AMERICA’S DESIRES

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 771, 18 September 1929, Page 9

AMERICA’S DESIRES

CRUISER CONSTRUCTION QUESTION VIEWPOINT EXPLAINED Australia ii and y.Z. Press Association} ( United Service) WASHINGTON, Monday. Officials in Washington decline to comment on a statement cabled from London embodying the British view

ol the naval negotiations between : Britain and America pending the visit j of Mr. MacDonald. However, to many people who nave 5 followed the negotiations some por- ! tions of the statement have caused j surprise as they appear to be some- ■ what at variance with information received last week. For example, the statement says America has proposed 15 6-inch gun cruisers in addition to 21 S-inch gun I cruisers. It is stated that America has 10 G-inch gun cruisers in commission. No suggestion has been published that America has voluntarily proposed the construction of any more vessels of that class, as it is contended that type is not suited to America’s needs. The statement that the United States has asked for 315,000 tons of cruisers is also a surprise. The general understanding in Washington is that the American Government proposed only 255.000 tons. A suggestion that there might be an objection by some of the European Powers to the holding of the conference in London has resulted in unofficial discussions in Washington of Brussels, The Hague, Prague, or a city in Switzerland other than Geneva, j |