SINGAPORE BASE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 17 August 1927, Page 7

SINGAPORE BASE.

AIR T. M. WILFORD’S 3TATEAIENTS. AIR HOWARD DISCUSSES HIS SPEECH. (BV TKI.EGBAPH— press association.'WELLINGTON, Aug. 16. Air. E. J. Howard, in the House of Representatives, to-night, said lie desired first to deal with the “extraordinary speech they had heard from Air T. Ai. Willard on the subject of the Singapore base,” and declared lie intended to “blow it kite high. Air. Howard said it seemed to him the member for Huht had jumped the claim of the leader of the Opposition by getting in his Singapore speech in this debate when he knew the Prime Alinister had promised to give a day for discussion on the subject. He suggested Air Wilford had worked off one of the most entertaining hoaxes known, tor years on bath Parti ament and the Press. Air. Wilford hail stated that the Singapore Bose must be built hurriedly because Japan was building cruisers rapidly. Brasseyis Naval Annual showed that, owing to the Washington Treaty, capital ship building had been reduced. Even cruiser building was no more than was necessary lor replacement purposes. This applied equally to Britain, Japan, and America. Japan had laid down no new cruising ships since 1925.

Air AYiliford had ispoken ol the secijpt clauses of Japan’s 21 demands on China in 1916. said AJLr Howard, but these alll appeared in a book on Chinese affairs (Fight For the Cause) written by Putnam AN’eale. The. member for Ilutt -had not told the House lie was quoting from the book when lie said Japan’s demands were more significant than those made by Austria or Serbia in 1914. Japan had done all she could to bring about friendliness with the British jreople, anil the Singapore Base was a menace to them. INho six points in Japan’s treaty with China mentioned by Air AViliord ais secret were not .secret at all. All* Wilford was putting over tiie House a stale story .as a new one. He (Air. Wilford) was not giving this information to the world for the first time, but it liad been known to every man and woman wlro took the trouble to inform themselves upon the subject, and “®o ill-informed was the Pi ess of the Dominion that only one paper in the country bad discovered that Mr. Wiilford’s story was an old one.”