Washington, May 9.
Advocating a conservative naval i n to the! the House of Representatives, Mr. Burton L. French, Chairman of the Appropriations Sub-Committee, which drafts the annual Naval Supply Bill, said to-day that the United States would be in a stronger position at the proposed naval conference in 1935 if she did not build up to the limits of the London Naval Treaty which, he declared, would cost almost a thousand million dollars.
Mr. French contended that by not building to the authorized limits, the United States could more readily agree, at the next conte ence, to a further reduction, which could be effected without scrapping new ships On the other hand, he continued, if the various categories were not filled up to the limits, the nation would be able to take advantage of any contemporaneous improvement designs or methods of warfare.
Mr. Britten, however, was unmoved by Mr. French's plea and introduced his Bill, which provides for the expenditure of §936,995,000 for the construction of warships. This, he says, is necessary to establish American parity with Tons 73,500
£150,000
52,700
69,000
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.