Evening star., 1928-02-16
BACKGROUND OF EVENTS
BY PAIL J.. COLLINS.

! What's the difference, Uncle, be-
tween merchant marine and the horse
marines you used to sing about when
I was little? Does Capt Jinks still
sail with the horse marines? Or has
he gone into the merchant or bour-
geois marines?"
Stop your nonsense Susanna. !
must talk seriously TO you
But why must you talk OF war.
| Uncle Sam? The preacher says We
must pray for will for peace and
we'll have no more wars. II We build
a great Navy. Great Britain will build
a greater and then We must build a
still greater, and-away goes Our candy
and waves until VIC get as old as
Grandma
Did not Belgium have viii! of
peace when the enemy invaded her
and butchered her people. including
women and babies9 Docs the existence
OF means 10 make good our own
prayers provoke war which nobody
wants? Why not follow Cromwell's
counsel. Trust God end keep your
powder dry? Great Britain does not
need TO build greater in order 10 keep
ahead OF even the projected American
Navy. She has three ships with q
range OF 10000 yards. while We have
FIVE of equal range but her three can
outstail our ? knots an hour. so she
would quickly close in 70 range of,
say. $4,000 yards--that'S about Ia
miles-and at that distance she has Is
ships and we only O.
| "Of course. II We elevate our guns We
could increase our range on all Of our
ships" added Uncle Sam.
Yes. but the British Ambassador
does not consent that we do that, Uncle.
| NV friend Of the British embassy was
telling me about II, though l didn't pay
much attention 10 what he said"
True. British propaganda objects.
| but Japan Is eievating her guns. she Is
moderni2ing her nine ships at a cost OF
+! SIS 900 900 10 spread over the next
eight years Evidently she does not
ask British propaeandists for permis-
sion France has already raised her
guns on four battlrships. from Is de-
grees 10 % degrees, thereby increasing
their range to 25,iso yards~~about Is
miles.
without raising our guns. the
American feet. If In battle with q Brit
iah feet. will not be able to close In
against the Switter British vessels. and
will be obliged 10 fight nj disadvan-
tage, so great that In the end the
British viii have 20 capital ships In
line against our 10, Besides. We must
modernize our ships for protection
against torpedoes and for protection
against bombs from aircraft, We must
convert them from coal-burn!ng TO oil
burning
I'VE are not trying to compete with
Great Britain's navy. though. of
course. we might have done II II so de-
sired We called conference In lY2l
for the express purpose OF limiting
navies, and what was the outcomeP We
agreed upon u strength for the naties
, Of Great Britain. and the United States.
| and japan, IN the ratio Of S~5~~3 And
We showed our good faith by promptly
srrapping millions of dollars worth OF
ships then building, The battleship
Washington on which We had spent, at
/ that time. &a2 600 000 Was taken out
10 sea and sunk Steam boilers, which
had cost us sac, 900 10 make. were cut
UP and sold for scrap-iron at 50 ton ="
We'll Uncle Sam, wasn't the World
War n war to end wars'a What II We
did scrap ships for which we would have
no more use. since war was ended? Be
sides. there was the League OF Nations
or Notions, which Is it'r~that saves u
tot In navicS, YOU know, by preventing
wars
"soP Since the armistice. there have
been more than 80 major wars, not
counting mere riots and border treu-
blcs
But why must we he stronger than
Great Britain Aren't We both of the
Same race brothers."
Yes. largely the same raee N In
10 and lai1 Aud the same as We were
when Cleveland and Roosevelt. invoked
the Monroe Doctrine and backed 1t
with our Navy"
What was the good of the Disarma~
menl Conference Ut i93a II now we are
~ break that agreement 10 reduce the
Navy
But We are not breaking any agree"
ment. We serappsd hour capital ships.