NAVAL CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20472, 25 January 1930, Page 11

NAVAL CONFERENCE.

pEDS OF THE POWERS.

INDIVIDUAL STATEMENTS.

NATIONAL SAFETY FIRST.

PROTECTING TRADE ROUTES.

DESIRE FOR SECURITY. Bi Telecraph—Press Association—Copyright.. (Received January 24, 7.15 p.m.) British Wireless. RUGBY, Jan. 23. The first business meeting of the Five Powers Naval Conference was held at St. James' Palace this morning. All the delegations were fully represented. Informal meetings between delegates will be held this afternoon. At four o'clock to-day the Prime Minister will preside over a meeting at No. 10. Downing- Street, at which the French, Italian and British delegations will attend. All the delegates will be present this evening at a banquet at Guildhall, given in their honour by the Lord. Mayor .of London, Sir William [Watorlow. Mr. H. L. Stimson (United States) said lie had decided not to make any statement to-day regarding America's naval requirements. These were well understood, and they had been cheerfully recognised by the nation which was the host to the conference and which had. through its Prime Minister, agreed that' equality in naval power between the United States and Britain was the basis upon which they could best promote the beneficent purposes of this conference. •He believed the requirements of the national defence of the various nations were necessarily largely relative to the / general conditions of the world and. therefore, if" this conference could find a way by which reduction could be secured, the United States Navy could be likewise reduced. Mr. J. E. Fenton (Australia) referred to" the peculiarly remote situation of 'Australia, its 12,000 miles of coastline and its distance from the principal world markets, to Which* it sent large quantities of primary produce. Mr. J. L. Ralston (Canada) said he felt that no statement was necessary at this time, regarding the Canadian naval service. Position of France. M. Tardieu (France) set out 40 geographical, economic and military facts upon which France's naval needs were based. The most important geographical factors were that the French coastlines and harbours were dispersed on three parts. French overseas territories »*<stituted the second biggest colonial Empire throughout the world, with a total of 33,850 nautical miles of lines of communication, and the home and colonial coastline of France aggregated over 10,860 miles. The. chief economic factor was . France's.extensive • trade -with . overseas territories and foreign countries.

From the military point of view, unless larger forces than were necessary were maintained in her scattered overseas territories, France 'must dispose of a naval strength which was indispensable for the transport of convoys of troops that might be required for relief or reinforcement. •

France's needs, as indicated, were not necessarily absolute but might be converted into relative ones to a considerable extent for international security. ' Mr.' Mac Donald said the British Government was fully alive to the difficulties relative to the national needs, but the conference must face those difficulties and resolve them. While the statement of need was important, the claim for naval strength must always be related to risk.

Naval force and military force were required, not because a country had certain economic needs and certain lengths of coastline, but they were based tipon an estimate of how far there was 6 threat of. deprivation of those needs or the threat "to the security of those coastlines. Need and security must Always be related. Britain's Special Outlook. . •Mr. Mac Donald confined his further fcbservations to three heads. First he emphasised the insular position of the tTnited Kingdom, which could not maintain its own population, and therefore Required access to the whole world without limitation, except the ordinary legitimate limitation imposed by a sovereign authority outside, such as tariffs fend so forth.

The British Government's problem was to satisfy the will fo live, which lay at the foundation of the British naval problems. The .world must be open to for food nnd life.

After emphasising the peculiar status bf the British Commonwealth, he added that the British naval strength was required " to enable our own kith and kin ftnd members of our own family to keep Inter-relation with the Motherland." Secondlv, Mr. Mac Donald laid stress on the fact that the British naval forces are, fend must necessarily be, dispersed in tevery sea. They must be divided into three parts at the very least, with various sub-groups, w>t for fighting purposes, but for police and peace purposes. The Navy could not be kept concentrated; it must be on' the Pacific and on the Atlantic, not, he repeated, for war purposes, but for peace and ordinary national purposes.

