Evening star., 1935-08-04
Continued From First Page

fCnnfInunO FTOll Tho'
MANY is limited to eight small cruiSei'
of not more than 5000 tons each' ON
will now be entitled to 10 oil iio INN
In size, apart from the proVlso iiieIi'
toned above and then only IL 'lie'
Is no increase in the British liee''
Instead of is torpedo-boat destroy,
ers under the treaty of Versailles o'
or so can be built Under the same
treaty Germany was forbidden ar
craft carriers or. indeed, military all
craft Of any kind. She can no" iia''
them.
Most remarkable of all Is this'
Whereas submarines were Speclii'aiiS
prohibited to Germany by the peace
treaty, she will now be entitled altei
friendly conversations with the BTU
ish government, to build So
On March l8 last, the British gov
eminent addressed a stiff note 10 the
German government protesting against
treaty violations. On April II lhe
British government was one OF the
signatories of a resolution OF con-
demnation passed by the states men,
bers Of the League of Nations con-
demning Germany's violations OF tne
peace treaty on land and in the AR
The German government was puoncly
reprimanded for introducing con-
scription and constructing military
aircraft in violation of the treaty. And
then, in June, the British government
condoned, and even encouraged, TINS
breach in the naval clauses.
All that is left of the military
clauses of the treaty of Versailles Is
the demilitarized zone along the
Rhine. And how long will this last?
Intentions Of Best
Obviously. there must be some
strong reason for this extraordinary
departure from recognized diplomatic
methods and for this practical re-
pudiation Of the solemn agreement
reached at StreSa a short time ago.
That Germany had announced her
intention of building warships with
out restriction in any case forms the
basis OF the apologize of the British
government. But there is obviously
good deal more behind it than this.
Let me state at once that believe
the British foreign Office acquiesced in
this extraordinary procedure with the
best of intentions. These intentions
are to assist the cause of world peace
by removing a possible source of irri-
tation between Germany and Britain
A recrudescence of Anglo-German
rivalry would have been a source of
irritation; but the price paid has been
heavy.
The British admiralty also acted
from the best intentions-from its
own point of view; and that point of
view is quite understandable 1t is to
strengthen the British feet. The
British admiralty considers that its
fleet is not big enough. and should be
bigger, and is determined by any
means possible to persuade the Brit
ish chancellor of the exchequer and
the British public to agree to the very
large sums required for such a pur-
pose. All hopes Of reductions in arma-
ments are thrown overheard.
The shock and surprise caused in
Paris can be understood New York
and Washington are further away
than Paris and Rome, but this naval
agreement. as I shall presently show,
is likely to have a serious effect on
the position of America.
In order to put this event in its
right perspective let us look at it this
way: What would have been the effect
on American opinion if the British
and japanese admirals and diplomats
had sat down together in secret and
reached an agreement by which the
japanese were to build a navy equal
to that of the British? For the Japa-
nese demand equality.
Or suppose that the French had
done as a not uninf1uential section of
French statesmen advocate, and come
to a separate naval agreement with
Germany, without prior consultation
with Britain, agreeing that Hitler
should build navy equal to that of
France. This is by no means a far
fetched idea. for one of the proposals
put forward by Hitler during the con-
versations this Spring with the then
British foreign minister. Sir John
Simon, was that he should have parity
with the French navy.
France has a submarine fiotilla of
e6 vessels, the most powerful in the
world. There would have been a
shock in British governmental and
naval circles in London if the news
had come through that France had
agreed to Germany's possessing a fleet
Of 96 submarines!
The British government knew well
that its cosignatories of existing treaties
would be surprised, if not hostile
There must, therefore, have been
some underlying cause for such step
One cause, undoubtedly, is the grow
ing sympathy of the small British
governing class for the Nazi regime
in Germany. There still remains great
@AooOAiAGJ W Isuoold dLilOdlS CIllS Class
Hitler and his followers are regarded
as the hammer of the Bolsheviks, the
enemies of socialism, radicalism and
every other political creed which is
anathema to the extreme conservative
elements which still control the Brit
ish governmental machine. There Is
a desire, therefore, to be on friendly
terms with Germany, even at the risk
Of a weakening of the relations be-
tween the British and the French.
Another reason is a real fear in Eng.
land of the air weapon. Britain is
particularly vulnerable to air attack
from the continent because of the
situation of London and because OF
the immense concentration of popula-
tion. wealth and industries in anc
around London and It's suburbs. 1t i,
difhcult to defend such a vast anc
important area from air attack.
Menace of Air Force Unseen.
Now there is an important school ot
strategists in Germany who maintain
that military invincibility will lie with
the first nation which devotes the
whole of its available resources to the
development of the air arm. Ger.