The "Daily Telegraph's" naval correspondent understands that in consequence of negotiations between the British and the "Australian Governments, certain British battleships have been earmarked for service in the Pacific should an emergency arise. Neither the number, he says, nor the names of the battleships, however. can be disclosed.
The composition of the battle force which would in certain eventualities be despatched to the Far East, ha: been carefully calculated, he cen tinues, with a view to a balance of power in the Eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
Despite the active building of ships by Germany and Italy, Britain and France, according to the correspondent, can count on maintaining their present superiority.
Thenks to the completion of the Singapore base, the decision to build a great battleship dock in Sydney. and the existence of docks capable of taking the largest ships at Malta and Gibraltar, he goes on, the strategie position of the Empire in relation to Far-Eastern defence has materially improved.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.