NAVAL POWERS IN AGREEMENT.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18542, 12 April 1930, Page 17 (Supplement)

NAVAL POWERS IN AGREEMENT.

Three Parties Accept Treaty. NAVAL PROGRAMMES OUTLINED. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, April 10. The Prime Minister (Mr Ramsay Macdonald), in the House of Commons, stated: “I am happy to announce that this forenoon an agreement was finally reached between the United States, Japan and Great Britain, on a naval programme, Including all categories of ships. “The terms of the agreement are now being drafted. They will follow very closely the figures announced last September and October during the negotiations with the United States, and they show substantial reductions. A White Paper will be prepared. “From time to time since the opening of the Conference various points of disagreement which ln&ve held up progress towards disarmament have been settled, and these, It is hoped, brought together in one instrument, will be signed by the Five Powers. “The differences in the naval requirements of France and Italy have not so far been resolved. A.t a meeting early this evening between the French, Italian and United Kingdom delegations, It was decided that as such substantial agreement had been come to, it was both unnecessary and undesirable to keep the full body of the delegates sitting in London for the settlement of difficulties which primarily concerned those three delegations, and so we shall propose that, at the plenary session to be held early next week, the agreement now come to shall be signed, and the Conference adjourned on the undertaking that France, Italy and Britain continue their efforts to reach an agreement in conjunction with that made between America, Japan and Great Britain.” The Five-Power Agreement. The efforts to secure the full FivePower Agreement have Dot been abandoned. On a number of technical . matters the Five Powers are in agree- , ment, and it is believed the question of whether these should be embodied ( in treaty form, to be signed by ail the . Powers represented at the Conference, ( was discussed in Conference quarters to-day. The newspapers state that the broad outlines of the form which such an agreement might take were considered to-day at the headquarters of the French delegation, when Mr H. L. Stimson (America), accompanied by his colleague, Mr Dwight W. Morrow, met M. Briand. The proposal, which is, of course, purely tentative, and is one of several which are under consideration, unofficially is said to com--1 prise three parts, which might be signed by all Five Powers, and part „ three by Great Britain, the United : States and Japan.

The Principal Points. It is suggested that Part I. should preserve the agreement reached between the delegations on the subject of what is called a naval holiday in capital ships and large aircraftcarriers, and the speeding up of scrapping; should embody a table which represents the agreed compromise between the category and global methods of limiting naval tonnage; and should apply definitions of exemptions of exempt and special ships which lie outside these categories. Part 11., it is stated, relates to methods for humanising submarine warfare, upon which agreement was reached in committee among the representatives of the five Powers this week. Within this framework it is suggested that the three-Power agreement might be embodied, and this would be dealt with in Part 111. of the proposed draft. ■7. Wider Scope Desired. Efforts to seoure a more far-reacning agreement, as the outcome of the conference, however, continued throughout the day and lasted until late this evening. The French and United Kingdom delegations met before noon. Shortly after noon Mr Macdonald and Mr Arthur Henderson (Foreign Secretary) were in conversation with the Italian Ambassador (Signor Antonio Bordonaro) and Signor Rossi. The British Empire delegations had a meeting later, and at 6.30 to-night M. Briand visited Mr Macdonald at his Downing Street residence to review once more the position of the conference. An official communique says: “The French, Italian, and United Kingdom delegations met at No. 10 Downing Street this evening. The present state of the negotiations was considered, with a view to reporting to the heads of the delegations on Friday morning.” The heads of the delegations will to-morrow proceed with the drafting of the treaty which will emerge from the conference as indicated above. This will probably comprise certain articles to be signed by the three Powers only, leaving certain questions for later settlement. What will probably be the final plenary meeting, apart from that for the signing of the Treaty, will be held on Monday or Tuesday. Naval Tonnages. It is understood that the tonnages under the Three Power Agreement will be 1 Cruisers. Bin. 61n. Tons. Tons. British Empire .. .. 146,800 192,200 United States .. .. 180,000 149,500 Japan 108,400 100,450 Destroyers Submarines Tons. Tons. British Empire .. 150,000 52,700 United States .. 150,000 52,700 Japan 105,000 52,700