THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1929. THE LONDON CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20384, 12 October 1929, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 12, 1929. THE LONDON CONFERENCE.

If hopes lately raised aro realised, the London Conference of 1930 on naval armaments will he of even greater value to the cause of peace than that at Washington in 1921-22. The same five Powers will meet; their business will be to take up the questions partly answered at Washington; the spirit of their .combined endeavour promises to be at least as amicablo as it was there. But this conference should be more than a sequel to that. It was agreed, when the representatives concluded their work at Washington, that there should be another conference of the kind in 1931. To hold one early next year is therefore a notable step in advance of what was expected. There has been, it is true, another naval conference in the ten-year interval, that summoned by the United States at Geneva in 1927. But it was ill-conceived, and the restrictive agenda of its business, together with the way in which that business was conducted, made it ineffective. There is no wish to repeat that experiment. , The best that can be said for it is that its failure proved the unwisdom of attempting again any partial review of the subject. Doubtless the lesson it taught has contributed to the wiser plans now adopted. The London Conference takes an altogether new departure: at Geneva it was the differences of opinion between Britain and the United States that provided a bone of contention, the other three naval Powers holding more or less aloof, whereas at London it will be the agreement of these two Powers on certain broad principles that will furnish a basis for general discussion. This fact alone invests the forthcoming conference with greater promise than was associated with that at Geneva, or even that -at Washington. Moreover, this conference has been approached by sure and patient steps, ffhe Note of invitation sent by the British Foreign Minister specifically bases the new attempt on the worldwide acceptance of the BriandKellogg Pact. Next in order was the intimate and prolonged conversation between Mr. Mac Donald and Mr. Dawes. Finally, there has been the frank discussion of the whole position by Mr. Mac Donald and Mr. Hoover. So, in a new atmosphere of wicjely international confidence and by a clearing of the air in AngloAmerican relations, the anticipated conference should start advantageously.

In the Note there is plainly indi 7 cated an intention to give the agenda as wide a scope as possible. Even " hofc-points " of international friction are optimistically included. The much-vexed question of parity is named as a principle to be applied to all naval categories; the question of battleship strength, which .the United States delegates at Geneva were expressly forbidden to touch, is suggested definitely for reconsideration ; the abolition of submarines, urged with vain ardour by the British delegation at Washington against the practically unanimous opinion of the other four Powers, is offered as a topic for round-table discussion ; and, as if to prove that at last the two hemispheres may merge in a fully universal method of handling the problem of armaments, the Note precisely eschews any desire for new machinery to deal with naval disarmament and frankly cherishes the'expectation that the task of the League's preparatory commission and of the subsequent general disarmament conference ufrder the aegis of the League will be facilitated by the Five Powers Naval Conference at London. For comprehensiveness and co-ordina-tion, therefore, the plan of this international naval parliament far exceeds anything yet attempted. Its very wide scope has, in one way, endangered its prospects, but not at all seriously. French comment has been marked by a pointed resentment concerning the proposal to abolish submarines; yefc it is agreed that France will accept the invitation. Italian suspicion of an attempt to impose an Anglo-American policy upon Europe has had free expression ; nevertheless, it has not been suggested that Italy will hold aloof. It would be too much to hope that the conference will reach unanimity on all points, but there is good reason to believe that the whole subject, in all its manifold bearings, will be beneficially ventilated.

Two general topics named in the Note call for somewhat detailed examination in forecasting the work of the conference: one is the changes made necessary in the Washington Treaty, or any similar agreement yet to be given treaty form, by technical and scientific developments in weapons of war; the other is the elucidation of what is meant by parity. The first of these topics relates to a paragraph of the Washington Treaty, this being a provision that the United States, having consulted the other contracting Powers, should arrange, after the expiration of eight years, for a conference to consider what changes in the treaty might be desirable to meet such technical and scientific developments. At Washington it was realised that, in spite of any and every limitation on existing forms of armament, all precautions rnight.be rendered valueless through the invention of means of warfare* to which ,the treaty did not apply. Tfc would be fruitless to limit total or individual tonnage of vessels, size of guns and angles of elevation, if scientific advance introduced new offensive means quite independent of theso restrictions. To close this very possible loophole may very well be a

task for combined effort: it would certainly add a considerable safeguard if precautions were taken to deal, without waiting for the expiry of any period, with such technical developments. Concerning parity, ''there is manifest need for definition. Absolute parity, consisting in equal numbers and capabilities of all categories of naval armament—vessels, tonnage, speeds, gun calibre and range, and so on—would defeat the very purpose of limitation, which is the providing of security against aggression. There must bo consideration of varying national needs and an allotment of defensive means commensurate with differing circumstances. The friendly ventilation of this subject is something that the Five Powers Conference can helpfully essay.