While the vernacular papers have. been urging, day in and day lout, recently that the pruning knife should be vigorously applied to the Army, it is worthy of note that the Proposal in some quarters to bring the Navy under the axe too -has elicited very little interest. The explanation is that, rightly or wrongly, Japan feels that a big cut jin her naval estimates. in advance Jot the other Powers might weaken her in the coming London confer-Jence as she would then be left with ewer cards to bargain. The size fand strength of Japan's Navy has very definite value in negotiations lof this kind, but the Army has no such bargaining value. The press is fully alive to this and the lack lof interest in regard to cutting down the sea forces is quite nature Official quarters are very doubtful if a big out in the size of the JAvmy can be effected—even as big cut ay was made in 1925 by Gen-fecal Ugaki when four divisions were abolished. Retrenchment, itis believed, will be sought by such means as reducing the term of colour service, probably by cutting it down to eighteen months all round, reducing the size of pence: time divisions and other main units lot the Army, reorganizing the training and administrative branches, abolishing some of the arsenals fas it is felt that, in the event of lemergoney, there are private firms fully equipped to turn out munitions, replacing, fixed fortifeations with mobile armaments, eliminating eer-tain of the departmental bureaux. fand sections in order to avoid overlapping' and amalgamating them with others, and "economizing manpower by making greater use of aviation and mechanized units,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.