The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1930. NAVAL CONFERENCE.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17992, 10 April 1930, Page 6

The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1930. NAVAL CONFERENCE.

The Naval Conference may- be considered to have practically come to an end. Unless the French change thenminds they will stand out of any agreement, and in consequence Italy will not join. The other three Powers— Britain, the United States and Japan—have agreed to scrap between them nine battleships and to refrain from laying down 26 new battleships, which under the Washington Treaty would have been done between now and 1936. They have also arrived at a- basis for the limitation of cruisers, destroyers and submarines. This must be considered as a very great achievement, and will do good in more ways than one. The most obvious benefit is the saving of large sums in the construction and maintenance of war vessels, but an even greater benefit is the proof given to the world that the three leading naval Powers do not consider war to be a possible contingency, at any rate within any date which can be foreseen. It is evident that France has over-reached herself. She has been working for some kind of alliance or guarantee that would protect her interests in the same way as the Locarno Agreement, and to this neither Britain, nor the United States would consent. There may have been good reasons for the Locarno Pact, but time has been moving on. France cannot allege that Germany is any threat, rather might Germany assert that she is threatened. France maintains that she has to keep a fleet in the Mediterranean and another in the Atlantic, and one wonders why. Italy has not built up to her quota as laid down at Washington, and therefore cannot he accused of harbouring evil designs. It is in truth well known that her ambitions lie in other directions. It will be interesting to see if France builds up to the figure which she has claimed at the Conference. The size of her fleet at the present time is 470,000 tons, and she claimed that her requirements at the Conference were 73.0,000 tons. If she should proceed to build up to this limit there can he no question that she will provoke much animosity in Britain, where people are naturally suspicious of naval rivalry. France has, indeed, shown a lack of judgment in the line she has taken. The agreement reached by Britain, America and Japan will have the effect of drawing them closer together. That France .should -stand out will cause a certain coolness between her and the other countries, and so far from securing a guarantee she is more likely to have lost friends. The reduction in the fleets of the three Powers who have come to an agreement may be considered as almost the first stroke made in favour of reduction of armaments. The Washington Treaty was. hailed as a great achievement and was probably the utmost that could be done at the time, but it was a very limited achievement, for it dealt with battleships only and set no limits to the building of cruisers and other warships. It was this which led to American suspicions. Her own requirements in the way of cruisers are small and she could not realise that Britain with a far-flung Empire could want more. Even now we can there is a good deal of the old anti-British feeling left in America, and it finds a voice in botli the Senate and the House of Representatives. We may thank President Hoover for keeping such manifestations within bounds. When the previous Conference was held at GeneYa there was a man sent by the steel interests to spread false statements about Britain’s intentions. He was permitted to he present at negotiations in spite of the protests of Mr Bridgeman, at that time the First Lord of the Admiralty. President Hoover could he relied on tO ( see Lhat nothing of that kind took place at this Conference. Something has -been said about the length of time taken by the Conference, but this can easily he explained by the efforts made to bring France into line with the other nations, and the length of time is a small matter when compared with the results achieved. Britain is the country that has made success possible, for she has decided to face the risk of France building a huge navy. Neither America nor Japan would be affected to any extent by whatever France may do in this way, hut it was recognised that Britain was in a different position. It appears to us, however, that Britain has done wisely. There is no real fear of France threatening Britain; her action is really dictated by timidity, for although she can play Triton amongst the minnows, her actions at this Conference point to uneasiness. There is no doubt that the French people, or perhaps we should say the Parisians, -have been stiffening the backs of the Frencli representatives in their demand for security. These representatives, however, would have been well advised to ignore public clamour. As it is they will probably fall victims to the chagrin of the people, who will not stop to consider how far they are themselves responsible for the result. The Labour Parly and Mr Ramsay MacDonald may well feel satisfied with

what has been achieved even if it falls short of what they hoped. And for the world at large it is the most hopeful gesture that has been made since the war ended.