Confirmation thet plans for the giant battleships were being con-ridered was obtained after the Seeretary of State, Mr, Cordell Hull, had told correspondents that he had received no information indicating America. might abandon construction restrictions of the London Naval Treaty in order to meet the chal-Tenge of new Japanese construction. Japan has been. reported to have two 45,000-ton battleships under construction.
Congress to-day anxiously awaited President Roosevelt's forthcoming message on national defence in which expected to request new warships and general strengthening of the nation's defences. Observers speculated whether the President, a former Assistant Secretary of the Navy, would openly advocate to Congress' the abandonment of the London Treaty naval restrictions.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.