29 War Boats

Oh, we'll march to Paris

And chop off the head

Of Marianne,

Marianne,

Marianne!

We'll chop off her head,

We'll chop off her head,

And lay,

And lay,

And lay it at our

Duce's feet!

Reports reached Paris last week that the little lads of the Fascist Balilla (Italy's militarized Boy Scouts) now chant this brisk, stirring air as they march along shouldering small bolt-action rifles of the latest Italian Army type. To cut off the head of Marianne is, of course, to decapitate France. The fact that France and Italy quarreled at the London Naval Conference (TIME, Jan. 27 et seq.), coupled with the hostile tone the Italian Press has taken since, made French papers play up under biggest scare heads last week certain routine naval developments at home.

Home from the London Naval Conference, Admiral Giuseppe Sirianni, ranking expert of the Italian delegation, reported to the government of Signer Benito Mussolini on the general world naval situation. Next day the cabinet released copies of Italy's current warboat building program -- prepared weeks ago but ominous enough to seem to Frenchmen like a postConference threat. Twenty-nine fighting ships will be laid down this year and built at a cost of $40,000,000: one 10,000-ton cruiser; two 5,100-ton flotilla leaders; four 1,240-ton destroyers and 22 submarines. At London Italy signed, as did France, that part of the Treaty which provides for "humanization of submarine warfare" (TIME, Feb. 24 et seq.) but this in no way restricts the building of submarines.

In April Italy launched 32,000 tons of war boats, has another 22,000 tons under construction, and with the 29,000 tons announced last week will soon have a brand new fighting contingent of 83,000 tons. What this weight in war boats means may be roughly gauged from the fact that the U. S. large-cruiser fleet today amounts to 80,000 tons, of which only 20,000 tons are in commission. Of course the U. S. complement of other war boats makes the U. S, Navy superior to the Italian, though as yet by no means equal to the British.

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