Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 4 January 1927, Page 2

It would be interesting to know whether the First Lord of the Admiralty, when he spoke recently on the British naval policy, had received information of the reported move in the United States. His statement of policy is a direct answer to the charge that, by implication, is levelled against Britain by the chairman of the Naval Affairs Committee of the House of "Representatives. “Some of the Powers” says Mr Butler, “have brazenly violated the spirit of the Washington Treaty,” and another part of the message makes it clear that Britain is included. Mr Bridgcman says that Britain has disarmed more than, any other country, and that she has completely fulfilled her obligations under the Washington Treaty. The extent to which she has reduced her strength may he judged l>v the uneasiness that is felt in certain quarters. The Navv League, lor example, regards Britain's strength in cruisers, destroyers, and- submarines as inadequate. The Congressman who has prompted Mr Coolidge is not even correctly informed on fundamentals. Tie says “the 5—5—3 ratio was understood by everybody concerned to apply to all classes of warships.” 'the size of cruisers, hut not their number, was limited, and it was clear from the first that a new race in armaments might start with cruisers. An international understanding about cruiser programmes would greatly help the cause of disarmament, hut it should he approached in a judicial spirit and not with wild charges. Britain’s answer is convincing. She has economised drastically ever since the <jnd of the war. hut limits to economy arc set by the conditions of her national life. In Mr BridgcmanV words, she must ask other countries to remember that, freedom of the seas means more to her than to any other country. It is to be honed that the proposed programme of American construction will torn out to ho of “little more than a. gesture” and that All- Coolidge will not really bo convinced by the; arguments of so ill-informed and indiscreet an adviser.