The St. Joseph observer., 1921-06-11
HOW 1T is MADE
Misstatcments lies and All Kinds Of
Subterfugcs Are Used to Satisfy
the Naval Constructors.


The propaganda for driving the
United States into the construction
of a navy larger and more costly than
the present world conditions demand !
has resorted to many half-statements !
and positive mis-statements which
cannot be too quickly nailed down
and refuted. Prominent among these
has been the announcement that
Great Britain is building for Japan
several huge warshps greater than
anything yet designed. The infer
ence which the sponsors for this un-
truth were hoping that congress
would draw was the obvious one that
England's good faith in stopping war
ship construction and cutting down
her navy was questionable, since the
building of many big warships for
her ally, Japan, was tantamount, in
the event of hostilities, to building
them for herself.
The most interesting fact about this
statement, is that it is absolutely un-
true. Great Britain has no military
alliance with Japan, so far as this
country is concerned, the United
States having been expressly exempt
ed as a possible enemy; and further
more, Great Britain is not building a
single capital ship either for herself
or any other power. This we have
| ascertained through our London cor
| respondent, whom we asked to make
| thorough investigation. He writes
us that no capital ship of any kind is
at present building or completing in
the United Kingdom, either to British
or foreign order, nor has the keel Of
warship of any description been laid
to foreign order since the armistice.
He tells us that after spending some
| time in investigating these rumors he
| found that the only grain of truth lay
in the fact that the following con-
nese government-namely an order
for some special curved armor for
ships and for some sets of Diesel en-
gines for submarines from Vickers,
Ltd, and an order for armor piercing
| shells from Hadfield, Ltd. This, he
informs us, is the sum total of work
being executed in the United Kingdom
on behalf of the japanese navy.
In an interview with Captain s.
| Kobayashi, the Japanese naval at
| tache in London, he learned that there
was practically no possibility of war
| ship orders being placed abroad, ow-
| ing to the fact that the japanese
| shipyards were very short of work and
were, therefore, most anxious to Sc
cure any orders which might be
available. Hence the attache Thought
that the japanese government would
not contemplate placing orders for
warships in a foreign country.
| Referring to certain criticisms
which have been made in regard to
the departure of British airmen for
Japan, our correspondent informs US
that there men are not going as a
! part of a special mission, but simply
as private individuals. They are near
| ly all eX-officcrs of the Royal Air
service whom rehabilitation has left
without a job, and they are naturally
eager to accept employment in the
flying line wherever it can be found,
SO much for this mares nest, which
is typical of much of the altogether
vicious and designedly misleading
propaganda which is being prosecuted
not in the interest of peace but in the
endeavor to stir up suspicion between
great peoples whom the stress of the
great war has brought into relations
of mutual confidence and respect
Scientific American.