NAVAL LIMITATION

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 249, 19 September 1929, Page 2

NAVAL LIMITATION

HOPEFUL SIGNS.. FIVE-POWER CONFERENCE. (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) (British Official Wireless.) Received September 18, 1 p.m. RUGBY, Sept. 17. The naval disarmament proposals are discussed in all the newspapers today. The difference of opinion between Britain and the United States has now been narrowed down to such a small compass that it is thought with both Governments, that the time is ripe for the calling of a general conference of the five principal naval Powers to continue the work of limitation and reduction, which was begun so successfully at Washington in 1922. The danger of ultimate disagreement between the two countries has been all but ' eliminated. The difficulties winch may arise may yet prove complicated, but the foundations have now been well laid and there is a very fair prospect of a general limitation of the navies, which will also, it is to be hoped, lead eventually to the desirable goal of a real and substantia] reduction in naval armaments. After- congratulating Mr Ramsay MacDonald and President Hoover on their courageous effort, the Daily Telegraph emphasises that the agreement between Britain and America is strictly preliminary to the Five-Power Conference, and whether it becomes operative or not depends on the degree to which the other Powers at the conference agree to fix their standards in respect to each other and to Britain and America. The Manchester Guardian recalls that trivial differences were permitted to wreck the Three-Power Naval Disarmament Conference, but states that it is inconceivable that the present differences between Britain and America should not prove easily solved. “There has been a vital change in the condition since 1927 owing to the Kellogg Pact, and the change of Government in both coum tries,” the Guardian states. The Daily Mail regards the outcome as most promising and says that Mr MacDonald’s visit to the United States may open a new chapter in world history if all the expectations based on it are fulfilled. Meanwhile Mr MacDonald must be congratulated on the progress already made. The Morning Post regards the preliminary agreement with America as probably more, especially as President Hoover and Mr MacDonald are both set on finishing it.