NAVY AND THE PACT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 45, 23 February 1927, Page 16

NAVY AND THE PACT.

THE HEW GRANTS. PEEVISH AMERICANS. THK TKN CRUISER I'ROi.RAM.Mi:. :Froni Our ;";ic ; ..' '...rre-a''>"..-cr.M LONDON. January ii. With the nj'viii] g i>t 1 '• : .27. by the op oration of the \Var-hii>_:":i XavaJ Treaty. Li rent Britain pos-c- -c- only 14 battleships ami fmir battle-cruisers, i-oin pa red with the iu capital ship? which flew tlii' white en«ign twelve year.- ago —a reduction of more than two-thirds. The reserve tleet which t'ais time twelve years ago mustered three !ir. ndreil men-of-war of various types ivjid ci.-a-e-. lias almost ceased to exi-t. The two Briti.-h '■att li'-liip*. Nelson ami Rodney, the construction of which was provided for under the Washington Pact, are nearing completion, and most likely will hoist their maiden pennants in the coming summer. Powerful as these 35.000tonners are and formidable as their armament i.~. the Rodney and Nelson would have been larger ami still more powerfully armed had it not been for the interference of the Pact, which fix id their maximum displacement at 35.000 tons, and the calibre of the main armament at Ifi-inch weapons.

It may be recalled that four capital ships of over 45.000 tons displacement and with contemplated suitaljle armaments were in the process of construction, but work upon them was abandoned to bring British naval strength into the agreed ratio with that of other Powers. In view of recent pronouncements in the U.S.A., there is a strongly expressed opinion in British naval circles that this country, while honourably carrying out the provisions of the Pact, might have taken a little more time —which it would have been entitled to do—in scrapping the capital ships.

To use their own elegant diction, our Yankee cousins are "some peeved," and through their Big Xavy exponents they are giving expression to their "peeve." Following the outpourings of the spokesman of the Navy Board a few davs ago, President Coolidge had passed his word that he will support in Congress the new programme for the construction of ten 35-knot 10,000-ton cruisers, armed with guns of not less than irin calibre. the projected aforesaid cruisers being within the lines laid down by the great Washington Pact. At first'view looks as if our cousins over the Atlantic carried away by the cry of the big ..avy speakers, that there is a prospect of the U.S.A. falling down into a third or fourth rate naval Power, were determined to challenge Great Britain, Japan. Italy, France, and everybody else in another race for armaments." Our good friends have no more intention of building ten cruisers than they have of wiping out the war debts which wc- and other countries owe them. It is a bit of plain Yankee bluff. There is no necessity to appeal to Congress to pass the new alleged naval programme. Congress has already passed the construction of three new cruisers, but not a single cent of credit has been yet voted for their construction. It is too late in the day to bluff the world concerned, u::d I venture to say that a good bit moic df w.:r debts will be paid"by this country tj the U.S.A. ere a single keel

"• ;Vi< projected ten i- !aid. In the possibility ot" the U.S.A. proceeding with those ten 'cruisers, President Coolidge will he found in the unenviable position of completely stultifying himself. It betrays a curious mentality to clamour for disarmament one hour and appeal for the construction of a formidable fleet of fast cruisers the next. Why President Coolidge's vapourings—for we can call them nothing else—should be taken as "a warning to other nations" is plainly discernible, and are pointed at Japan, despite the fact thaat the relations between Japan and the U.S.A. are becoming more satisfactory. The position being taken up by the great Republic of the West is, to say the least of it, very undignified. Pinpricks such as these are not statesmanship. The fact that a naval candidate cannot spell very well is no reason why he should not literally rise to great things in the Royal Air Force. Air-Marshall Sir Hugh Trenchard, who has just been given that rank, was educated privaleh —he himself says he was never educated —and the story goes that his bad spelling turned him down when he attempted to enter the navy, and he had to try several times before he got into the army. He was commissioned in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, with which he served in the South African war, and he saw further service in Southern Nigeria. He went to Brooklands in August, 1912, and reported to Mr. Sopwith that the War Oflice had given him ten days wherein to learn aviation and pass the tests required for a certificate, adding that if he did not pass within the magical ten days he would be over age. It was no light matter to undertake, but with dogged and determined spirit to succeed he tackled it, and within a week passed out. first-class. Sir Hugh will be .34 next month.