ | i n ill nil i J FARMVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1934 Predict Failure of S ? . Naval Conference * *:L c'J ! . - - ' ? - V I / J ? Experts Say Japan's Demands for Naval Equality Mak^ National Agroomant Impossible. Upper Left: British Cruiser Norfolk. ftlflht: Secretary of the Navy "8wanson. Below: U. 8. Airplane Carrier. Inset: Japan's Latest Warship. ? t . 7 .' y ry~<;rvs'?.^--T.'cv.. r TV.'T:. .-' ? ? - V?* , :?^ ^-=- ? - WILLIAM C. OTLKY JP^fAN; speaking through its am vbassador to the United States, s?Ir. HIrosI Sal to, on November 23, announced formally that It In tended jo ask Abrogation of the ? Washington^naval armaments treaty of 1822,1 denouncing ft ah inade quate to present-day needs. The move, while not unexpected In,cir cles of 'state, emphasized more clearly than ever the problems of . the naval armaments conference to be conducted in London next spring. The Washington treaty was made under vastly, different conditions ! frofh those.whlch face the parley of. 1935. Nations, tired of war and, economically pressed by the enor mous expenditures and subsequent, back-breaking burdens of taxatloh, were in more of a tnood to have - things done with, and that Id a hurry. Now they seem to have switched to the Opinion that na . tlonal defense at any cost takes precedence over economy. Japan,' she claims today, submit-, ted.; to. a limitation of armaments which are, now, &.< she says they probably were then, inadequate and humiliating." Later, in the London treaty of 1980, Great Britain claims tdThave been the "patsy/' although admitting it was hex own fault & Socialist party then In power mak ing reckless and over-generous con cessions In an attempt to gain no toriety and popularity through what It hoped Would appear as a pow erful stroke of shite. Under present conditions, Japan , is the hold-out of the three great I t naval powers of the world. The , three are now met in a prelim inary'conference necessary to Iron out the details of the presentations of the' nations to the naval confer texftfe dtself later. . It - was the Washington treaty which tvas tne author of the ex [ Isttng 0-5-8 ratio of naval arma unentfcf- This permits the United ' States and Great Britain, the two I most powerful navies, equality in Strength, with Japan's navy 60 per cent equal, to either. This is the ! principle Japan denounces as un fair and unsafe to its national de fense and, secondarily, to the pro tection of the Far East and the j maintenance of the "open door" pol-1 Icy in Asia. " ftow Japan Insists on "equality In ! principle" in all navaf armaments. Ton for ton, she,wants her navyVto be on a par with the other powers. Her proposals at the Lon don .preliminary conference de scribe no categories - for vessels (other than classifying them ai , either "offensive?' or "defensive?); they merely limit die-total tonnage or the entire fleets. Through dozens of wearying discussions, the United States and Oeeat Britain have turned Japan doWn flatiy on the proposition, and have waited for the Japanese ambassador to Great Britain, Mr. Tsuneo? ; Matsudalra, to r return with a compromising plan. Chief spokesman of the United States Is Normati H, Davis, ambas sadors t-large In London,, and prin cipal representative for the Brit ish Is Sir John Slmona British for eign secretary. All through th^ preliminary conference they have seemed to sit back and wait %r Japan to make the moveB; she has Only returned to each now*, meeting with strengthened demands for equality. ? - . . ? :f . / ? ? Japan .Demands Equality. ? . Backed by a tremendous flame^of ?public opinion at-home, which has been kindled for a decade or more with Intense propaganda, the Japa nese 'embassy makes it- plain that the Land of the Blslng Spn no long er considers It safe merely to im prove International relations re ply by entering into a disarmament pact. Setting herself up . as the great protector of the Orient, she insists that everything depends upon the. acquisition of the right to build ship for Ship with: bar rivals-*-or scrap ship for skip. Tor the equality that Japan wants .need not necessarily be secured through building, Tokyo has made It plain. She Is willing to scrap I " '? ? % ship for ship?provided thut the other powers will start first, bring ing themselves down to her level of equipment. | Nippon, whose chief objection Is I .lie 6-5-8 ratio, Insists that the very word "ratio" be left out of all fu ture treaties, and w111 n?t sul) scribe to one that ' contains the word. This condltldn Is considered absolutely Impossible by the other powers. ' Great Britain, with a vast colo nial empire that depepds entirely ?upOn sea power for ,the protection of Its very structure, contends that so-called "equality" means actually -a vast superiority for Japan In the Pacific, since there is hardly an im-. raglnable circumstance In which. It -would be possible fdr Britain to con centrate her entire'navy In one area for battle purposes. The asea Ja pan must protect Is comparatively iemall. In a war with Japan, Great ?Britain Would have to 'conduct a naval campaign 10,000 miles from her home bases. > /. : Why a large navy is necessary tor ;the well-being of the British em pire has been explained by the first, lord of - the admiralty recently; '"Every day 110,000 tons of merchan dise. and 50,000 tons of food' teach the shores of Great Britain from ovefseas. They cope over 80,000 miles of sea routes, and unless we secure their safe arrival wt starve. The protection