Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1921-08-04
4 BATTLESH|PS
To Be BUILT BY
GREAT BRITAIN
Their Construction Cannot
Affect the Problem Before
the Disarmament Confer
enCe, Belief.
tBy The Associated Press1

London, Aug. (by The Associ-
ated Press. -Discussing the naval
estimates in the house of COM
mons today, Lieutenant Colonel L.
C. Amery, parliamentary secre-
tary of the admiralty, announced
that the four replacement ships
the government proposed to build
would be battle cruisers of the
Hood type, armed with sixteen
inch guns and designed to obviate
the need of larger dock yards
than exist.
element Of challenge or provoca-
ton in this policy of replacing oh
so!ete ships, he said it was simply
policy circumscribed within the
narroweat limits and postponed to
the very latest date consistent with
the empires safety.
Building Programs.
Abiding to the building pro-
grams of the United States and
Japan, Colonel Amery argued that
the admiralty by proposing COM
pletion of only these four ships
by 1925 was laying itself open to
the charge of accepting the risk
that the British navy would tenn
porarily be inferior in strength to
the navies of other overs. but
the government was facing the
risk to avoid any step tending to
invite fresh competition on the
eve of a disarmament conference, i
The object of the conference,
he said, was to endeavOr to secure
by agreement no further expan-
sion of the navies of the three |
greatest naval powers, but as it |
was quite unlikely that the other
powers participating would offer
to scrap ships already built or un-
der construction, it was obvious
that the building of these four
ships, or even twice their number,
could not affect the problem be-
fore the conference
Animated Discussion.
His statement was followed by
an animated discussion involving
many references to the relative
positions of Great Briatin, the
United States and Japan, and re-
vealing the intense interest taken
IN the proposed Washington con-
terence.
Winston Spencer Churchill, Sec
.etary for the colonies, replying
'or the government, made refer
snce to the big building programs
n both the United States and
Japan. He contended that there
could be no conceivable cause for
/ quarrel with either country.
still, the fact remained that if
England delayed another year the
of necessary vital
lnits, she would have to face a
,osition of definite and perhaps
lnal naval inferiority; she would
ink to third naval power. and
having sunk there. might never {
10 able OF recover.
Empires Foundation.
+" We should exist as q great ,
'ower in the world only on suf- {
erance," he continued. I'VE have
ever done that. Profound peace {
1ight continue to rule for many |
ears, but during that peace every 6
ne would know Great Britain's g
ay was done. Everywhere 1t
rould be known that the essential t
oundation of the British empire |
ad been erased and that island, G
spending for four-flfths OF its
bod and all of its economic !
-ealth and being as modern
ate upon sea-borne commerce, :
as powerless to keep itself alive, =
scept by good will. That would
3 a melancholy sequel to the =
'eat war !
High hopes are based on the
conference for the
eneft of mankind. but unless we
In assume that the ships now
Hiding in America and Japan =
i'll be scrapped. then no disarm- ',
nent proposal which might be !. :,
freed on at Washington would =
, relevant to the decision this q
,use must take on the construc- "
On Of these four ships The one r.
,wer standard is the barest min g
lum England can conceivably T,
lopt and delay already has oc- nj
rred which has reduced that O,
inimum to the finest possible lie
argin." @,