NO NAVAL RACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVIII, Issue 185, 8 August 1927, Page 7

NO NAVAL RACE.

Hope And Disappointment At Whitehall. JIMJOOE CORRECTS MR. GIBSON I.O.VDON, August 7. Hope is mingled with the atmosphere of disappointment in Whitebill at the result of the breakdown of the Geneva Conference.

Strenn in In id on the fact that the disenidlons Hosed with good will. This may man that the work of preparation which was not done l>eforc the confernra has now partly tx«cn accomplished tad will be bearing fruit when the Poweri next meet.

Tfct railing of the nest conference will probably be left to America, though Britain in not unwilling to reopen the Mgotktion*.

Tltt talk of a revival of naval competition is not taken seriously in London. Britain'* policy, according to well-in-formed peryma, will still be based on ktr defensive, need*.

l> the courne of an interview at <tald»a, Earl Jf llicoe said Mr. Hugh Gibthe chief American delegate, in quoting butt on the question of converting merchantmen during wartime bad iapUcd that he (Lord Jellicoe) was reto armed merchantmen, when Iμ was dealing with the Empire's tfttittr necessities.

Mr. Gibson was entirely Incorrect. lot Jcllicoe said he had referred solely to Germany's armed raiders, which w«t specially dweigned to prey upon tndt, whereas the, purpose of armed ■erchantxnen was to defend trade.

Qmnany's raiders in the latter part ef the war were simply disguised war•kips armed with guns and torpedoes •o etinningly hidden that they escaped m attention of boarding officers.

Von Scheer's Theory. The German Admiral von Scheer, in •» hltenriew, said the (reneva fiasco was «•" te Britain being unwilling to abandon the race for sea supremacy in the ««t of America's talk of having a fleet •eond to none.

Britain had long since recognised that epltil ships are obsolete on the high "M. Future wars would depend on enrtsers. '

France's resistance at the Washington Coelerence led to the exclusion of cruiser wais from the deliberations and Britain M 4 availed herself of this omission to •"•Wish a great and definite cruiser nwtmacy which America could not «W»t* if emiality of AmcYica and »ntain in capital ships was to retain Ki value.

Britain's cruiser* would enable her w Mile her antagonist's ships. America's •Mt fcove was to forestall this and to u P ractiral disarmament, by advo•«»g the abolition of the right to •w merchant ships. fVnamentinjr on th« failure of the WMerenoe th« Leader of the Labour P»«y» Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald, aaid w«e was so little preparation, so few Preliminary exchange* of views and the •"•gMion* were so ill-chomen, that the *«»W. The world was invited to witnes* a series of muddles at Geneva. J[h* work done should be scrapped •*». W* foreign Offi<« should begin to «£«e the problem de novo. Mr. Macsaid he was sanguine that the wmnon sen.e of the two countries was (1 " r ? t »r(? r * ny fri( ' tion to continue. !*• and N.Z. and Sydney "Sun.")