Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] TUESDAY, 18th SEPTEMBER, 1934. NAVAL DISCUSSIONS.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 18 September 1934, Page 4

Wairarapa Daily Times [Established Over 50 Years.] TUESDAY, 18th SEPTEMBER, 1934. NAVAL DISCUSSIONS.

In London naval discussions are to be opened next month, when a Japanese naval delegation will arrive. Preliminary talks have been desultory, in two-and-two fashion, between Ambassadors and Ministers in the capitals of the five Powers of the London Treaty. That treaty forwarded the earlier Washington restriction agreement by postponing all battleship replacement till 1936, and by limiting cruiser replacement to accepted tonnages of three Powers only, Britain, the United States and Japan. Prance and Italy declined to accept cruiser limitation. An authoritative commentator in the August number of the “Navy” declares that nobody concerned in the talks has yet any conception of what the results of the later discussions may be. But he says—- “ Sufficient is known, all the same, to enable one to write these words: “England is no longer to be tied to a policy of armament reduction, in any sphere, merely in order to give practical evidence of its sincerity in the cause of world peace. That England should have gone so far as it did has been one of the most interesting topics of discussion in the chancelleries of Europe for the past ten years. The reaction is overdue.” He adds that another fact which has clearly emerged is that “competitive building between Britain and the United States is not at present under contemplation by either country.” One other point is also evident. It has been agreed that the London treaty talks shall be limited, as the treaty was, strictly to naval armaments, and politics shall not be drawn in. But facing the “Washington” meeting, presumably to be held in 1935, a Japan still “outlawed,” with Manchukuo, by the entire world will insist upon an increased ratio of armaments as necessary to selfdefence in isolation. Not only from this aspect, but because of

the obvious loss of British prestige in the Far East as a result of an extreme “pacifist” policy, Britain must consider her own vital interests in re-establishing adequate naval and air strength. . The Empire’s naval representation in this ocean by comparison with leading Powers was never so weak as it is to-day.