FRANCE'S BURDEN.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 530, 10 June 1909, Page 5

FRANCE'S BURDEN.

BIG SCHEME,

A TEN-YEAR PROCRAMME.

BATTLESHIPS 45, COST £120,000,000.

(,BI TXLEGRAFH—FRKsg ASSOCIATION—COrTRIQBT.)

Paris, June 8. The Navy Council has decided that fortylive battleships shall form the fighting line of the French Navy.

lie effective life of a battleship is regarded as twonty years (tho same age-limit as has been adopted in Germany). 11)0 construction rendered necessary by this programme will involve tho spending 0 f £120.000,000. ■' "

AN ORGANIC NAVY ,LAW. M. PICAED ON ITS ADVANTAGES. i Franco's navy ambitions aro advancing by leaps and bounds. The new non-political Minister for Marine, M. Picard, advanced alternative schemes, the highest of which aimed at 38 battleships. This was approved the other day by tho Commission of Inquiry appointed at the instance of M. Delcasse. ■ Now . the Navy Council aims at 15 battleships, tho expenditure to be spread over ten years. The decision of tho Chamber of Deputies has, of course, still to bo obtained, and it is said, that tho Minister .for Finance, M. CaiUaux, has threatened to resign if his purse* strings are unduly strained. ~. A Fixed Programmo.—Pros and Cons. In considering the magnitude of the French figures, it had to be borne in mind that they are spread over a decade; and that the abovo cablegram indicates tho probable inception of the German system of laying down a fixed programme for. a long period ahead. M. Picard did, in fact, submit last Maroh to the. Navy Council a Navy-Bill on these lines. • It has been frequently urged that Britain should .also follow Germany's .example, bv a fixed'programme that will proceed automatically, independent of. party, thus distributing the expenditure ' normajly > and proportionately over a fixed period. Private manufacturers would'then know what is ahead Pf them, and, having a regular flow of orders, would be able to maintain plant and. men at the required capacity; thus avoiding .those deficiencies in particular departments that handicap rapid construction as compared with Germany. -To those who speak about the high rate of obsolescence and tho danger of building ahead, the reply inado by the fixed-programme advocates is that, with a regular yearly output of new ships, improvements can be embodied from time to time; and that the march of obsolescence ■ would leave less victims In its wake than would be. the case if a period of under-building were followed—as it probably would, be—by panic-building, 'resulting in the hasty over-production of too many ships of one type., ■ German .plasticity, ' ' M. Picard has himself dealt with this , phase of tho question, i He note3.that the proposal for an organio navy law" was mooted in France as far back as 1879. Up to the present, he observes, the rapid development of the art■■of > naval construction and the " improvenient ; in material had seemed effective* argumeiits against the adoption ; of proposals of this kind.' .Ho adds;— v •'

~ But the example of Germany shows that these . obstacles are' not . insurmountable, provided that the text of the law is given a certain elasticity, .and. that the principle' of the possibility of subsequent amendments is no oepted in advance." No betto r pro°f of German appreciation of the .elasticity" of Germany's Wavy Law can bo found than Admiral . von Weber's propositions.a day or two ago to the Navy League, including tho extension of the Navy Law to includo a batch of new armoured cruisers of the Invincible typo.. ; , It has also been made abundantly 1 clear that a lixed programme, though published to all the world, may assume a new complexion by being, secretly accelerated: a- little. .Elasticity may bo applied in many ways; Following .up his! remarks quoted above, I 'M Picard announce3__that w,vie'w: ; of these' 6onsidorauons - the French Government is "ongaged' in -framing'* Bill in 'thli' sihse, - the 'first' part of which has ;already been submitted to the . Navj; Council.: The .opinion is expressed tlint, if this experiment is given a serious'trial ana succeeds.- th* navy will be preserved from regrottablc fluctuations,' and will' have: its existence and its future more firmly assured." Scope 6f French Bill. -,M. Picard explains that the new'Bill is designed to determine the: nature; of ;ho naval programme,, that is. to say,: the'number and olass of ships .which are■ to oumposo tho fleet, their, age; limit (which the Kavy Counoil now ■ proposes to fix at; 20 years), 'the'' dates at which new ships, are to be laid down in order to rake the places: of obsolescent ships, tho erounihe of .-the.various units and the distribution of the fleets,and .squadrons,..together with a statement of .the amount of supplies and the number and m relative importance of. the: strategic '.bases. Thisßill is to be supplemented by i proposals relating -to recruiting for tho navv and naval-administration. ■

fit...Picard concludes .-with . an enumeration of the. maritime interests and. colonial sions pf France,, whioh. render, imperative' the maintenance of adequate navar armaments. He says:— - ; ; ■ : ■ , - "Far , from being negligible; does not sea power occupy an important position on the international clwss-board of ententes and alliWould not neglect ,of the country's naval forces, and exposure of . them to danger subject ;us . to a: risk of, cruel surprises whioh the most, elementary .dictates of prudent-for-bid .us---to incur?",.