BIG NAVY PROPAGANDA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20375, 2 October 1929, Page 11

BIG NAVY PROPAGANDA.

WASHINGTON INQUIRY.

SHIPBUILDERS AND AGENT.

SHEARER GIVES EVIDENCE.

Australian Press Association—United Service WASHINGTON. Sept. 30.

Tho inquiry being conducted by a committee of the Senate into tho activities of shipbuilders and their alleged agent, William B. Shearer, at the naval conference at fleneva in 1927 was continued to-day. Shearer said that no member of the American delegation to Geneva on that occasion had wished to see the parley end in fuilurc. He did not claim to have broken up the gathering. The Chairman (Mr. S. M. Shortridee): Do you know of any one of our representatives who worked against arriving at any agreement'! Witness: Only one. lie introduced a political clause to provide for another naval building holiday. I favoured tho American programme for parity with tho British Navy. Jf 1 had not 1 would have been with the British delegates who wanted 750,000 lons of cruisers. Shearer agreed with the chairman that ho had used his brains and his ability to get out tho facts. Witness said ho had also used one other thing, namely, naval intelligence and data as to tho proposed plans of Britain and Japan, what they would attempt to do at the conference and what they did do. Continuing, witness told the committee how his contract with the shipbuilders had ended abruptly. lie said: " Mr. J. L. Bardo, president of the New York Shipping Corporation, came to Washington and reported that tho then Secretary of State, Mr. F. B. Kellogg, had called tho Bethlehem Steel Corporation ' on the carpet' and told it to get rid of mo or tho Department of Justice would open the Government's £3,000,000 suit of 1910 against 'the corporation." Shearer added that Mr. Bardo had once declared that Mr. S. W. Wakeman, of the Bethlehem Corporation, had told them about the Kellogg incident and had said Shearer was a German spy and Britain had enough against him to hang him.