Evening star., 1928-01-15

limits to the striking power Of other
nav.<s. And in any war the danger
to Britain Is in the striking power OF
the enemy.
Cruising Radius Important.
The steaming radius Of a 5.000-ton
cruiser Is patiently vastly less than
that of a 10000 ship. Our naval ex.
perts at Washington insisted upon
the 10.000 type because IL vas the
smallest craft that could maintain
between our widely
scattered naval bases in the Pacific.
We might have parity in all classes
of ships. but precisely as long as We
lacked adequate naval has this
parity would leave US restricted 10
our home waters.
Nominally the British argued that
If they built 300 900 tons Of cruisers
mainly Of the 5000 class and We the
same volume. expressed in the large
style, We should in fact have superior
ity. not parity. for our ships could
demonstrably Outright theirs This
argument was Unanswerable. but the
British admiralty was very far from
being satisfied when we agreed &c
parity in this class Of ship. Even
such parity insured that We should
have at least 90 OF these boats. and
il was 10 get rid Of such boats in our
hands that the British admiralty was
striving.
When. after the failure ot Geneva.
the British government again took up
the question and announced that j,
would postpone the building Of two
out of three of the cruisers on this
years program and that the ships
abandoned were OF 10000 tons. IL was
hoping that this gesture would be met
by similar American decision.
When the new American program
was announced. with the proposal for
25 TO 80 Washington cruisers. British
astonishment was enormous in all di-
rections, and at once there was adopt
ed a policy OF silence, OF apparent
abandonment OF any idea OF competi-
ton. But even if Great Britain had
Us. as she has not. such construction
would not restore the British s;tua-
ton.
Means End Of Supremacy.
We talk mainly abou, parity. which
means for US equal tonnage in all
classes Of ships. bur what Is too little
perceived in our case is the fact that
parity for Us. any parity which in
cludes a considerable feet OF big
.ruisers. means the end not merely Of
British supremacy, as il has existed
and still exists. but OF British security.
as il has been protected in al recent
centuries Parity means power 10
break a British blockade and the
blockade Is the single weapon in war
on which Britain relies for victory
In the nature OF things, then, the
British are not going 10 give over
their fght TO get rid Of the Washing
ton cruiser. II later they are obliged
10 recognize that they cannot prevent
Us from building. that they cannot
persuade US. then they will certainly
turn 10 another lire Of action II we
insist upon having the ships. then the
important thing win be 10 limit the
use we can make Of them
And here lies the explanation Of
all Of the various projects for arhitra
ton treaties. Atlantic cOmpae;s. rsvi-
>ions OF maritime laws, which are
beginning to be heard. IL the United
States and Great Britain signed an
arbitration treaty. which pledged each
10 refrain from any act OF aggression
against the other. 20 outlaw war rs
between our two nations. We could
not. in case OF another European war.
undertake TO break a British blockade
We should be forced 20 carry our
claims TO an arhitrai court
Anglo-American Alliance.
Quite as patiently. II we joined the
British in rewriting maritime law IN
such fashion as 20 establish rhs block
ade on the basis Britain desires. cur
feet would lose all is importance in
British eyes and we rnsEhs build As
many cruisers OF the biz type as we
chose And. % course. X n real Anglo
American alliance could be made. this
would he hest % all In British syeS.
should be very far frsm accurate IL
| suggested that az ;hs hos;cEa OF the
British mind IS \ deSp-l2id scheme gc
trick US out of 4 parity whkch has al.
ready been conceded 10 Us in princs>
pie. The great di..sculty lies in the
fact that there - no ccrsu,cn dsSnl,
tiou ef parity and that parity as We
see IL means for Britain scEsstAiax
whic' is reckcasi menace ard .>,a.
catsStrophe> 1; is not rlsrely cser
a question cf empty prestige that they
are nShurg, In their minds What Ne
have set cu, ~ Sc fcTecas;S the ccEa-
promising ~ ;heir Whole situation IL,
the world
This is ncc merely true % their ca n
physical condition, * IS quite as true.
10 their political situation. Thus. or
the morrow ~ the ACKNOWLEDGEMENT -
cur naval pr.sran,. WlllESvn Martin.
one cf the us0St AGATE ~ ksarvpsan
journalists. wrote III the Journal lie
GeneNes
Il, is ~, in It's military ssp<cs. es.s
IN shs SirlcnatSc !iesa, sAa: the Amer
-
Importance sor Great Britain. ter In
disturbing the equilibrium ~ fcSres.
PARTICULARLY in sAs fNscisy. il can sx,
ercsse a !lrsc, tnsuence 9p<sn the a.,
ttesie ~ CerSain countries wAScn to
day xrSNsta;s Sec2s Gs~At HvsSSIa and
Gould III the fSstUce ee led - sGrn ~
the United states
The hsSvmenN waich k>sSStan1 has
eNeirsSsd ia the wcgl6 in shs ataS~
'eenth century, assI - whscA us seC~
ncn,te pSNNsgersgN hzS cs<n due. In a
large measure rested ag<sa the fact
that nc other tteet S>asa saeasurS
itself against the British. The SaN
when tAts viii NV teaxSr ee true Mil
Sfs SrS>AS changes, 10th ySNlstscSl ami
tCN,aanitv'N
Meantime, there Is }s,SS one pyAc,N
cat C>snSsaueaEe nj cur naval ,>sNAsvSnt
whlch must ,se neke>i NGta It's pae
1N'aasNn All serleuS lx<N>yNS<t ~ tasslta,
t'en M SrnNamsnts, asacA hess SSSSAvtssA
nsens. m kASgpgNe cCtsseS ~ 8u eNl fSsg
an tadthalGs period <Nsaseswisess M
cNai,nue, League ~ \aIsAssS S>>>saaAsSr
Ssrns viii discuss pSsssrSy,SsS aud pge-
sent AAeeSS>S. but that viii ~ the nsast
rhnS for the League ami ss~ I>NnSt,
neass, kar<,s>s the sastuye ~ the INN>s>
ssse ScafsEeacS has slgSslS rEnNSSa
the disaster assnN SSSSSaw a. tAs Nv
tneas.
tVVgSrtSat sasSA