London, Mar. 20.
There is good reason to believe that the Japanese six-year naval construction programme, although its existence was admitted in Tokyo in the past few days, was actually begun in 1937, says the naval expert of the "Daily Express." Despite the jealous secrecy surrounding the programme, the writer believes "from information received," that it consists of five battleships, eight 10,000-ton cruisers, sixteen light cruisers, two aircraft carriers, 32 destroyers and twelve submarines.
Two 42,000-ton battleships are already in the process of being built, while two more were to have been laid down last year, he says.
The whole programme is to be completed by 1943, the year in which the British naval expansion should make possible the creation of an Imperial British Eastern Fleet.
The writer says that the defence authorities in New Zealand, Australia end Great Britain will meet shortly to ce-ordinate defences east of Colombo, of which the Rritish Eastern Fleet must be a part.
He says that a Latin intelligence officer first gave Europe authentic details of the new Japanese 42,000-ton battleships. America has succeeded in obtaining more details.
Britain and America have promptly produced designs of vessels equalling the Japanese type.
The Lion and the Temeraire are Great Britain's immediate reply, according to the naval expert of the "Daily Express."—Reutei.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.