NAVAL ARMAMENTS

Southland Times, Issue 20447, 27 March 1928, Page 4

NAVAL ARMAMENTS

Britain, with a record of voluntary disarmament unequalled by any other nation, has opened the door to further discussions with the United States on the question of naval limitation. Lord Cushenden declared that his hand was forced by the Russian delegate’s speech. If this was so M. Litvinoff’s speech was a fortunate one because it has answered in frank terms the utterances of “Big Navy” men like Rear-Admiral Plunket and Senator Butler, who have been stirring the Americans with declarations that the United States was moving in the direction of war with Britain. For the most part they have been alone, but the anti-British groups have used their utterances vigorously, and their activities have been mischievous, particularly as Congress is now being asked to take notice of the Mayor of Chicago’s campaign against “proBritish treason-tainted” history tests in the school. “Big Bill” Thompson’s operations may be regarded as a joke by those who care to sift the details of his indictment, but his complete success in Chicago, thanks to his dominance of the Chicago Education Board, has been followed by the introduction into Congress of this subject which will fan whatever anti-British feeling there is in the republic. Lord Cushenden’a proposal which puts a limitation on the size and guns of capital ships, while prolonging the lives of the vessels now in being and thus putting off the day when the naval strengths of the two countries can be altered, is a practical one and as it preserves the principle of naval equality it should be well received in America, where it may open the way to further reductions in naval expenditure. It has been suggested that if the capital ship proposals are acceptable, or if some agreement on the lines of the British offer can be reached, the cruiser question can be taken up again, with both nations readier to accept the fact that the requirements of each, though differing, can be brought to some common basis which will permit of a solid agreement. The foundation of these agreements is that war between the two countries is unthinkable, and Lord Cushenden’s statement, therefore, answers all the scaremongers.