U.S. ADMIRAL AND BIG NAVY.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 April 1921, Page 3

U.S. ADMIRAL AND BIG NAVY.

LARGE ENOUGH TO FIGHT BRITAIN,

New York, Feb, 23,

The American - Eagle spread its wings at the George Washington celebration in Nev. r York last night. Rear-Admiral H. McL. Huse, the new Commandant of the New York Navy Yard, who was the chief speaker, declared that if the United States ceased building battleships it would be because some other nation had not money with which to continue building. Rear-Admiral Huse represents the Jingo element of the United States Navy, and the sentiments of a large section of the Democratic Party. He said:—

J know it will make some of you catch your breath if I say we must have a navy large enough to fight England.

The admiral, observing that he had just returned from Europe, affirmed that England to-day was openly discussing just what would be needed in the way of a navy in case of trouble with the United States. He asked hie audience why there should not be an equally open discussion in this country. He argued that it was necessary for this country to construct a navy to meet the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Congress should know, he added, against whom the navy wae being built. Ships for war against Japan must be different from those for war against Britain.

The tone of Rear-Admiral Huse’s speech contrasts vividly with that of the speeches delivered at Newport and at Annapolis last week in honor of Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, who was entertained on Saturday by 150 American naval officers who served under him at Queenstowjn. At another banquet given on Sunday by the Harvard Club Admiral Bayly and Rear-Admiral Sims were the guests of honor. Unbounded enthusiasm reigned, and Admiral Bayly’s remark that Britain had implicit confidence that America’s Navy would never be employed for aggressive purposes received round after round of cheering. His tribute to the work of the American Navy in the war created a deep impression. All the speakers stressed the vital importance of Anglo-Ameri-can friendship in preserving modern civilisation.