Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-08-04
Continued From First Page)

construction of five treaty cruisers be-
cause of the pressure of the admiralty
but that it had no intention Of making
this an annual policy. The Birkenheao
program, he declared. was the begin
ming of new war preparations, and Is
not merely q replacement program a.
all. There is no known danger
facing us that juStifies this program.
Following the Inflated Geneva con-
ference, held In the Summer OF 1927
the British government dropped three
of the eight-inch-gun cruisers from III
fve-year program. Nevertheless. by
June. 1929. the British government had
completed the construction OF 10 eight
inch-gun cruisers and had authorized
the construction of eight nore-a total
of 10. In addition, there were in the
British navy four cruisers Of the Haw-
kins class Of a tonnage averaging about
9,750 and carrying 7.5-inch guns, and
40 small cruisers carrying 6-inch guns
Most of these latter cruisers are OF less
than 5000 tons.
Thus, the cruiser strength Of the
British navy is much greater than the
present strength Of the American Navy,
This disparity in cruiser strength must
not be overlooked in an effort 70 achieve
naval parity as well as reduction.
sists of 81 cruisers, built and building
1t was not the intention even OF the
Baldwin government to maintain this
number of cruisers indefinitely. Thirty
of the British cruisers win become obso-
lete between 1885 and 1910. II the
British government waited until the
actual year of maturity before begin
ming replacement, the financial burden
upon the budget for that year would
be excessive. Consequently 1t was the
policy of the last government to antici-
pate these maturity dates by laying
down three new cruisers year. SO
that by 1910 the ships laid down over
this period would approximately equal
the number becoming obsolete.
According TO a statement OF Mr.
Bridgeman, first lord of the admiralty
in the House of Commons on March
IA. 1929. there would be only so cruisers
under 20 years Of age In the British
navy in 1870. In view OF the large
treaty cruisers already under construc-
ton. at least 10 of these vessels would
nave been eight-inch-gun vessels, and the
remainder presumably would have beer
smaller six-inch-gun vessels. Assuming
that each Of these smaller vessels had
a displacement of $500 tons. the total
tonnage of the British feet IN 1910
under this program would he $4,000
tons, or nearly 10000 tons more than
American cruiser tonnage, assuming ths
construction of the Is cruisers au'
lhorized in 1929. If none Of these cruis.
ers is constructed, British superiority
would be about 100000 tonsO
On the other hand, the United States
would have five more treaty cruisers
than the British government. And II
now seems to be admitted by both gov
ernmentS that large eight -inch-gur
cruiser is worth perhaps two small SIX
inch-gun cruisers, although the diner-
ence in tonnage may be only q few
thousand tons. Moreover. the United
states also has q superiority over the
British in destroyers and submarines
of nearly $4,000 tons.
Because of this superiority In large
cruisers, destroyers and submarines, the
United States by 1910 would have
euualed the total tonnage Of the British
navy as contemplated In The replace
ment program OF the last British gov