TOO GOOD TO MISS

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 150, 27 June 1935, Page 9

TOO GOOD TO MISS

NAVAL OPPORTUNITY

LIMITS TO BUILDING

FATAL COMPETITION AVOIDED

HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATE

» (British Official Wireless.) (Received June 27, 11.30 a.m.) RUGBY, June 26. During a brief debate in the House of Lords Admiral Lord Beatty welcomed the Anglo-German agreement. A gesture of the kind Germany had made did away, he said, with all possibility of competition in armaments and rivalry on the sea between the two. countries. The agreement for 35 per cent, of Britain's strength established a permanent relationship and ensured that • with at least onte country in the world there would be no competitive building and that was*something to be thank-, ful for. Another effect of the agreement was that there would be no v repetition of ruthless submarine warfare in the future. The Opposition Leader, Lord Ponsonby, confined his criticism to the method adopted in concluding the agreement, and declared that it was in essence not a disarmament but.a re-armament agreement. AVOIDING FATAL COMPETITION Lord> Londonderry, replying for the Government, said that the restoration of confidence and prospects of peace amongst the nations would' be most effectively' promoted by a general settlement freely negotiated between Germany and other Powers. -The Government would adhere to - that view, which in effect they had reaffirmed at Stresa, but as practical people they had to face the facts of the situation. Germany was already increasing her naval strength beyond the limits imposed by the Versailles Treaty, and the Government believed / that the best method of promoting that general settlement to which the ■ London communique referred was not to enter upon a further period of competitive building but to endeavour by agreement with Germany to ' circumscribe the effects of the decision announced by Germany. It was in those circumstances that Germany undertook to limit the future size of her navy to 35 per cent of the British Fleet, provided that the British Government accepted that limitation. To have missed this opportunity of limitation in the sphere of naval defences would have been,- he said, to miss the chance of eliminating, they might hope, for all time, that fatal competition of naval armaments be* tween Germany and this country which did so much to poison the atmosphere a quarter of a century ago. OTHER POWERS NOT PREJUDICED.' it would be a great mistake, said / Lord Londonderry, to assume that in accepting the agreement with Germany the Government had done anything to prejudice the situation of' qther naval. Powers. . The Government believed that by setting a fixed .point of departure for future discussions, both; as regards British and German armaments, they had done a service to the other Powers. In precisely the same manner, if those other Powers could .. succeed. in coming to an agreement with Ger» . many in regard to land or air armaments in such a way as not to commit this country to any particular strength,. thel Government would believe they had done us and the rest of the world a service. Before the agreement was concluded the French Government, ia common with the other Powers signatory to the Washington Treaty, wercr informed on June 1. of the outline of the agreement and were invited to communicate any observations they might desire to offer. THE FRENCH VIEW. The French view was received before the agreement was. made, but their criticisms did not appear to be of such a character as would justify the British Government in withholding its con* sent to an agreement which held such. promise for the peace of the world.; Taking- France's present naval strength, at about 50 per cent, of the British naval strength, the agreement afforded to France at the present levels a permanent superiority of about 43 per cent, over the German navy, compar* ed with an inferiority of some 30 per cent before the war. The Government believed that when the French Government was able to review the situation as a whole through expert representatives whom it' was hoped they would appoint for this purpose, they would admit that this step had been in the ultimate interest of France.