of oqr sea routes, for the safe arHval .of our merchan dise, and food, Is /business of the navy." Britain occupies a po sition unique among natlqns In that ?respect A powerful navy or. even a smaller navy more capable of quick concentration could cut off her food supply In almost no time. During the war,< when the German submarine campaign threatened moSt, the entire nation-waa left with <pily six weeks' supply of fobd? . Impossible, 8aye U. s V ' "? ? ? r! ,*?? . To the United States the Japa nese proposal of equality is equally Impossible. Japan, like Brltein, with many island possessions, de pends,-upon small, swift ships tgf defense. Amerlqa must have Targe dreadnauglits for, the defense of her long coast lines, dreadnoughts whbse Individual tonnage most be much, greater than that of- the Japanese ships. Obviously a treaty, which limits shipbuilding to equality of tonnage alone, without naming any categories for the ships, must be all In favor of Japan, whose fa vored monitor of the sea lanes Is the submarine. The preliminary conference so far has produced nothing ? but - a dead lock. Rear Admiral Isoroku Yama moto, head of the Japanese naval air corps and:a delegate tori the con ference, says that Japan will open ly ask cats In armaments, scrap ping battleships and aircraft car riers-as offensive weapons, with, of course, the Japanese scrapping done on k much, smaller scale. In reply to the charge recently flung by the fiery American Brig. Gen. William D. Mitchell that our most danger-! ous enemy IS Japan and the 'United States air force most be built "bp with that in view, Ambassador Ya mamoto said that the naval plans of Japan have never included the possibility of a war with the United States. "We have never considered the United States, a potential en emy," he instated. - - Anglo-American delegates have laid In waiting for Japan to bring forth some Compromise-in her equal ity plan, bat little has bedh forth coming. The Japanese ambassador dlu insist that the Japanese de mands were suLde aUnnly for the purpose of International prestige, and that If Japan Is granted the oretical equality, she will not build up to It. "A contract Is n contract, and u treaty is a treaty," Is the other's answer to that. At least, Japan's attitude In tlte ? dealings leaves no one In doubt as to Just what the couutry wants. The other powers have not been so spe cific; at least, they have not made such definite proposals. Japan Fears Airplanes. Japan more than anything else dreads the airplane carrier. She known full well the dispatch with tyhlch her Island empire might be seriously crippled, If not destroyed, by enemy planes with a floating base In her home waters. It Is said by" those well Informed that she might even accept further cuts In ?er submarine craft In exchange for testrlctlons In airplane carriers of < the other powers. "? Great Britain favors the further reduction of all sorts *>f fighting praft, but will undoubtedly insist that all these restrictions be made applicable to France, Italy and Ger many as welL These three powers, . while figuring little In the prelim inary conferences, have of late en tered" intp what appears to be a | bolldlng race alb their own. Ger many/who made the U-boat famoos in past conflicts, Is prepared to be gin construction of submarines on a large Scale at almost any time. .France, In rebuttal to this condition,. has already laid down two 20,500 ton battleships at a cost of $30,000, 000 each. '".Because of this -Italy has "also ordered two' battleships, each Of! 35,000 tons. : . " , f ?? ? , : Students of international affairs, in consideration of these/conditions, predict (hat po agreement will be , reached in 1935 and that another great building race will result. Whether such a prospect will cause Jppan to modify Its "quality", pro posal is a matter of conjecture; at least she; cannot afford, to enter into a spirited race against the two rich est and best equipped nations of the world. V. . ? ? Vinson's Building Program. ; . ' ' ..... The most recent building program . that has heen, suggested to otfr gov ernment Isv that of; Carl .Vinson, chairman of the naval 'affairs com mittee, wbpse proposals to congress include, among other things, two new airships, one to replace the. Akron and one to replace the Los .Angeles;.a new 15,000-ton aircraft carrier to replace the Langley; the construction" 'of a cruiser with a d&ck for airplanes to lan<j and take off, "to; determine whether this new type.of craft Is practicable; the ex- > panslon of all .naval Shore, stations; the relegation to; the navy of the complete responsibility for aerial sea defense of coast lines; modern isation and expansion- df the naval training centers at Pensacola, Fla., ' and> an Increase in the allotment of United States naval academy ap- - > pointees. . * .Of great interest to the other'' powers has been President Roose .velt's act of summoning former Sefcretary of State Henry L. Stlm aon to discuss the forthcoming con ference. ' The diplomat of the Hoo> ver administration has advised the President that the. nation must stand by'the "open door" policy in. Japan firmly, refusing to recogntee any .'gains- made through force in-,, contravention of treaty obligation, fie advises firm American resist ance to the Japanese proposals at ?onda% Western Nawsoaper Union.
The Farmville Enterprise (Farmville, N.C.)
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Dec. 7, 1934, edition 1
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