New Britain herald., 1930-11-07
FRENCH AND ITALIAN NAVAL. RIVALRY

gation on the preliminary disarma- ment commission. Mr. Gibson cut a task out for himself that was no less than an attempt to bring France and Italy into an agreement on naval matters preliminary 10 meeting ol th- commission this week
 Mr. Gibson n,u, 10 Italy and there coavcrsed with Italian off cials He terminated his Nisi. with an admission ,ha, the bono ot con- tenuon between France and Italy WAS tougher than he had anucipat- ed. Last reports had ii he failed to obtain anything approaching an ag1cement.
 The difficulty remains as before. France is willing 10 grant na' al parity to Italy in the Mediterranean. but provided she may enjoy addi- ,ional naval strength for Gse in the Atlantic. Sh. holds that entire parity with Italy would mean less han parity in the Mediterranean. as France needs 10 keep some of her fleet in the Atlantic. Because neither france nor Italy became party 70 the London Naval treaty what both happen to do will ln- lluonce wha. England will do with respect 10 her navy if she is to maintain her traditional policy oi a fleet equal to the combined fleets ot any two other European powers. And what Great Britain is forced" 10 do will inevitably affect the United States and Japan. who sign ed the London treaty.
 In other words, what Trance and Italy do us regards their naval strength will have it's rcpercussions in the tonnage allowed under the treaty 70 Great Britain, the United states and Japan; the ratio Of the latter three powers would remain the same but the sum total Of ships ould be changed.
 Hence Ir. Gibson, as a friend Of the status quo. has been busy trying 10 bring the Mediterranean powers to an agreement, That he evidently l has not succeeded is because these two powers eye each other with considerable distrust. Mr, Mussolini, or some chioftain for him, has q little blacN book, so the dispatches say. which chronicles every fortifi- cation and adiuonaI torttication
 which the French have provided along the Freuch-Italian frontier and recently when he made q fiery . speech for homo consumption h. vociferously referred to the list. Returning 10 the naval con- ! ,roversy between the two countries
 IS Mr. Gibson found it. Italy insists
 that nothing prevents France from
 transferring her Atlantic Warships to the Mediterranean in case of war between the two countries. For practical purposes, then. parity be- tween the two countries in the
 Mediterranean would mean naval inieriority there for Italy in war, 1 Italy insists also that total naval
 parity with Franc is necessary 10
 maintain ItaIy's prestige as tho
 equal of Franco in the councils Of
 Europe.
 l France, though, has an economic
 advantage over Italy which all the
 speeches Of Mr. Mussolini cannot
 change. In the Washington treaty
 Italy was specifically granted parity
 with France in capital ships, and
 the Fascists say Italy simply viii never accept anything less. Now news dispatches say France is pye-
 pairing to build three capital ships
 of 22.ooQ tons each, as authorized bl
 the Washington treaty for botf
 France and Italy; but Italys eco
 homie situation is likely to proven
 her from following suit This would give France actual naval superiority
 while continuing to grant to Ital,
 the right" to build up to parity l she can. If she cannot that would
 be no fault of France.
 Mir. Gibson is also confronted witl the possibility of extending the Lo
 carno guarantees tthe inviolabillt of the Franco-German and th Belgian-German frontiers) L Frances Atlantic coasts. thus re ducing her needs for naval protec ton there. Also, he is said to b
 thinking of the possible adherenc , of the United States to consulta [ tive agreement, under either tn London treaty or the Kellogg pacl : In any naval disagreement be tween France and Italy the latte , cannot Keep step if the former step l out. Of all the nations in Europ' [ France has the smallest number c unemployed, out of a population c nearly 41.000,O0O there being onl l 1000 unemployed, according to tn : International Labor Organization 6 I l Iat n