BIG GUNS.

Hokitika Guardian, 5 June 1920, Page 4

BIG GUNS.

LONDON, April 1. There are plenty of signs which suggest that the Powers have no great reliance in the League of Nations to prevent future wars. Certain details regarding a new gun capable of firing a shell 100 niiles have been made public, and the gun will be at the disposal of the French, British and Belgian Governments. There is a separate explosive chamber, and the energy for driving the shell is conveyed by tubes to the barrel, whilst recoil is avoided by the gases being carried backwards to the rear of the breach.

In another direction we learn that the United States proposes spending a very large sum of money on the navy, so that by 1924, the Americans hope to have a. navy as big as ours. All these movements do not sound much like peace. One is unable to think of a satisfactory reason for the activity of the Americans. With the German navy ,no longer powerful, and second only to ours, what can the United States want with a fleet to equal that of the British Empire? It would be hard to imagine the Executive thinking we expected to make war on them, in r can any sane person believe that the Americans want to go to war against us. The most natural conclusion is that some Americans are envious of the British Empire and all that its people • accomplished during the war. So long as there were tales floating about regarding John Bull being effete and done with the envious American probably felt satisfied. The war showed that tlie Old Country and its younger partners in Empire were a very alive combination. The added prestige may not lie to the liking of certain people, which may account for the desire to “lickcreation.” Fortunately, there is a large and important class in America who are well disposed towards the British Empire, and whose influence -will he used to keep alive mutual respect.