BATTLESHIP FLEETS.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19851, 12 February 1930, Page 11

BATTLESHIP FLEETS.

♦ NEW AMERICAN DEMAND. PARITY WITH THE RODNEY. (UNITED TRESS ASSOCIATION—BI EUSCTBIC TBLBOKAPH—COPYRIGHT.) (Received February 11th, 7.50 p.m.) LONDON, February 10. There is despondency in British Government circles at the American Rodney demand. This development is reflected by the "Daily Herald's special political correspondent, who says: "It is bad enough that we seem to bo heading for an agreement under which Britain and America will build numbers of light cruisers, the former in order to establish parity and tho latter in order to replace old and small with new and bigger vessels, but it is going to be a lot worse if, in order to obtain parity, there is going to be buildings of new battleships. Pointing out that 15 to 15 can be claimed not to bo parity because Britain has the bigger ships, he says that if America builds an equivalent to the Rodney, within a few years our admirals will be complaining that they must have new ships for old. and the whole squabble will then begin again. "You cannot get final and absolute parity between two fleets unless the ships are just alike. Tt is to be hoped that the Americans will not press the newly-revealed demand seriously." THE AMERICAN MEMORANDUM. NEW BATTLESHIP SUGGESTED. (BBITISB OrriCIAL WIBELBSB.) RUGBY, February 10. The Naval Conference promises important developments this week. Mr H L. Stimson's statement, issued en Thursdav night, is now understood to be only a summary of the American memorandum communicated to delegations containing other far-reaching proposals, especially upon the subject ot battleships. This document and the British memorandum ot tho proposals summarised on Friday were eloselv studied by the delegations during the week-end, and are likely to be tho subject of many conversations during tho next few days. Meanwhile, a further advance is recorded in the compromise proposaJs regarding alternative methods of acchieving naval limitation as the result of week-end studies by the experts, who met again this morning. ' "The Times" to-day says thut among the suggestions made* in the full American memorandum is a proposal that the United States should have the right to build battleships of the Rodney type, a 33,900-ton vessel with 16-inch guns, if she consents to scrap four of her older and smaller ships instead of the three that it would be necessary to scrap to get down to the Washington Treaty figure of 15 battleships. This statement is also reproduced in the "Daily Telegraph." Both journals are dubious of the acceptability of such a. suggestion. PROGRESS BEING MADE. PRIME MINISTER'S REVIEW. (BBITISU OFFICIAL WIRELESS.) RUGBY, February 10. . The Prime Minister (Mr Ramsay Mac Donald), at the invitation of Mr Stanley Baldwin, made a short statement in the House of Commons this evening on tho progress of the Naval Conference. He said that when the Conference met some important preparatory work had still to be done. Tho delegations had to exchange their views before it was desirable to publish the programme. The Conference had now reached a stage where the delegations were discussing details of their requirements. The British Government had therefore prepared a memorandum indicating the policy which had actuated it in these negotiations up till now. This document, which has since been discussed with the Dominion delegates at the Conference and generally approved by them, was now available as a White Paper. A summary of the memorandum had been issued to tho Press as tho result of the issue of a communication giving in some detail tho views advanced by the United States delegation, and ho had decided not to withhold the statement of the British view until today. He wished to make it quite clear that this memorandum, which, indicated the Government's policyi had not been drawn up in agreement with any other delegation. The Prime Minister added: "At this stage of the proceedings, it is difficult for me to give the House any details of the present state of negotiations, but I can say with confidence that progress is being made all along the line." The heads of delegations held a meeting at St. James's Place this morning. A communique which was afterwards issued stated: "For the immediate future, the order of business will be a plenary meeting to-morrow for the discussion of submarines, the completion of questions now under consideration by the first committee and its report to the heads of delegations, and an active continuation of conversations between the delegations." The Prime Minister will preside over to-morrow's plenary meeting and the British view regarding the submarine question will be given by Mr A. V. Aloxander, First Lord of the Admiralty. Many conversations between delegates took place during the course of to-day, and a meeting of experts was held for further consideration of the compromise proposals on the global and category methods of naval limitation, a report of which will be presented to the next meeting of the first oommittefl on Wednesday. BURDEN OF ARMAMENTS. COST TO THE WORLD. IJBITISH OFFICIAL WIBSLXSS.J RUGBY, February 10. Striking facts of the burden of armaments were given by Mr Philip Snowden (Chancellor of the Exchequer) in a wireless talk relayed from London throughout the United States and Canada last night. He said the hope of the Naval Conference was to reach an agreement which would increase the feeling of security among nations and that would promise the peoples some relief from armaments burdens. The magnitude of these burdens was not sufficiently appreciated by those who bore them. The world expenditure on armaments, he said, is £900,000,000, of which 60 per cent, is expended by European countries, 20 per cent by the United States, and 20 per cent, by the rest of the world. The annual cost, of armaments, however, was but a small part of the burden which the nations have to bear as the result of this policy of relying upon force for national security. Armaments were a provocation to war and maintained the war mind, yet

war never settled anything. It was only a game from which both sides rose as losers. It passed the power of the most imaginative to conceive what prosperity and . happiness could be added to the world if its efforts and resources, now so largely wasted in the barbarous and inhuman obsession of war, could bo diverted to the advancement of human welfare. Japanese Delegate'b Speech. The chief Japanese delegate to the Naval Conference, Mr Reijiro Wakatsuki, spoke to the people of Japan' yesterday afternoon by Marconi beam telephony from Imperial and International Communications' Marconi beam station at Dorchester, his speech being relayed throughout Japan by means of the Japanese Broadcasting Company's stations. In the course of his speech he said he believed the Conference would result in the great task of naval limitations being accomplished, increasing thereby I mutual goodwill and concord among the Powers and contributing materially to the advancement of the Fraternity of mankind. NO COMMENT MADE. LONDON, February 10. The American spokesman was not prepared to discuss any new United States proposals. This is in reply to week-end rumours that the United States Government wants Great Britain to scrap the Royal Sovereign before the older Iron Duke class, and also that it wishes to build a battleship or the Rodney tvpe. The latter, it is learned, is a definite proposal, and is likely to reopen the whole battleship question.