Blue Prints

FOREIGN NEWS

By last week practically all hope of armament limitation had disappeared from the world. In its wake came the following developments: United States. The Senate passed (65-to-18) the House bill to build the U. S. Navy up to Treaty strength in seven years (TIME, Feb. 5). Cost: $750,000,000 to $1,000,000,000. Ships: one airplane carrier, 99,200 tons of destroyers (65), 35-530 tons of submarines (30). Aircraft: a number "commensurate with a Treaty navy." Author of the bill was Georgia's Carl Vinson. Chairman of the House Naval Affairs Committee. Washington's two Senators tacked on amendments, one to allow Pacific Coast shipyards to bid on the new ships with transportation costs considered, the other to build 25% of the airplanes in government plants. Great Britain-- The biggest Navy budget since 1928 was presented to the House of Commons by Sir Bolton Meredith Eyres Monsell. First Lord of the Admiralty. Cost: -L-56,550.000 ($287,274,000), or $15,158,400 more than last year. New ships: four cruisers, one aircraft carrier, nine destroyers, three submarines, many a small craft. France-- The Doumergue Government pushed construction on a man o' war, two submarines, and a destroyer for which it had yet to obtain Parliamentary consent, then asked Parliament to authorize a three billion franc ($197,400,000) bond issue to pay for additional armaments. Navy: 595,000,000 francs ($39,151,000). Air: 980,000,000 francs ($64,484,000) which will be spent for "quality rather than quantity" in fighting planes. Explained the Foreign Office: "Germany is rearming." Germany. The League of Nations made public an official memorandum from Germany to France, dated Dec. 18, 1933 in which Germany disclosed her intention to "rearm in moderation." Italy. The Glornale d'ltalia hinted at construction of a 25,000-ton ship to match France's 26,500-ton Dunkerque now in construction. Japan. Minister of the Navy Mineo Osumi announced that passage of the Naval bill in the U. S. made it necessary for Japan to build more fighting ships, confirmed his country's determination to modify the 5-5-3 naval ratio imposed by the Washington Treaty.* But even while the world last week was making its financial blue prints for new weapons of death and destruction for an oncoming era of intensive nationalism, talk of another war just ahead seemed to be subsiding and the taut strings of suspicion and jealousy slacked off perceptibly.

Because warships of less than 600 tons are exempt from the London Naval Treaty, Japan has just launched several of a series of 527-ton torpedo boats, mounting three 5-in. guns. Last week the Tomozuro, first of its class, capsized at battle practice drowning 110 hands.

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