AMERICA’S VIEW

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 886, 1 February 1930, Page 13

AMERICA’S VIEW

TROUBLE EXPECTED UNLESS CAUTION USED NEW YORK, Thursday, The Washington correspondent of the “New York Times,” commenting upon Mr. Hugh Gibson’s speech at the plenary session of the Naval Conference in London, says: The system of limitations by flexible categories within the total or global tonnages is one which meets with favour in Washington. However, it is evident that caution will have to be exercised in applying it if •trouble is to be avoided among the “big navy” advocates in the United States and their sympathisers in the Senate. The percentage of transfers from one class cf ship to another must be relatively small if the general purpose of eliminating competitive naval programmes is to be achieved. There would be great difficulty ill obtaining the consent of the Senate to any naval treaty with too wide a latitude. BRITAIN MODIFIES CONSTRUCTION PROGRAMME The modifications which Britain has introduced into her programme of naval construction were referred to in the House of Commons today by the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. A. V. Alexander. He said the British naval vessels deleted from the* 1929 programme and approved by Parliament: were: Two cruisers, Including the 8-inch gun ship, four destroyers, one netlayer and target-towing vessel, two sloops and three submarines. Whether the three remaining submarines on the programme would be proceeded with would be decided after the conclusion of the Naval Conference. There were at present 54 British Empire cruisers built and four in an advanced stage of construction.