London, "Feb. 9.
Germany's decision to mount 8- inch guns instead of 6-inch guns on" her new 10000-ton. cruiser which Seydlitz and to increase her submarine tonnage up to the British total, was the subject of seven questions on House of. Commons "Order Paper yesterday.
"The questions were answered by Shakespeare, Financial ye to the necessity of|Secretary of the Admiralty, who, in the decisions were in aclong statement, made it clear that
cordance with the rights conferred upon them in the Anglo-German Naval agreement.
The Admiralty, he said, was unable io agree that Germany's exercise of her treaty rights was a threat to Great Britain or anyone else.
"The German standpoint in reaching these decisions, Mr. Shakespeare continued, was that, in the present conditions of international affairs, Germany no longer was prepared to refrain from developing her naval forces to the full extent permitted by the treaty.
Gradual Increases The Germans hat stated, he added, that their increase in submarine tonnage' from 45 per cent. to equal tonnage with the British, would be gradual.
Mr. Shakespeare declared that the increased submarine tonnage was not affected by the over-riding condition that the total tonnage of the German Navy may not exceed 36 per cent. of the aggregate tonnage of the British Navy.
"Mr. A. V. Alexander, Labour member for the Hillsborough division of Sheffield, asked what steps the Admiralty proposed to take to protect British shipping and British interests against this threat.
Mr. Shakespeare advised Mr. Alexander to await the presentation of Naval estimate, when account would be token of all the factors of naval development in any part of the world—Reuter.
The Soviet Charge d'Affaires in Tokyo has been instructed to lodge a second strong protest with the Japanese Government against the alleged invasion of Soviet territory by Japanese-Manchoukuoan troops. The protest again. warned Japan of the "possible consequences" of such violations of the Soviet border.
The communique announcing the latest clash said the island being disputed by the Japanese was awarded to Russia in a treaty with China signed in 1911. The island on which fighting occurred yesterday was the same island ea which fighting broke out on January 31.—United Press, Japan Protests to Soviets Tokyo, Feb. 9.
Japan protested to the Soviet Union today against an alleged case of "unwarrantable" opposition to a Japanese coal concessions in North Saghalien. The protest, based on a Soviet newspaper editorial, was handed to the Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs M. Maxim Litvinov, by the Japanese Ambassador in Moscow.
Japanese reports said the new case concerns the Sakai Company's former coal concession at Agnewo which wa: said to have been granted under the Soviet-Japanese treaty of 1925, The concession was said to have been transferred later to the North Sakhalien Coal Mining Ca. The Soviet Government, the reports said attempted to recover the concession last year, but abandoned the plan in April, 1938.
The Japanese protest was said to have been based on a report appearing in the organ of the Soviet Executive Committee of North Sakhalien which recently announced the Soviet Union had recovered the concession and would work the Agnewo coal mine without the knowledge of thr Japanese concessionaire.—United Press,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.