Thursday, 6 February 1930

London:  

At the naval conference, work of a mostly procedural nature has been going on.  But the U.S. delegation, headed by Secretary of State Henry Stimson, releases a statement which surprises some.  “At the opening of the conference, the United States delegation made no statement of its position or of the needs of its country beyond the historical fact of agreement in the principle for parity between Great Britain and the United States.  We are now in a position where we can go further.”  The statements goes on to say that, following discussions with the British and Japanese, the U.S. proposes “immediate parity” with the British in every class of warship, which would involve, in battleships, “the reduction in numbers on both sides to equalize our two fleets in 1931 instead of in 1942.  In destroyers and aircraft carriers we suggest equality of tonnage, and in submarines the lowest tonnage possible.  As is well known, we will gladly agree to the total abolition of submarines if it is possible to obtain the consent of all five powers to such a proposition . . . .” 

“ . . . Our suggestion to the Japanese delegation would produce an ‘overall’ relation satisfactory to us and, we hope, to them.  In conformity with our relations in the past, it is not based upon the same ratio in every class of ships.  We have not made proposals to the French and Italians, whose problems are not so directly related to ours that we feel it appropriate at this time to make suggestions to them.  A settlement of Italian and of French problems is essential, of course, to the agreement contemplated.”

 

The U.S. proposal to the Japanese delegation, the contents of which are not public, is nevertheless described by Japanese delegates as “drastic and far reaching.”  But other than that, the Japanese are not commenting. 

Elsewhere:

Hamburg:  Communist demonstrators attempt to storm the Mexican consulate, only days after Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union.  The demonstrators break windows with rocks and throw bottles.  Police drive them away. 

Paris:  Reports surface that the French government is quietly conducting an investigation into whether the OGPU, the soviet secret police, is operating in France in violation of French sovereignty.  The investigation comes after the disappearance of White Russian General Alexander Koutiepoff, which was rumored to involve Russian agents.