Cruiser Limitation

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 205, 13 August 1927, Page 7

Cruiser Limitation

The Conference Failure. POBITION BEVIBWED BY BRIDGEMAN. AMERICA’S PURPOSE UNREVEALED. (British Official Wireless). (Received 13, 12.80 p.m.) Rugby, Aug. 12. The Hon. W. L. Bridgeman, First Lord of the Admiralty, speaking last night on the recent Geneva naval conference, said that although the delegates had disagreed, he did not regret the conference had taken place. He was certain it had done a great deal of good by letting light and air into the whole subject. He expressed the opinion that a mistake was made at the Washington Conference, when it was agreed that the maximum new battleships should be 10,000 tons with 8-inch guns. Unhappily, he said, a maximum tonnage and calibre tended at once to become standard figures. Britain wished to reduce the size of ships and guns. An 8-inch gun had an immense superiority over a 6-inch gun, and that was a direct incitement to all countries to go in for the maximum.

The Americans proposed also that destroyers should be allowed as much as 3000 tons, which meant that destroyers would be nearly twice as large as they were now.

The British proposals were by far the most effective as regards economy, and were stated absolutely frankly. “We asked that each country should say what they wanted, and why they wanted it. We had the greatest difficulty, and we never did succeed, in ascertaining why it was that America wanted such a large number of these large cruisers, and such a large number of cruisers even a little below 10,000 tons, but with 8-inch guns. It was on this that we were unable to come to terms.

“We said wo wanted a certain number, and they said they would not limit the size of guns they wanted, and there wd could not agree. The reason we wanted a number was simply that we live in an island, and our food and raw materials for our trade come an immense distance. There were many thousand miles of trade routes to be protected, and we have only in this country few food supplies. During war we found out how quickly we could get near the starvation point. “America, after all, is a huge country and self-contained, and it is inconceivable that she could be the subject of a strict blockade. We were not considering the possibility of war with America —it was out of our minds altogether.

“Our problem is one of defence against any accident that might happen. Wo want assurance against danger—an unforseen danger that might come from anywhere.” Mr. Bridgeman added that one good aspect of the conference was that it demonstrated once more the union of the British Empire.