The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1921. AMERICA'S NAVY

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14601, 28 February 1921, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1921. AMERICA'S NAVY

The article by the naval correspondent of the Times, which was briefly summarised in recent, cable messages, should make the public reflect upon the problem of maintaining Britain'f power al sen. The correspondent declares that, the American ships of the I'.Ufi programme will all be completed, with the result that in at most tlTre? years from now America will have the largest Navy in the world. The programme of the Navy Appropriation Acl of 1916 provided for ships costing in [he aggregate £250,000,000. Exnctlv what was in the mind of the Administration is not entirely clear, bul there is a clause in the Act referring to a proposal for a world conference after the war to formulate a plan foi a court of arbitration. In this clause if was provided that naval expenditure might he suspended if necessary foi consistency for any engagements made in the establishment of an "international tribunal competent to secure peacefu 1 determination of all international disputes." As we all know, the League of Nations has bcui repudiated bj America, ami America is continuing tc build hep big ships, with no Intention fcsome people declare, of stopping shorl of the possession of the greatest Xavy in the world. Mr Archibald Hurd, the well-known contributor to the Fortnightly Review, has set out in a short but instructive table the position ol Britain, America, and Japan (the onl> naval Powers that matter) in respcel of capital ships. In 1925 the position as regards battleships and cruisers wii! be:— Britain. U.S.A. Japan First-class (1 iin.

guns and over) is 27 i 4 Second-class 18 8 3 The American IPI6 programme included ten battleships and six battle-cruisers. Of the battleships, four are of 32.60') tons, as compared with the 25,750 tons iv" the Royal Sovereign (Britain's largest ship of this class), and six with a displacement of 43.200 tons, carrying li J 0-inch guns. The battle-cruisers are far larger and more powerful than any vessel built by Britain, except the Hood, and they will exceed the Hood in speed and gun-power. In 1924 at latest, America will possess 2.1 battleships of the first-class and six battlecruisers, while Britain will have only 14 first-class battleships and four firstclass battle-cruisers. The naval correspondent of the Times mentions the v.-sf difference between prc-Jutland and post-Jutland ships, a point upon which s.Mr Archibald Ilurd says that naval authorities hold that no pre-Jutland battleship or battle-cruiser can be rcKhrded as fully efficient. If Britain is to maintain a Navy as powerful as that u." any oilier Power, it. is evident that she must, begin to spend a very great sum of money. The Hood 'cost over £(•.,000,000, and il ig calculated that a modern battleship will now cost from •: 7,000.000 to £8,000,000. The till'j has gone by when tiie peoples of the Dominions can read these figures with the comfortable certainty that they concern the United Kingdom alone. The naval defence, of the Empire must now be borne by the Empire as a whole; and New Zealand's share, if no means of ending the naval competition can be found, will be heavy enough to affect our financial policy very sensibly.