TONNAGE LIMITATION

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17176, 5 February 1930, Page 8

TONNAGE LIMITATION

COMPROMISE PLAN BRITAIN'S PROPOSALS PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS (British Official Wireless.) Rec. 1 p.m. RUGBY, Feb. 4. At tho meeting of the first committee of tiie. Five-power Naval Conference the. First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. A. V. Alexander, represented Great Britain and [nit forward his Government's proposals regarding the compromise plan for co-ordinating the category and global theories for tonnage Limitation. These proposals are framed so as to facilitate discussion and to elicit the views of the different delegations. The British suggestions' differ in certain respects from the transactional proposals of tho French memorandum- published last week. The French scheme permitted tne hnxited transference of tonnage through all categories. The British proposals do not permit of a transfer in the categories of battleships and aircraft icarriers, and visualise only a limited transfer of tonnage downwards from the large cruiser class— that is those with Sin guns and over. In Ihe categories of the small cruisers, namely those with guns of 6in' or smaller calibre and .of destroyers, a transfer however would be possible up to 100 per cent. 'Complete freedom of transfer in the?e categories, therefore, would allow the nations to meet their individual requirements by devoting, if they so desired, the whole of the tonnage allotted to them for light cruisers and destroyers to the building of light cruisers only or of destroyers onlv. ■ There is no mention of a transfer to or from the submarine class, but officially the British delegation still supports the abolition of .submarines. It has idj fact mode something of a gesture by cancelling three submarines in this year's construction programme anu has suspended work on others until after the end of the financial year. Incidentally, the ease ot-the submarine is a clear indention of the weakness ol a unimit'igate.d global theory, since the ton iri submarines ami the tonnage in. say, cruisers aie obviously not interchangeable units. The British proposals were circulated to the delegations yesterday to facilitate) the preliminary examination of oilier problems before the conference, and are now being taken up m private aiid informal conversations, this method ol exploration having been, found of great assistance in preparing'the path to the more formal discussions. Tho. heads of delegations met later this morning. The. meeting of the first committee of the conference was still proceeding when the heads of the delegations met at St. James' Palace to discuss the further procedure of the. conference. A communique states that there was a general, agreement that the conversations between the delegations, which are giving good results in preparing the wav for agreements, must continue, Tho heads of the delegations will meet again to-morrow to continue their discussion in the light, of the work of the first committee.