Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-03
NAVAL PLANS HELD
DISARMAMENT BAR
Moves for Limitation Seen as
Dependent Upon Powers
Ambitions.
BY HAROLD E. SCARBOROUGH.

BY HAROLD e. SCARBOROUGH.
By Radio to The Star.
LONDON, February 2.-During and
after the Geneva naval conference of
1927, European opinion generally tend
ed to regard naval rivalry as question
primarily concerning the United States,
Britain and Japan. But gradually dur
ing the past year, and particularly
within the past few months, Continental
nations seem to have been discovering
that in the words of one diplomat 'if
they can't fight on the high seas they
still can fight on the narrow ones"
The result is that today any conference
looking to the limitation of naval aux
iliaries would be ineffective unless the
naval ambitions of France, Germany
and Italy were taken into account.
Tt is true that Germany's neersats
preusSen, west pocket battleship," ex-
lists as yet only on paper. The British
view the new German venture quite
almly. In the first place, there is no
articular justification for assuming
nat in any future European war Ger
many and Britain would be on opposite
sides. In the second place, this coun-
try possesses number of ships. any
one OF which could make short work of
a German cruiser.
The French, however, take more
tragically Germany's re-entry into the
Baltic as naval power, and although
French official sources have denied that
they were allocating any of their Wash
lngton treaty capital ship tonnage to
ships just sufficiently more powerful
than the German to render hers useless
certain British newspapers continue to
insist that the French naval staff is
toying with the idea. However, as to
the reality of naval rivalry in the
Mediterranean there are no available
statistics which speak for themselves.
Tonnage Tables Printed.
The naval correspondent of the Daily
Telegraph prints tables showing that
since 1920 France has built and author
lied 164 new warships of a total ton
mage of 277, 400; Italy, SO, of tonnage
OF 192, 900. He moreover points out that
on January 16 rapporteur of French
navy estimates, in demanding 16 war;
ships and 2 auxiliaries, declared their
construction essential, partly in order
that France may keep pace with Italy"
On January Is the Italian govern
ment sanctioned the speeding up of the
building program to include 10 ships
this year. Since 1920 both France and
Italy have built or sanctioned six
10,000-ton cruisers; the French navy
maintains submarine superiority, while
the italian navy Is stronger in Destroy
erS and flotilla leaders, which in size
and performance approach small cruis-
ers. 1t is perhaps due to the realiza-
ton of the havoc the French and
Italian navieS would wreak upon the
British Mediterranean and Atlantic
trade, as well as to the gradual per-
ception of this country that even with
the Is projected 10,000-ton cruisers the
American Navy would not be superior
to the British, that the tendency has
almost entirely disappeared for the
British press to refer slightingly to the
unjustif1ed American naval expansion.
Combined Force Seen as Peace Clasp.
The British press-particularly its Lib
eral section-long since admitted frank
ly that If the United States and Britain
were to conclude a pact guaranteeing
the freedom of the seas the best guar
antee Thereof would be the combined
force the two navies could oppose to
the covenant breaking nation or ma
tons. Thus Is new American cruisers,
If not yet exactly welcomed, have GER
tainly ceased to alarm the British as
| they did a year ago. OF urse, the.
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