ECONOMY AXE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 14 December 1925, Page 3

ECONOMY AXE.

CLOSING NAVAL DOCKYARDS. LOCAL INTERESTS ACTIVE. By Cable—Press Association —Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.^ 1 LONDON, December 11. I Replying in the House of Commons i I to Mr W. 'Adan;soil’s motion, eon- ' deinning the closing of the llosyth • and Pembroke naval dockyards, which he said would mean a saving of £323,- , 000 compared with £58,000,000 being spent on new cruisers and £11,000,000 j on the Singapore- base, , also, meaning J the extinction of two'towns, Mr W. C. Bridgenian warned the House that -the. Ministry contemplated naval economies much larger than anything , yet done, and the new. proposals would J fall far more upon England than j Scotland and Wales. Mr Lloyd George vigorously opposed closing. Mr MacDonald contended that the Government’s decision, coupled with the new enterprise at Singapore, meant a change in the Admiralty’s strategy, from the North Sea to the Pacific, and therefore it was net economy at all. I Mr J. C. C. Davidson, closing the , debate, indicated that Sheerness also would be scrapped. The motion was rejected by 237 to 65.