IMAGINARY DISSENSION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17174, 3 February 1930, Page 7

IMAGINARY DISSENSION

NAVAL CONFERENCE A REGRETTABLE FEATURE POSITION' OF DOMINIONS (Elec. Tei. Copyright—United Press Assn.) LONDON, Feb. 2. One of the most regrettable features of the Five-power Naval Conference has been the hitherto persistent attempts to raise imaginary dissensions amongst the British and the Commonwealth delegations. The French press readily seize and magnify the "situations, which die a speedy death. Today, however, three London journals baldly came out with a new sensation, announcing that the plenary committee decided on on Thursday is not being constituted, but is being supplanted 'by the committee as a whole, because the. Dominions insisted on the impossible proposal of fall representation on the smaller body. The _ source of this irresponsible statement is perhaps indicated by the mass of French comment telegraphed back to London from Paris to-day, showing that special French correspondents are telling Franco that the Dominions have put Air. MacDohald in the embarrassing position of having to appeal to the nations on Friday to' amend the, procedure to meet the Dominions'' protest. Lo Matin goes so far :is to sneer at the self-made importance of some of the navyless Dominions in hampering the work of the conference.

MR MacDONALD -S EXPLANATION The Australian Press Association lias Mr. Ramsay MacDondld's authority to state that the sole reason behind the creation of a. committee of the whole instead of a, smaller committee was the general recognition that the tonnage problem is most awkward, and involved experts in the discussions and consultations, which could not be freely undertaken by the smaller committee, whereon eacli has only one or two delegates, so his suggestion of the whole committee for the sake of flexibility was readily assented to by everybody. It is expected that the committee on Tuesdav will get down to figures and trv to fill in the 'blanks in the draft of the French plan. This does not mean that the conference will concentrate on this to the exclusion of everything else, but while the leaders and experts are busy thereon, the remainder will commence the prelipinary discussion of other items of business.

Women representing the United States, Japan, and France have arrived in London to support the naval conference. The Americans brought huge disnatch cases packed with resolutions from organisations representing 6.000,000 women throughout that country. The two Japanese, who have been travelling since early. December, are accompanied by a cbest containing 180,OCO signatures collected in 20 days. They will join the British Women's Peace Crusade in presenting memorials lo the conference.

Possible a special meeting of delegates will bo arranged for the purpose, otherwise they will be presented by their own delegations. Italy so far is not represented. BRITAIN'S NAVY PROGRAMME CURTAILED WHOLESALE DELETIONS GESTURE TO THE WORLD LONDON, Feb. 1. 'Hie Daily Telegraph's naval correspondent states :■ — "It is extraordinary that the signi ficance of the wholesale deletions from the British naval programme has escaped general notice. Within 48 hours the Government has cancelled Jour cruisers —three 10,000-tonners and one smaller one —a total tonnage of 36, wj. This amazing gesture was made at a moment when it is most desirable''that the Empire should jealously guard every naval asset, potential and actual, till it. is known whether other Powers are going to redu.c their navies. Naval circles regard the dropping of the four cruisers and the three submarines as, most illtimed, as we are exceptionally weak in these categories compared with other Powers represented at the conference. The live-year programme approved by Pnt'liamenjt in 1925 provided for. the construction in 1525-29 of nine 10,000-ton and seven 8000-ton cruisers. Actually. only the nine ships have been built, or are likely' to be built. The other seven have been nancplled. Britain is tlm only Power which has cancelled a simrle cruiser in the last six years. "Mr. Hoover, in duly, announced that he would defer the laying-down of IWO 10,C00-ton cruisers. These were merely suspended, not cancelled, and the inns and mountings for them are being manufactured. FOREIGN TONNAGE "Until now no certainty has existed. even among semi-official observers at the conference, regarding the tonnage aggregates which Franco and Italy are aiming at. I am reliably informed that the French claim will lie based on a statute adopted a few years ago. under which the navy will attain the. following strengths : Capital ships, 175.00 L tons; light craft, —■; cruisers and destroyers, 390,000 tons; aircraft carriers-, 60,000 tons; submarines, 96,000 tons: but the statute ignores coastal submarines aggregating 30X00 tons. An proximately half the programme of light craft, and submarines lias already been built or laid down, including throe b\ioo ton and seven 10,000 ton cruisers, it this progress continues, France will have thirteen 10,000-tonners in 1936 when, under the Anglo-American t conference proposals, the British Empire will have 15 and Japan nine. These figures lore shadow one of the most serious problems awaiting solution. "The Frerrm submarine total ot 126,000 tons is distributed over 58 large and 50 coastal boats, showing the importance which France attaches to the submarine arm. Of her 390,000 tons light craft, tons are earmarked for cruisers, nnd 180,000 tons for flotilla leaders and destroyers, 'ft is doubtful whether the total includes the 12 new ?000-ton sloops for tlm colonial service. The total disnla-enient of the French navy to-day is 450,000 tons, so that, between now and 1943, 300.0C0 tons will be added.

"The figures'of Italy's global tonnage as at present projected are conflicting. She has no naval statute extending over a long term of years, so it is impossible to foretell the future strength of her new ships. She has built, or is building, six 10,000-ton Bin gun cruisers, six STOO-ton six-inch gun cruisers, 45 destroyers and 30- submarines. If Ftalv really intends to achieve pnrilv wit') France, she must build on an extremely costlv scale in vears to wjne." ■