Britain’s Half Share In U.S. Naval Yards

Northern Advocate, 14 July 1941, Page 6

Britain’s Half Share In U.S. Naval Yards

WASHINGTON, July 13

The Chief of the Naval Bureau (Rear-Admiral S. M. Robinson) told the House of Representatives’ Naval Affairs Committee that as much as 50 per cent of the existing naval yard repair facilities. will be devoted to the repair of British warships when the j programme, for which 1,625,000,000 dollars is required, has gained full momentum. At his Press conference, President Roosevelt said the huge new appropriations for defence purposes would I be used in part to build a great many of the new ships. He explained that : both the requested appropriations were j necessary because the defence and i shipbuilding programme were ahead !of their schedules, and also because i the schedule of production had been ! stepped up. Therefore the money was needed now, instead of in January. Questioned whether the supplementary appropriations would mean further increased taxes, the President said he supposed the answer was: “You have a tax bill every year. Tax bill are based on the year’s operations, and not on supplementary estimates coming later.” Axis Shipping . The United States has taken over 17 Italian ships on the ground that the owners have forfeited their rights by permitting sabotage. The vessels are among the 28 Axis ships taken into protective custody three months ago. Sixteen more Danish ships in United States ports have been taken over under the Requisition Act. The Navy Department has announced that it has mined the entrance,, to San Francisco Bay and placed a submarine net inside, west cf Alcatraz Island. i