Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-01-08
BY FRANK II. SiMONDS.

7 ONDON. America can now build
her bigger navy or shut up. az
far as Great Britain II con-
IL cerned.
These are the sentiments Of
individual Britons, Of groups and Of
the government. King George said
1t. gently. In his governmental address
when he made II plain that Great
Britain entertained no idea OF entering
into a costly naval competition with
the United States.
However. that is not everything
| that the individual and the organized
Briton thinks about 1t.
1t has been my fortune to be In
London for nearly a month during and
after the moment when President
Coolidge's message revived all the
Geneva controversy. In the course Of
this period I have talked with repre-.
sentatives of almost every conceivable
shade Of British opinion. shall try to
set down here an objective conspectus
Of this British opinion.
No individual or group OF Britons
challenges either the legal right or
the financial capacity Of the American
people to build q navy limited only by
the existing provisions of the Wash
ington treaty. Yet there Is q unani.
nous conviction that the United
States has no physical need Of and
| therefore no moral right to a navy
which. In the cruiser detail. approx.
| mates parity with the British.
See Aim for Supremacy.
That is the first point. The second
is that all American proposals made at
Geneva and expressed in the United
States are in effect actually proposals
not for parity but for supremacy.
We have, in substance, demanded that
a fixed limit be placed upon total
cruiser tonnage at the same time we
have declared that we shall use our
quota in 10.000-ton ships. that Is. in
the type. which. according TO our ex-
perts. conform TO our needs.
The British argue that. while they
need only a few 10.000.ton ships. II
any: they require very many smaller
boats. averaging perhaps 5000 tons. 70
protect their extensive sea lanes. II
they build 100000 tons OF these. under
a 00.000.ton limitation. they will have
cruisers or. roughly. they win have
only 10 OF these boats. while we shall
have between Is and 80. II we use all
our quota for this type.
Thus, while we shall have equality
In battleships all around. we shall have
% to 80 fighting cruisers 10 face only
10 British. This. argue the British
experts. Is not parity but superiority.
All British proposals. therefore. rested
upon the basic idea that parity con-
sists In an exact b lancing Of cruisers
by type. But this proposal natural.
~ encountered the fixed American
view that only 1o.ooo-ton cruisers are
useful for Us. because Of our require
ments for much greater steaming
radius. due TO the great distances
separating our bases.
Equality In Big Bcat&
The alternative British proposal. of
course. In that we should have equal
tonnage In lo.0o0.ton boats and that
In other departments they should build
what they need and We should either
build or not build rs we choose.
Moreover. nothing In clearer than
that while both nations deny that
their navies have any relation 10 the
other. the British admiralty Is think,
srg more about our navy than OF
those Of all the other nations on earth.
They are not thinking about IL In
terms OF war The idea OF war with
the United States is n non existent
here as at home. But they are think.
ing Of what might be the situation In
case Great Britain were engaged in
another European war and undertook
to employ the blockade as In 1914.
What the admiralty fears, patiently.
Is that in such n situation. II we had
"a strong tlecs OF cruisers. we should
employ them 70 convoy American
merchant marine and TO attempt 10
break any blockade not established in
strict conformity with international
law. Withou, the ships we should
not make the attempt.
Parity Principle Accepted.
The difference between the admi-
rally and the government lies IN the
fact that the government accepts the
principle 81 parity on the clasS ton.
mage Failing such an agreement land
tie government learned to it's surprise
ut Geneva that agreement here Ia ina.
possibiei. IL has fallen hack upon the
attitude of publicly affirming that
VIVA, we build IL our concern and
waiting To see whether We shall ac.u,
ally build.
The government know that we
could, by the mere application OF \
portion II the annual surplus. take
decisive supremacy, There Is net the
smallest chance that Britain could In
her present financial situation even