Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-27
NAVY MEN TO GIVE
CUT PLANS BATTLE
Need of Full Strength Seen,
With FIare-ups Possible
Overnight.

The sensational announcements OF
President Hoover and Premier Mac
Donald. suspending cruiser construction
have come with such amazing force
that the naval group has been taken
aback completely. This does not mean,
however,, that opposition to the Presi-
dents program is negligible. 1t merely
foreshadows a gathering OF strength by
various elements in and out Of Congress
in an attempt to maintain the author
lied strength of the American Navy.
While the diplomatic world Is rocking
with enthusiasm over the apparent
working understanding between Britain
and the United States, after many years
of misunderstanding, the navalists are
by no means prepared to surrender.
1t would be folly to suppose that the
naval group is actuated either by any
desire to build up a war machine for a
selfish reason or by any thought Of i'm
mediate hoStilitieS with any country.
There Is an abstract viewpoint held by
the naval men, which comes from a
conscientious desire to be ready Tor
hypothetical emergencies, and, while
Great Britain and the United States
may both say through their spokesman
today that war between the two coun-
tries is unthinkable the seasoned naval
men know that bad feeling flares up
almost overnight between nations and
that the construction or expansion OF
navies cannot be begun under those
circumstances without casting suspicion
on the voters for such enlargement OF
naval powers.
Technical Argument Seen.
There Is also here a feeling that
when the diplomats actually begin 10
determine what parity" means as be-
tween the United States and Great
Britain, a technical argument Is h-
evitable. What the Navy experts want
is a we'll balanced fleet of all classes,
and with the prospects Of submarine as
we'll as aerial warfare, they are likely
to demand almost as large an expendi-
ture in the future as in the past In
order to protect the huge coastline of
the United States against any attack,
The situation has changed materially
from the days when everybody agreed
that the battleship was the mainstay
of the fleet. 1t is still conceded to be
a great offensive weapon, but the num-
Der of auxiliary units required nova
days has overshadowed the expendi-
lures for battleships. 1t is a serious
question, too, how many small vessels
of fast speed are going to be needed
for coast patrol work in connection
with smuggling.
The big fact, however, is that Great
Britain and the United States under
stand each other The next question
is whether France and the other naval
powers are going to feel that they have
liberty of action with respect to the
makeup of their navies.
Moral Force Reliance.
Undoubtedly both the President and
British prime minister are depending
almost entirely on moral force to back
them up in their demands that naval
expenditures be cut. The battle Of pub
lie opinion will be waged no less inten-
sively inside the United States than
in Great Britain, because the naval
groups in each country have very much
the same viewpoint. They consider
themselves guardians Of the naval in
terestS of a country against all emo
tional peace movements, which are not
necessarily permanent and which, in
their Judgment, frequently prevent
naval expenditures from being effec-
lively used.
Entirely apart from the attitude of
the naval group, there Is no doubt that
the expressions from Premier Mac
Donald have created profound feeling
in Congress. In the last cruiser fight
the opponents of cruiser suspension
were strengthened by the fact that
Great Britain had made no effort to
cut down the number of her new YES
sells. The naval group will undoubtedly
argue that the Labor government in
England may be overthrown any mo-
ment and a Conservative government
put into power, which will take the
same view of things that the British
admiralty did in the Geneva naval con-
ference, which irritated President
Coolidge and caused him to make his
famous Armistice day speech last
Autumn.
If the British Labor government, how
ever, appears to grow stronger, the anti
big Navy sentiment in Congress here
will grow correspondingly. II the ques-
ton were to come to vote tomorrow
Mr.. Hoover would have an overwhelm-
ing majority in support Of his program
not only of suspending cruiser construc-
ton but Of further limiting naval
armament. D. L.
(Copyright 1920