The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-10-17
Japan. Work Barely Considered.

Japan, naturally, may be retired from the
comparison of tables showing what the ma
tions are doing to themselves with
modern weapons for by her lukewarn atti-
tude at Paris it may be judged that her in
terest in aircraft and submarine had not
been awakened, lies latent until condi-
tons wake her up
And, in fact, it is the two great Anglo
Saxon nations that promise real knowledge
as a result of the purposed comparison The
navy Is Americas strong arm of defence;
the future of Great Britain depends on her
ability to keep open all the sea routes lead
ing to her island nucleus. What is each one
doing to preserve her own?
Americans are proud OF the naval increase
OF their country which happened because of
conditions created by the world war. The
war aroused instinct for defence on the
seas and naval and maritime activities de-
termined on in 1916 still going forward
compacenty regarded by the average citi-
zen. Having immensely long coast lines, it
appealed to national common sense that a
vast battle fleet alone could defend them
This seemed the ultimate service in the years
Of stress 1916, 1917 and 1918. BY building
and equipping with modern armament a
battle fleet big enough and powerful enough
TO defend Americas sea approaches from at
tack human precaution would Seem to be
taken. The building programme OF 1916 met
this necessity.
BY glance at the table printed herewith
II will be seen that provision was made for
a powerful fleet OF battleships, and at the
same time the table will show how far it has
gone, Modern battieships take time to build
they can't be improvised. Having been
planned and begun. only a radical change of
conditions, change so radical that 1t would
make them obsolete and practically useless
could excuse their not being finished.
There was. however. included In the act
creating the building programme Of 1916 a
provision for stopping construction provided
an adequate tribunal agreed on the wisdom
Of doing so. But nothing less than the con-
viction that these expensive ships had be-
come outdated I'm the very act of building
would persuade such tribunal to scrap
them
Start Made in 1906.
The history Of naval increase in Great
Britain Is one that precedes the world war,
beginrhng-if we must set arbitrary date
with keen competition between that
country and Germany In 1906. Each nation
started uron an enlarged programme of
building battleshlps The capital unit of
battle fleets had changed In that year to
new type, exempliied i'm the Dreadnought,
the British all big gun battleship.
Germany more than kept step. In 1907
she laid down four dreadnoughts In 1908
another four, in 1910 she laid down FIVE, in
1911 another four. During these building
years Great Britain responded with CORE
spending increase TO maintain her superiority.
In 1906 the United States held second
place among the navies Of the world, and
I'D to 1914 the successive Administrations
adhered to the policy OF restricting the build
ing programme to two capital ships a year.
This retired the American navy to the third
place, far behind the German navy in num-
Der OF capital ships. So evident was this
xts.tn fo1 ltgalf
and Congress authorized the 1916 pro-
. gramme.
The United States is still going forward
with this programme. But what are Eng
land and Germany doing for naval defence?'
Have they changed their programme owing
to lessons learned in the world war?
Germany, nobody needs to be told, must
work under a forced decrease OF armament
To take the place of her surrendered ships
she is closely applying herself to other steps
In naval and military progress-radio con-
trolled airplanes poison gas and long range
comfortable torpedoes According TO state
ments put cat by Fo<Ser, the famous In
ventor of the pursuit plane, the German
General STAFF I'm August, 1918, announced
its disbelief I'm the efficacy Of the big gun,
and gave him q carte blanche order to obtain
or produce for them as many radio con-
trolled airplanes as was humanity possible
II has been estimated that 1000 airplanes
and 1000 torpedoes uong range) can be
built at the cost OF battleship. II Germany
can pay for the equivalent of ten battleships
in these units, ii IL further said, she could
destroy the combined present navies Of the
world.
The lesson learned by the British navy
during the war was the almost impossible
task Of protecting its big battleshlps (major
units) The great battle cruiser Hood set
the worlds highwater mark in supercon-
struction, and following the armistice naval
men all over the world expected Britain to
build more ships Of this type. She did not.
While completing some OF the lesser units
which were on the stocks during the war
she strapped the sister ships of the Hood
under construction on which f1,es4.Opo had
already been expended, and she started on a
new programme. II Is programme or air
and submarine defence. The FIRST fruits Of
her new plan are now ready, but the only
ones that have been released for public dis
cussion are tho airplanes for troop transport
and general naval uses. These are 20