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Hokitika Guardian, 25 March 1927, Page 2

No doubt Air Coolidge and his colleagues are gratified by Britain’s acceptance of the invitation to a second Washington Conference foj- the purpose of disousing the Further limitation o’f naval itrinilmeitts. lit view" of the part that Britain played at the last Conference it might ho taken as a matter of course that she would lie prepared to participate iii further discussion on Hie same lines. But it must he remembered that the American proposal has not been cordially received elsewhere. France and Italy have refused courteously but decidedly to take part in the proceedings, and their example might he supposed to

influence Britain’s judgment to some extent. .Moreover, there are special circumstances which must always affect Britain’s naval policy, and which do not apply equally to other Stales and nations The effect of these con-

ditions is to be observed in the cautious and carefully worded terms of lb' Note in which Britain has now agreed

to pursue still further the discussion and application of the principles adopted by the Powers at Washington ill the Conference convened by President Harding five years ago. From the oversea point of view by far the most interesting and important feature of the British Note says the Auckland “Star.” is its reference to the exceptional geographical p sition of Britain and its special relations with the rest of the Empire. Before the Note was dispatched it was rumoured that the Dominions would object to any further reduction of Britain's naval strength in cruisers, and though' it is now officially stated that the Dominions have concurred in the Note, tut* reasons for their supposed reluc-

tance and for Britain’s hesitation to commit them unreservedly. are made clear in the dispatch itself. Because Britain’s Imperial communications reach to the very ends of the earth.

and because she is dependent for her existence on sea-borne supplies of food and raw material, therefore it is a matter of vital importance to her and her Dominions that she shall he able to patrol the great ocean highways, convoy her merchant fleets, and. if

need lie, protect the outlying frontiers of her Empire. For these reasons, the Note implies, Washington can hardly expect- Britain to accept offhand the suggested further reducion in cruisers. But at all events. Britain is preparing to discuss the whole question frankly and, as far as possible, impartially—so long as this discussion does not prejudice or interfere with che activities of 'the Disarmament Conference already arranged at Geneva. It is. as we have said, a cautious and carefully guai’ded acceptance of President Coolidge’s invitation, but under the circumstances it is all that he could hope or expect.