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Show BRITAIN WILL KEER CAPITAL SHIP,- HURDSAYS Civilian Expert Says Navy Meant Life or Death To Empire 15NDON", March "It would fce h wonderful thine Id -.tremendous savins" sav-ins" of people's money If EnKland and America could agree to a genuine limitation limi-tation of armaments." Archibald Hurd. the vreatest civilian naval authority 1n Britain and author of many naval books, wn talking about the naval situation as It concerns con-cerns fcnff'and and the world . "No capital ship. he said, "has beea laid down by any continental power since the beginning of the war. "N'o capital ship has been laid by British since 191. when H. M 8. Hood, the world's moat powerful a hip, was beat) n. i "When the arm In t Ice came. Kng1and topped construction on over 600 ships. "We sold and Junkfd many others. - "In the UnltsJ Htates and Japaa fT shipbuilding-, ordnance and enKltteerltiff establishments are busier than ever before. "We think Kngrlsnd has t s vary food example for the world. ON BRJTISH-Lr. B. WAR. "I don't believe Kn pel and and America "Would rome to war, whatever the causa ' of friction. "It would be nnthtnkable! How would they flarht? America has ne battleships which could come over here and fight and we have none which could go to the United fHates and fight. This is due to the limitation limita-tion of coal and oil fuel storage capacity ca-pacity on ships. "In 18U no fuel was needed because none was used." Hurd laid stress on the Id a that If a naval holiday Is entered upon it must be a real one for all nations. "America and Japan have programs Which will keep their factories buay for five years.' he said. "If we undertook under-took no naval prosrram and entered into an agreement for a five years na-! na-! val holiday under such circumstances, i the agreement would he equivalent to a death knell for the British fleet unless un-less provision were made for maintaining main-taining plants for g-unmaklng, armor manufacture and construction of torpedo tor-pedo tubes and torpedoes. wrtUUGTH NERDEeD. "Any naval holiday must be bv lim- Itatlon of armaments that would enable en-able Britain to have a fleet able to protect the British empire.' Asked whether he thought Britain would ever submit to being the second sec-ond naval power of the world, Hurd -easH "We are a maritime empire with four times the population of the United Htates, The well being- of our people depends upon the freedom of the sea. Our naval problem means life and death to us, and we can't trifle with lu "We will seek safety for our empire and that means that our naval power will be created around the rapital ship. Our g-overnment has to study the question ques-tion of what sort of capital ship it -shall be." |