STRONGEST NAVY

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 75, 21 December 1929, Page 11

STRONGEST NAVY

THAT OF UNITED STATES BRITISH OUTCLASSED

HOOVER IMPRESSED BY REVELATION

(United Press Association.— By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) London, December 19.

A surprising faet revealed by the “Daily Telegraph’s” naval contributor Is that the British Navy, instead of being superior in strength to that of the United States, as asserted in America, is actually greatly inferior to every category except small cruisers. The correspondent (Mr. Hector Bywater) asserts that this can actually be proved from the yard-stick prepared for the benefit of the United States delegation to the London Naval Conference. The United States Navy, in fact, is in excess of the Washington Treaty ratio. The. correspondent understands that the revelation has deeply impressed President Hoover’s Cabinet and other American statesmen, who hitherto have accepted the propagandists’ view that the American Navy was badly outclassed by the British. THE NAVAL CONFERENCE KING TO OPEN FIRST PUBLIC MEETING (British Official Wireless.) Rugby, December 19. The Prime Minister announced in the House of Commons that the King will open the first public plenary meeting of the Five-Power Naval Conference which will be held on January 21 in the Royal Gallery of the House of Lords. His Majesty will deliver the opening address. The second plenary meeting of the conference and all subsequent meetings will be held at St. James’s Palace, which the King has placed at the disposal of the Government for the duration of the conference. All questions relating to subsequent proceedings of the conference and the holding of further public meetings will be left for discussion by the conference itself. BATTLESHIP STRENGTH FIRST LORD REPLIES TO QUESTION London, December 19. In the House of Commons, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. A. V. Alexander, told a questioner that no official or semi-official communication had been received from any Government participating in the Five-Power Naval Conference intimating a willingness to view favourably substantial reductions in battleship strength either now or after a fixed period, though Invitations to the conference had suggested a consideration of the battleship question. JAPAN WOULD SUPPORT COMPLETE HOLIDAY New York, December 19. The former Japanese Premier, Mr. Reijiro Wakatsuki, the chief Japanese delegate, will enter the London Naval Conference prepared to support a proposal for a complete holiday in capital ships until 1936. OBJECTIVES OF AMERICA AND JAPAN AGREEMENT REACHED Washington, December 19. A /joint statement issued on Thursday by the United States and Japanese delegations to London said that as the result of conversations here an agreement in the objectives of both countries had been established. The statement said that the discussion was concerned with the general philosophy underlying naval agreements and the opportunities of the coming conference. It took up the good results between the United States and Japan of the Washington Conference and the possibilities of continuing and increasing these results. An agreement in the objectives of both countries was established then in a very frank and friendly way. Each delegation presented a broad outline of its position. This discussion did not go into details or figures, this being the province of the conference and should be done there, where all participating nations will be represented. DISTURBING INFLUENCE STIMSON CASTIGATES “WASHINGTON POST”' Washington, December 19. The Secretary of State, Mr. Stimson, asserted on Thursday in a formal statement that it was the deliberate intention of an editorial in the “Washington I’ost” to attempt to make trouble among the American delegates to the London Conference and the members of the President’s Cabinet to discredit our Government before the Japanese delegation, and thus try to cause a breakdown of the London Conference. The “Post” editorial said: “Needless to say, Americans, look with some uneasiness upon the proposition that the size and relative strength of the United States navy are to be determined by a political bargain with other Powers, and that expert naval counsel is to be minimised, if not disregarded entirely. The public would be vastly reassured if the Secretary of the Navy should take part in the conference, which may shape the future of the navy. When Mr. Stimson to-morrow enters into an exchange of naval views with such an expert as Admiral Takarabe, it is not to-be expected that the Americans can hold their own.”