500.A15A4/851: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Acting Chairman of the American Delegation (Gibson)
9. With reference to your speech of February 9, Point 9, the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations have suggested that in appraising any proposed type of limitation of expenditure on matériel, the Delegation should take into account certain criteria. Specifically, any proposals of limitation by budgetary methods which would
- (a)
- prevent our taking advantage of the total tonnage permitted by the Washington and London treaties
- (b)
- prevent our building to the permitted size in types, viz: 10,000 in cruisers—35,000 in battleships, et cetera
- (c)
- limit the size of guns permitted by present treaties or fix costs so that ships could not be adequately provided with defensive qualities
- (d)
- prevent our taking advantage of the flying deck clause provided for by the London Treaty:
would be objectionable since these matters should be handled by the direct method as being more straightforward, less liable to misinterpretation and less apt to create bad feeling.