Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1927-10-23

Japan ut m somewhat more moderate
one. due OF course, 70 financial IN
ability TO maintain no hot IA pace.
Assuming that America was not
speedily to be h~opelessly outbuilt,
the race simply had been chaErd
from battleships 70 l~0,000-ton cruis-
ers.
Since there was little 10 choose be-
tween the two forms OF rival activity,
IL was for the purpose of checking
the cruiser competition, ms well As
the ~bAttIeship race. that President
Coolidge induced the British and
Japanese to join the United States I'M
another conference nc Geneva last
summer. This meeting proved IN
complete failure Japan might pos
sibly have been willing to negotiate,
but the British, having gained n SUBJ
stantial lead on the United States.
refused n discuss a curtailmert KY
their cruiser program, Oh the ground
that their widely scattered posses
sions made a large number OF the
1O,0O0-ton type Of war craft necCs-
sary to them.
English Cruisers Superior.
The opening of congress will find
America and England not far from
m equality in the matter OF battle
ships-the advantage in somewhat in
England's favor-but the British.
with ID ~10,0O0-ton cruisers either In
commission or nearing completion.
and the United States with not one
cruiser Of more than $500 tons
The United States has. indeed, mir
cruisers or 10000 tons authorized
by act of congress and contracts for
them have been let-nominally. That
IN, they are in the blueprint stage,
and will never get farther than that
until money IL appropriated 70 build
them. Enough actually has been ar
propriated 20 make "a bare start or
two more.
In other words. our eight l~0,0nO-tcn
cruisers are blueprints or little bet
ter, and IL In to complete them that
next winters fight will be waged.
This being accomplished we shall
have eight cruisers OF 10000 tons
and 10, available now, of $500 tons
each, or is all told. In addition 10
this, we have "a few more or less
formidable proportions, none Of
them less than 20 years ~old-virtu-
ally obsolete for serious warfare.
Great Britain, on the other hand.
has, besides her 1~0.000-ton fleet, lS
vessels strong, a. other cruisers or
from $500 tons upward. many of
them OF not much less than 10000
tons-four. for example. Of 9.T50.
British Naval Program
The British naval program calls
also for one new 1~O.0O0-ton cruiser
and two OF 5000 tons each, every
year.
In discussing questions Of cruiser
strength. navy men never pass over
the possibilities Of EngIand's mer-
chant fleet, which, properly armed.
would serve as m destroyers
as efficiently ms war vessels could d..
Shipping records show that the Brit
ish could put into commission 435
sail Of such craft, OF from ia 10 %
knots speed.
At the nav department II IN sur
missed that Americas mercantile ma
rine might muster two vessels for
similar purposes, but the United
States shipping board cuts the esti-
mate down to one-the LeviathAn.
That IL. VI OF 435.
Theoretically, one or these armed
British merchant craft would he an
easy prey 20 "a genuine American
cruiser. but naval experts raise the
point that, equipped with eiEht-inch
guns. they would outranRe our six
inch cruiser weapons, and thus pune
ture them at will from "a greater dis
lance than 6-inch cannonshot.
Japan, with 10 hattleships 60 Amer
ica's is, appears on paper 10 BE- out
classed. but naval authorities agrees
that the disproportion. IN the event
Of warfare as far away. say. as the
Philippines, would be more apparent
than real. i'm addition 10 which the
Japanese have is cruisers of from
$500 70 100 tons. four new cruisers
Of 10000 tom each soon to he com
pleted. or 20 i'm NIL. and 56 merchant
vessels which could ~ effectively
armed as d~estroyers.