Feb. 6, This afternoon's meeting of the First Committee of the Five-Power Naval Conference, over which Mr. A. V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty presided, lasted ninety, minutes, Tt is tinderstood that the progress made was so satisfactory that the critics of progress are well satisfied to-day.
The meeting examined the possibility of reconciling the two rival methods of limitation (global or by Jeategories) and discussed the classify cation to be adopted for the various types of warships. Finally appointed a sub-committee of experts to draft resolutions for consideration at a later meeting, at which the First Committee will also get down to figures regarding tonnage and categories.
The proceedings at the Naval Committee to-day apparently constituted such a definite advance as to set a sub-committee the task of drawing up a dual scheme of categories adapted to meet the needs of the two sections of the five Powers, namely, the section including France favouring total tonnage without sgovies to enable them to have 1 specialized navy, and the section including Britain and the United States favouring the category system.
It is learned from an authoritative French source that substantial agreement has been reached regarding battleships and heavy cruisers.
The French attitude on subman was emphasized by Minister of Marine, abolition of submarines.'
Colonel Stimson, the head of the United States Delegation, issued a statement to-day saying. that, fol-Towing negotiations between the United States, Britain and Japan, they were now in a position to clarify the limits of a possible agreement.
The United States proposed immediate parity with Britain in every lass of ship. They suggested a reduction in the number of battleships, so that the two fleets would be equal in 1981 instead of im 1942.
They had prepared a compromise proposal, the statement went on, to /meet the Anglo-American divergency regarding cruisers. They would gladly agree to the abolition of sub-snarlness, but if that was impossible, they would suggest that the operation of them should be amenable to the same international laws as surface craft in operation against merchant ships.
gross. tonnage.of the "British: a Colonel Stimson said, that the American fleets was. substantially, 41,300,000 tons -each. He. declared
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.