Senator Butler, chairman of the Naval Committee, has introduced a Bill providing for the construction of 10 light cruisers of 10,000 tons at a total cost of—$105,000,000 exclusive of armour and armament.
In the event of an international conference limiting naval armaments, the measure empowers the President to suspend the whole construction There have been recent murmurs regarding the President's national] defence policy, especially naval. Several newspapers have voiced discontent, pointing out America's "inferiority" to Great Britain, particularly as regards cruisers.
To Force Britain's Hand Two theories are obtaining:
(1) That Senator Butler is acting on his own responsibility urged by a "big Navy" Republican clique; (2), That he is collaborating closely with President Collidge, with whom he conferred for an hour last night, the idea being not to incur vast expense in building the cruisers but to force the hand of Great Britain to make her agree to another Iin.itation conference,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.