The New York herald., 1921-11-16
More Than Twelve Billions in
the Saving.

ndIueUL cut seems 10 nave DeSu care
fully calculated to save the great sea
Powers at the very start full half
Of what they are now pouring into
the bottomless naval pit.
United States appropriations for
naval spendings in the fiscal year OF
1922 are S410,000,000, and our
Navy Department experts put our
savings under the Hughes plan at
S200,0O0,O00 year.
The British appropriations for 1920.
21 were $425, 100000, with some re.
auctions for 1922, and the English
estimate is that the saving from that
sum would be a quarter of billion
Of dollars year.
If the Hughes cut would yield ap-
proximately saving of one-half the
present expenditures for all three
Powers primarily concerned in the
proposed agreement, Japan's saving
would be about S135, 100000, because
her appropriations to cover 1922
are $40 100000 yen, or $274,000, 900.
Already the Japanese Government is
anticipating the results of the arma-
ment conference. Budget figures be-
ing revised this very week by Japan
are slashing the naval estimates for
1929.
If the navy savings of the United
States, Great Britain and Japan thus
total approximately S600,000,0OO a
year from present expenditures, the
grand total for ten years, with no
account Of interest, would be six
billions of dollars.
But even this stupendous saving
from present expenditures does
not begin to tell the whole story
of what the Hughes plan would
mean to the taxpayers of the three
great naval Powers. Only when
we examine the progressive bulge
Of naval spendings in the last
generation, irrespective Of the wal
period, can we realize the stag
gering possibilities of naval squan
der in the next ten years had there
been no conference on the limitation
Of ornaments or were the Hughes
proposal not TO be accepted by the
other Powers.
Ignore the more than a billion oil
xt-hso
Navy consumed in every one of the
war years of 1915, 1916 and 1917 and
the more than billion and q half il
consumed in 1918. Ignore the bill
ion and a quarter of dollars which
the United States Navy consumed in
the single year ending June 30, 1918
Take only the increase of naval ex
penditures in peace years and The
progressive rate is appalling.
For the three fiscal years of 1907
1908 and 1909 the British averag,
was under s154,0O0,O00 a year. Ter
years ago it was 1902, 100000. Since
it was $422, 100000 for the fiscal yea
recently closed, the peace cost of The
British navy, therefore, has more
than doubled in ten years; it ha!
grown two and three-quarters times
in fifteen years.
In the fiscal year Of 1907 the nava
expenditures of the United State
were $9S,0O0,000. Ten years ago the!
were $134,000,000. Since for the fls
cal year ending with next June th'
appropriations are $410,000,000, tht
cost has multiplied three times in ter
years and more than four times ii
fifteen years.
The Japanese record is even NOR
astounding. From $30,000,000 II
1907 the naval spendings Of Japar
mounted by leaps and bounds to $43,
100000 ten years ago, to $S5,00O,O0l
in the year ending June 80, 1918, t.
S125, 900, 900 in the next year, to $3.50,
000, 900 in the next, and then, as be
fore shown, to s274,00O.000! This II
an expenditure multiplied by nearly
seven in ten years and multiplied by
all of nine in fifteen years.
It is perfectly obvious that Japar
could not be permitted to 90 on mul
tiplying her naval expenditures il
the next ten years as she has done
in the last ten years without the
United States matching those eXpen
ditures in every respect and ther
piling on still more for good measure
It is equally obvious that IL the
United States and japan were thus
going on with their mad naval ex
pansion race Great Britain could not
allow herself to stand still or to fall
one step behind the others.
It is true that after such a doubling
and redoubling and double redoub
ling Of naval expenditures as she has
had in the last ten years Japan would
somewhere reach the limit of further
increase of expenditure. But nobody
can say what that limit would be