NAVAL BUILDING HOLIDAY.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 September 1929, Page 8

NAVAL BUILDING HOLIDAY.

CRUISER ARMAMENT REMAINING QUESTION

BETWEEN U.S.A. AND BRITAIN

Received Sunday, 7 p.m

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14,

The culling of a general natal conference to consider all classes of lighting craft, from the battleship to the submarine, proposed for early December, has been made possible by the agreement in principle between the United States and Britain on parity in cruiser strength, which hitherto has been the stumbling block to full naval limitation.

Japan, France, Italy and the other Powers signatory to the Washington Treaty, will be invited to a conference at which the United States will pro pose that the ten years’ holiday in the construction of capital ships be extended from 1931 to 1936.

Tiro view here is that by 1936, there should be an opportunity for a second conference, at which it will be possible to take even greater steps looking to a reduction of fighting ships in all categories, as then the navies of the world will have been stabilised.

It is officially stated that the British and United States discussions of the cruiser question have narrowed down to a proposition whether some 30,000 ton cruisers should be embodied in the three craft carrying eight-inch guns, or four or live smaller ships, carrying sixinch guns. This will be left to the December conference.

iViacDonald’s Stay Will Not be Lengthy One

CRUISER GUN-POWER

Received Sunday, 7 p m. LONDON, Sept. 13

That ho might not need to take more than a suit case and a bag of golf clubs, was an unofficial Downing Street hint concerning Mr. Rain-ay MacDonald’s visit to America, implying that, small outstanding differences might, be bridged before September 28, so that he would not need to be accomoanied by a staif of technical advisers.

The Daily Telegraph’s naval expert suggests that America wishes to claim that Britain's four Hawkins cruisers should be regarded as equal to the Washington type, whereas they are in no wise comparable and art' really out of datm He slates: “We have only two eight, inciters more than America but tlie latter’s heavier armameut, gives her a superiority of gun power. The Daily Telegraph’s .diplomatic correspondent says the diiferemm is not a matter of three cruisers but a question of alternatives.

The entir'e field of Anglo-American relations is expected to ho the subject of idle MacDonald-Uoover conversations. Naval Parity Between France and Italy? JAPAN’S NSW DEMANDS. Australian Tress Association. Received Sunday, 11.5 p.m. NEW YORK. Sept. 14.

The Now York World Washington, correspondent states that rapid international moves centreing round the impending agreement between the United States and Britain to achieve naval parity brought the following developments and disclosures to-day. Japan will demand at the five power conference. expected in December, to increase her cruiser strength to a ton-ten-seven ratio and Britain and the United States will probably approve. The conference may be called under League auspices, in which event it would be held at Geneva, instead of London ami it is believed that Italy and France will prefer this. .The question of parity between Italy and France, with the latter frowning upon Italian aspirations for an equivalent navy, will be one of the most important in the discussions. A further limitation in, capital ships, following the trend of the Washington conference, seems assured.