The Dominion MONDAY, MAY 4, 1925. ARMAMENTS IN THE PACIFIC

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 182, 4 May 1925, Page 8

The Dominion MONDAY, MAY 4, 1925. ARMAMENTS IN THE PACIFIC

Within the last week or two, that portion of the Pacific Ocean which surrounds the Hawaiian Islands has been the scene of what has been described as “the greatest sham battle in history.” American naval forces comprising the most formidable array of fighting ships ever assembled in the Pacific were divided into a “Blue Fleet” and a “Black Fleet.” One of these was deputed to defend, and the other to attack, the American naval base of Oahu. Planned on a very complete scale, the operations were intended to provide, an exhaustive working test of naval, air, and landing forces, of wireless and other communications, the employment of gases and smoke-screens, and the repair of fighting ships at sea. The outcome of the great sham battle, as it was reported in the cablegrams a few days ago, was that Oahu and the Hawaiian Islands •were captured by the attacking force, without loss of ships, but with a heavy assumed loss of lives by the landing-force. The result of the manoeuvres is not likely to occasion much concern in the United States, but already demands are being raised for a great increase in the aerial and other defences of the Hawaiian Islands. The defence of these Islands in the event of war is a cardinal point in United States strategy. After some further manoeuvres by the massed American naval forces, portions of the fleet are to visit Australia and New Zealand. An immediate effect of this impressive display of naval force is to demonstrate in striking fashion that the centre of world naval power has shifted from the Atlantic and adjacent seas to the Pacific. Although the mighty American armada manoeuvring around the Hawaiian Islands constitutes the greatest aggregation of naval force ever seen in the Pacific, it is not a solitary phenomenon. Japan meantime is doing everything in her power to strengthen her Navy on lines permitted by the Wellington Naval .Treaty, and Britain is proceeding with the development of the Singapore base. In the interests of all the nations concerned, and for the sake of the oncoming generation and of generations yet unborn, it certainly must be hoped that the parade of naval power in the Pacific, of which the American manoeuvres are the most impressive example to date, will serve other purposes than that of indicating how national security may be increased by an ever-increasing elaboration of armaments.

In the Old World this generation has seen armaments, built up until the strain of maintaining them became almost unendurable, and the stage was prepared for t[ie most frightful war in history. Are we for want of thought and foresight and honest and, straightforward dealing between the nations to allow history to repeat itself on these lines in the Pacific?

At the present juncture there can be no question of abolishing armaments, and certainly no one nation can afford to dispense with the measure of protection and security they afford. If V hnw-ov»-reliance. were to be placed only on armaments, it would be to regard the present majestic display of American naval might in the Pacific as anything else than an early scene in a chain of events leading up to~an ultimate Armageddon. It rests with the people of three great nations to remove and avert this menace overshadowing their common future. America, the British Empire, and Japan will determine the course of national and international events and the fate of humanity in the Pacific. Are not the rulers and people of these enlightened nations capable of basing their policy and their mutual relationship on the wellestablished fact.that the competitive increase ol armaments makes no nation secure?

Nothing is accomplished by piling up and perfecting mighty armaments that might not be accomplished very much better by relatively modest defensive preparations on i scale mutually agreed upon between the nations. So far as the relationship of the great Pacific nations is concerned, the creation of agreement and' understanding is the only worthy aim of constructive statesmanship. 1 To abandon this aim and acquiesce in an unchecked competition in armaments would be a policy of despair. It is clear that the checks imposed by the Washington on the development of armaments are inadequate and ineffective. More effective and more comprehensive checks must be agreed upon if ultimate tragedy is to be averted. It may be hoped that the present display of American naval power in the Pacific and the visits to the Pacific Dominions which are to follow will quicken, both in the United States and in the countries of the Empire, a readiness to offer Japan every inducement to, co-operate in a policy of peace and understanding.