Thirdly, ho emphasised the importance fcf the problem from the point of view of "British psychology. The sea was everything to Britain. If she were blocked on the sea she was blocked everywhere. The British had no hinterlands to fall tiack upon, no railway communication, either perfect or imperfect, by which they could draw supplies. That was why all thoughts had heen concentrated on 'the sea. Defence on the Sea. " We' havejelt that on the sea we 'to defend ourselves against everybody and Against, every form of aggression, against fevery aspect of our weakness." He would like that to be changed, 'therefore, he Raid: "What we want is Confidence, given by you to us; confidence given by the rest of the world; confidence igiven, not by our superiors, but confidence that, can be given as the result of Successful talks and successful agreements such as are possible for us now; the confidence that we are living in a world the «eas of winch will not be blocked and will Hot be occupied by hostile fleets which we ski« unable to meet.

" We want a sense. of security which will at once change the psychology which has .influenced British policy so much." Sir Atul Chatterjee (India) and Professor Smiddy (Irish Free State) said they did ,not wish to make any statement. Signor Grandi (Italy) said Italy was practically an island in an inland sea and depended on her maritime communications for seeming over three-quarters of the imports essential to the life of her population. Also, for Italy the sea was her life, and Italy was, moreover, a country with world-wide interests and commitments.

Italy's land communications had to cross the barrier of the Alps and her maritime communications lay through straits, some thousands of miles from her ports. This unfavourable position would justify Italy's relative superiority of naval strength. In any case she could not be sure to forgo naval armaments, at least on a level with those of any other European Power. Italy a Continental Power. He hoped the principle of • the onePower standard might bo applied at the lowest possible level by Italy in her relation to Continental European countries. Italy was ready to reduce her armaments to any level, no matter how low, providing ifc would not be exceeded by any other European Continental Power. Mr. Wakatsuki (Japan) said the fact that the Washington Agreements, through faithful adherence by all the signatory Powers, had greatly contributed to the maintenance of world peace, must eventually serve to unite all Powers in a common hope and endeavour now to further supplement the good work accomplished at Washington, commensurately with the progress of the general situation. Mr. T. M. Wilford (New Zealand) stated that New Zealand supported a small naval unit of the British Empire. The cost of naval defence was about £500,000, the population 1,500,000, and the volume of trade £102,000,000. To an island country like New Zealand, separated from its market by great distances, the safety of its trade routes meant economic life or death. Delegates to Confer. The Prime Minister proposed that the delegations should hold further discussions between themselves, and the conference was adjourned to meet again when there is business to transact, probably early next week. The Prime Minister requested the heads of the delegations to consult with him with a view to the collection, selection and arrangement of questions which will, in due course, be brought before the conference. It was found that there was a large number of such questions, and that the work of preparation must of necessity take a considerable time and require a number of meetings. The first of these meetings took place at No. 10, Downing Street, this afternoon, and after a discussion lasting an hour and a-half the meeting was adjourned until Monday next. It is commented that it is significant that Mr. Mac Donald, on the eve of the conference, publicly reiterated his view that Britain must expand her navy if no agreement were reached. Sir Maurice Hankey has been elected secretary-general of the conference. He was British secretary at the Peace Conference in 1919, and at the Washington Conference in 1921. ■

METHOD OF PROCEDURE.

SMALL SEPARATE MEETINGS.

MacDONALD TO BE CHAIRMAN..

LONDON. Jan. 23. The Prime Minister, Mr. Mac Donald, has announced that the delegates to the Naval Conference have elected him as chairman. If he were absent the vicechairmanship would go to the delegations in rotation.

" The speeches made are really stalemerits of needs from the point of view of naval strength," he said. " There is an absepce of any hostile desire to question one another. In future there will sometimes be two or three delegations conferring, and sometimes only experts fo elucidate points and submit them to the full conference.

" Broadly we are considering first the fleets existing, secondly, the ships laid down, and thirdly, those voted by Parliament. The conference desires to achieve a common agreement. These fleeets will be at the lowest levels possible, which will prevent competitive building." r This morning's procedure was purely a general discussion, without formulation of demands. Mr. Mac Donald inaugurated a general discussion. f • ■

CHIEF DELEGATES MEET

QUESTION OF DISARMAMENT.

MUCH PREPARATION NEEDED. (Received January 21. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, Jan. 23. At the Naval Conference, after a meeting of the heads of the delegations in the Cabinet room, tho following official communique was issued in connection with disarmament: — The Prime Minister, Mr. Mac Donald, asked the heads to consult, with him, with a view to the collection, selection and arrangement of questions to be brought before the conference. There aro numerous preparations that must necessarily he lengthy and that will require a number of meetings*."