Would navies trade battleships for 35,000-ton carriers in 1922?

Could treaty navies have chosen 35,000-ton aircraft carriers instead of 35,000-ton battleships?

No. In 1922 carriers were promising but not yet credible substitutes for battleships in the eyes of naval leaders.

The Lexington conversions show that 35,000-ton carriers were technically possible, but technical possibility did not create institutional willingness. Naval leaders understood that carriers were developing rapidly, yet in 1922 the battleship remained the established measure of battle-fleet power.