CRUISERS

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVII, Issue 209, 18 August 1927, Page 8

CRUISERS

BRITAIN AND JAPAN

MR. HOWARD’S QUOTATIONS REPLY BY MR. WILFORD. Wellington, Aug. 17. Mr. T. M. Wilford (Hutt) asked the leave of the House of Representa. lives this afternoon to make a personal explanation with reference to some statements made in the House last night by Mr, E. J. Howard (Christchurch South), who had characterised Mr. Wilford's remarks concerning Singapore as an entertaining hoax. Amidst considerable interjection from the Labour benches. Mr Wilford said he regretted that a severe cold had kept him out of the House when the hon. member for Christchurch East was speaking, as had he been present he would have answered immediately the misrepresentations which that gentleman had furnished the House. The hon. gentleman stated that Mr. Wilford had said that Britain's cruiser strength was below that of Japan, especially in regard to speed, and that Japan was building cruisers at a rapid rate, and he (Mr. Howard) quoted Brassey's Naval Annual to show that there had been no change in the relative strength of the battle fleets of the leading naval Powers owing to the influence of the Washington Treaty “1 never said,” declared Mr. Wilford. ‘‘Britain’s cruiser strength was below that of Japan, and such a state ment is absolutely incorrect because 1 was referring to light cruisers, and anyone who knows anything of naval affairs must he aware of the differ ence. What I did say was that the Right Hon. L. M. Amerv had said, ns shown m the British Hansard, from which 1 quoted, ‘the submarine position in April 1929. is that we shall have 31 ‘effective’ submarine, the United States 122, Japan 73 nnd France 63.' and 1 further said thnt he stated thnt the answer to submarines wns cruisers.' 1 SPEED OF CRUISERS As to the speed of Japanese light cruisers exceeding that of British light cruisers, he (Mr. Wilford) quoted from a document, a copy of. which he held and the other copy of which the Government held, showing that the Washington Treaty him no effect upon future programmes in the construction of light cruisers, destroyers and submarines, and he further spoke from a passage which read as follows:—“A study of the tables Will show that our position : n regard to light cruisers, vis-a-vis Japan, is distinctly disouieting nnd that a programme of light cruiser construction is now imperatively necessary. Of the Japanese light cruisers. 22 of them have a superiority in speed of four tn five knots over .any of our light cruisers, except the two of the ‘E’ class, 'i'br- majority of them are also bigger ships, and of Xmsidernbly later date.” “SIX SECRET CLAUSES.” Continuing, Mr; Wilford said the member for Christchurch East had said he (Mr, Wilford) proposed io make public for the first time "six secret clauses” of Japan’s demandon China. ‘‘That is direct misrepresentation. for 1 said during my remarks about the ‘six secret clauses’ that the world does not know these six secret clauses and that when Japan presented them to China she never published them. I also stated that American found these clauses out and published them. What I intended to convey was that they had never been published here, and that I intended to publish them, which i did.” Mr. Howard had stated flat these ‘‘six secret clauses,” as thev were called, were published in a book he had seen and inferred that be (Mr. Wilford) had obtained them from that book. That was not so. for he had not seen the book, but his information was gained from an unimpeachable source.