Tokyo, Jan. 20.
"It third Powers are taking the Sino-Japanese hostilities as a pretext to build additional warships, it is purely due to a misconstruction and distortion of the situation," declared Rear-Admiral Noda, to Reuter today. He declined to answer all questions concerning Japan's capital-ship programme. The strictest secre-ey, he said, had always been maintained regarding Japan's naval construction plans, and he was not ac-Quainted. with them, The Japanese Navy, however, he added, adhered to a policy of non-menace and. non-aggression.
Japan's secrecy in this confection Replying io the suggestion that was, in itself, a menace to third Powers whose building programmes were published beforehand, the spokesman agreed that secrecy might cause uneasiness to outsiders, but added: "We insist that our policy of non-menace and non-aggression should be trusted."
Asked whether Japan's China policy was one of non*menace and non-aggression, Rear-Admiral Noda said: "This policy is the keynote of our entire military preparations. Even the present China affair was undertaken as a necessary step to establish peace in the Far Fast."
Representative Hamilton Fish, Republican of New York, announced in the House to-day that he would offer an amendment to the Navy Department Appropriation Bill authorizing and requesting President Roosevelt to convoke a world naval limitation conference.
The majority leaders, who were present on the floor at the time, made no comment, but many members of the House applauded.
Mr. Fish suggested that the conference should include the United States, Great Britain, Japan, France and Italy, "all of whom are now engaged in a most dangerous naval building race, a sure road to war."
He blamed "militarists and admirals" for the failure of the last London Conference, which saw the death of the Washington Treaty limitations, alleging that they had refused to grant any concessions to Japan.
Still Not Too Late still not too laic for a con-
Mr. Fish urged. "The events preceding. the Washington Conference of 1922 were equally ominous, but the building race was blocked for fifteen years. It can be checked again."
Mr. Fish said he would be "perfectly willing to grant Japan a navy equal to ours."
"Tt is foolish to believe that Japan or any other Power would dare to attack the United States as long as our navy was of equal strength." he told the House.
Pull and "pitiless" publicity should be given the proposal of Pres Roosevelt to ask for additional naval appropriations in his coming special defence message, Mr. Fish declared.
He argued that "Japan cannot afford to build ships in competition with the United States and Great Britain" and would therefore be entirely satisfied with a ratio of five-five-four.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.