RIVAL NAVIES.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19251, 5 March 1928, Page 9

RIVAL NAVIES.

_ * CONFERENCE. SCEPTICISM IN U.S.A. ' „ r ._-PIISS ASSOCIATIOK-COFIRIGHT.) ( ,T AND K.Z. CABLZ ASSOCIATION.) (Reived March 4th, 5.5 p.m.) WASHINGTON. March 2. „ ports from Paris that Britain had t Note to France seeking a special ./conference are greeted with scephere. Mr Frank Kellogg, fir* of State, said that Britain . imt approached him m the mat--1 He intimated, however, that the States would be willing to join ln .l -„Ta naval disarmament discushe felt that little , "SJu come of purely technical discus- ? such as Britain is reported to J £ suggested to France. DEBATE IN REICHSTAG. AXD X.z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) BERLIN, March 2. «Here was a lively debate in com--ittee in the Reichstag on the Government's proposal to build a battle * - The Minister for Defence said , fi3 absolutely necessary to replace ! . existing twenty-six-year-old ship, ton the most serious financial posijfoTshould not compel Germany volunkrily to disarm beyond the Versalles Site Germany needed it to protect her Baltic ports and communications. The Socialists and Democrats opposj the construction on the grounds thai Germany was unable to afford the money. They said it betokened a rejjval of the old militarism. Minister replied that it was not lilted for military reasons, but for fa national prestige. The opponents of the proposal sug«ted that apparently the Gernavy built ships to give unemployed 'captains a chance to command tittle-cruisers. SPEEDY FOREIGN CRUISERS. (iUMUUAH AND N.Z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) LONDON, March 2. The annual return of the Empire's and foreign countries' fleets disclose that the speed of the cruisers being built in the United States, Japan, and Italy exceeds that of Britain's newest. The improved American Pensacola type, of 107,500 horse-power, is believed to be capable of making thirty-five knots, while the British London class, of 80,000 horsepower, is limited to thirty-two and a quarter knots. The Japanese Nachi class, of 130.000 Jiorse-power, is capable of thirty-three knots, and the Ita'"an scout cruisers of the Colleone class, 95,000 horsepower, of thirty-seven knots, the fastest afloat. NAVAL' APPROPRIATION. ■ (ntSTRALIAN AKD K.Z. CABLS ASSOCIATION.) "WASHINGTON, March 2. The House Naval Committee on Thursday authorised an appropriation amounting to 14,800,000 dollars for the modernisation of two battleships instead o£ 34,670,000 dollaTS requested by the Navy DefNttinent for the renovation of five capital ships. NAVAL BILL SUBMITTED. I UvaTRUJiS -Axi) X:z. CABLE ASSOCIATION.) I . (Receired March 4th, 11 p.m.) WASHINGTON, March 3. /.The Naval Bill was submitted to He House - of Representatives to-day, tccompanied by a report stating that with the additional fifteen cruisers the United States would have less than the essential minimum determined by the Navy General Board, and that relative to cruisers the United States sill stand in the ratio of 1.4, compared with Britain 5 and Japan 2.6. : The report, moreover, stresses that the United States is still left in a secondary position. "The programme is • intended to round out our national forces and make them reasonably competent to support our policies and safefciflrd our interests throughout the , *orld. Its purpose is to ensure that : these, policies, and interests will be reipestea; and • peace maintained. It is .in no: sense a competitive programme, once the essence of competition is an tffort to excel or outdistance another."