once the reduction of thei capital ships to 15, 15 and 9 respectively, while France and Italy only reserve: their right of constructing addi tional ships from the replacement. tonnage available to them since the signature of the Washington Treaty until to-day, Details are given of tonnages under the Agreement between the British Commonwealth, the United States and Japan, and it is men-ioned that this section of the treaty will contain a clause safeguarding the British position in relation to the building programmes of the other Powers.
Tt also noted that the agreed figure of 150,000 tons of destroyers for the British Commonwealth must bbe conditional on the agreed destroyer and submarine strength of the European Powers at the Conference, and that this will be the subject of further negotiations with those Powers, Referring to the financial saving, the memorandum points out. that, Dut for the agreement reached at the Conference, Britain would have probably expended £50,000,000 on battleship construction by 1936 and that @ further £4,000,000 would be reduction of to 15. As to armament reduction at the unsuccessful Naval Conference a!
Genveva in 1927, the final British proposal was for a combined total tonnage of cruisers, destroyers and submarines, including. over-age vessels, of 797,500 tons. The com: parable total agreed upon to-day is 541,700 tons, A further expenditure these classes of ships of at least 15,000,000 has been avoided.
Considerable as are these material results, the memorandum regards 5 even more important the mutual improvement of political relations which they imply and hope is exessed that, during the next state the Conference, an agreement Apr. 17.
Tu the House of Commons this jatternoon Commander Kenworthy' asked whether, in view of the sucleessful conclusion of a Tripartite Naval Treaty, it was proposed to proceed with the Singapore Naval, Base, especially the provision of} facilities for docking and repairing the largest battleships.
Mr, A. V. Alexander, the First Lord of the Admiralty, replied that} the matter required most careful review in the light of the treaty we hoping would shortly be igned by all the Powers represent fed at the Naval Conference, This review would be undertaken with fas little delay as possible and full consultation with the Domi fons Governments concerned.
Commander Kenworthy asked if the position was not very much faltered by the announced British Policy looking to the eventual dis-Appearance of the battleship, remarking "What is the use then of building battleship docks?"
Mr. Alexander said that Useful purpose could be served by! discussing that subject at present.
declined to endorse a sugge: tion made by Mr. Winston Churchill that there should be no alteration in the Government's existing policy before the Imperial Conference meets in the autumn.
Yesterday's discussion between Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, Colonel Stimson, and Mr. Wal cerned the so-called safeguarding clause for insertion in that part of the treaty signed by the three Powers they represent.
The proposed clause follows broadly a similar clause in the Washington Treaty except that, instead of a conference being som-moned should any of the signatory Powers consider its naval position Jeopardized by the action of an out-Side Power, it is now proposed that there should be consultations through diplomatic channels and that, after due notice, the Power Affected should be entitled to increase its own programme.
The clause was drafted and transmitted to Tokyo for examination by the Japanese Government.
In the House of Commons to-day a member asked whether, cussing this safeguarding Ttalian navies in combination been considered.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Philip Snowden, replied that any special fleet or comb fleets.
Treaty Ready for Apr. 21.
After a meeting lasting 40) minutes, the heads of the delegations to the Naval Conference to-dey approved the draft of the Naval Treaty, which has been sent to the printers and will be signed at 2.30 on Tuesday morning.
The Treaty consists of about 14,000 words.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.