The significance of these figures best understood perhaps when it is stated that the cost of arm: ments throughout the world is gained from the latest year-book of the League of Nation Of this amount $2,400,000,000 is, for standing armies of five and a half million soldiers, and_ $1,100, 000,000 for navies "of 5,047,300 tonnage, But, declares practically every Republican writer and poli tic ian, the United States hag not yet fully maintained its navy to the full Washington treaty limits, and though there have since come overwhelmingly important pacts for the maintenance of the—world's peace,—the principal one emanating from ithe Unlited States—nothing should be allowed to confuse the Public. mind of this country upon the urgency of the strongest naval defence.
Newspaper and magazine writers are constantly clamouring for naval additions, and this correspondent has listened to the most plausible arguments as to why the United States should possess a navy second to no other, the result being that, following steady propaganda effort, the majority of Ame believe that other nations some strange manner recently prevented the United States from building and maintaining a navy on lines laid down at Washington in 1922, Based on such splendid gran ideals as are exemplified in its 1 While heh disappointed ai doctrine, the Kellogg treaty has Bmall number who had hoped that nevertheless provided the oppor-new treaty would quickly tunity for still more intensive "big usher in an international plan for navy" campaign work to be unde. reducing armaments, it cannot be taken. It is argued that disarmadenied that the nation at large is ment need not necessarily be ex-satisfied that President Coolidge perted to accompany such an inid not see fit to wind up his pre- ternational agreement—on the condential career with some whirl-! trary, seeing that the " proposal wind disarmament project. 'For 'Americans have just begun to show that the propaganda for a big navy bearing fruit. In the maritime pptates, where naval matters, have {naturally always been best under-IRtood, the people generally are anxfous' that. the United States {hall build a navy as large as "fras_allowed by the Washington Dontorence. This feeling is coming obe shared, moreover, in the Middle Weston states, where the Yeast interest in international, reations, has always been evident, that it may be said that never before was there.such a growing Anterest. in all the states of the [Union in matters of national, deence. President Coolidge has him. golf done much to stimulate this Entereat. A few weeks ago he declared that: "we have demonstrate pd that when we have said we have \majrtained our armaments, not for aggression, but purely for defence, yore making a candid state-iment which we were willing to verify by our actions 1 Referring to the Kellogg pact, Icho President went on to say that would not go into a discussion the details or the implications the treaty other than to point actually emanated from Washington, there could be no country in the world which could construe any Additions, no matter how large, to the U. S. Fleet as any violation of the spirit of the new treaty.
Itis everywhere acknowledged thet the pact is scrupulously observed by each of ite signatories, international wars can scarcely come to pass; but the reservation to each nation of the right to make war in self-defence is all the same regarded as allowing too large a loop. hole, which the United States should prepare against in building up this super-navy 90 ardently adyeeated in certain circles.
So there is no official mention made nowadays of disarmament. Now that the President has stated that the anti-war compact need not affect the American army and navy, the French are expected to realize themselves in much better position to continue to do what they like his opinion was the treaty was signed, the comment at that time in this country being that history has shown that "Eurpean nations never listen seriously to the United States unless the latter has a distinct whip hand."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.