THE NAVAL POLICY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 84, 19 January 1928, Page 5

THE NAVAL POLICY.

AMERICA’S PROGRAMME, ADMIRAL URGES INCREASE. (Per Press Association —Copyright.) WASHINGTON, January It. Admiral Hughes (Chief of Naval Operations), told the House of Representatives Naval Affairs Committee, to-day that a 25 per cent, increase was necessary in the Administration’s new construction programme to provide the United 1 States with an adequate navy. He defined a reasonable navy as a fleet with a fair chance of doing something, and an adequate navy as one which had a sure chance of doing something. , , , . Asked if it was the navy’s thought to have the fleet equal to Britain s, Admiral Hughes declared that the navy did not wish for a eomnetitve builidng programme, but that thought was the underlying idea. . Admiral Hughes said that m lJlo it was the policy of the United States .to have a navy second' to none, and he did not know that there had been any change in this policy.

“A PATRIOTIC DUTY.”

RELATION TO GENEVA FAILURE. .(Received This Day, 11.4 5a.m.) WASHINGTON, January 18. Admiral Hughes testified further before the House of Representatives Naval Committee that he was trying to perform his patriotic duty when he based the naval programme submitted to Congress on that which Britain would have in 1936. wlfcn the proposed programme would be completed. Members of the committee insisted that the large programme £ yew from the failure of the Geneva Conference. Mr MeClintic declared that 90 per cent, of the peo-ple of the United States believed this. Admiral Hughes replied: “I am one, of the other 10 per cent.” Mr Vingon elicited that the proposed programme would give the United States a larger tonnage than would have been permitted had the tonnage limitation proposed by the United States at Geneva been accepted. Mr Vinson asked: “Failure at the Geneva Conference necessarily means a programme of this magnitude then?’ Admiral Hughes “Yes, if I accept your point of view.”