STIMSON STATES REDUCTION, OF NAVIES NOT IMPROBABLE

London, Eng., March 9--In reply to the many petitions that have reached him from the United States, including several from Harvard University, Secretary of State Stimson recently issued a statement which reads as follows: "There seems to be an impression that the work of the American delegation at this conference is likely to result in an increase instead of a reduction in the tonnage of the navies of the world.

"The surest way to answer that is to give results as seem within reach up to date. The plan which appears acceptable to America and Great Britain provides for a net reduction of over 200,000 tons in the tonnage of the American fleet and an even larger reduction on the part of the British fleet."