Show i How Much for Defense 7 T WILL not be until the last appropriation bill I IT for all phases of military and naval expansion h has ha's s b been n passed that the American people will have anything like an exact picture of the cost of our current national defense program The figures already known are startling to a people which desires only peace and which has no designs designs de de- de signs on a single square foot of foreign ign territory Two heartening assurances es of a pacific na national national na- na policy have been given to Americans One I I is contained in the presidents president's pr sid nt's proposals for an I American all congress this summer at which a collective scheme schem for peace for the he western hemisphere hemisphere hem hem- well collective neutrality neutrality neutrality neu neu- sphere is an objective as as co for the Americas in the event of a war yar on the other side of the world The other is found in the message of the chief executive to the Daughters of the American Revolution in their convention in Washington Monday night The United States he sa said d will Vill continue to to press for disarmament and it will not increase its own armaments unless other powers by increasing their armament make increase by us necessary to ou our national safety Based on our foreign policy he referred to the American military and naval program solely as one concerned with Adequate national nation l defense Of our land forces the country knows that vast increases are not contemplated The house has j just st sent to the senate without an objecting v vote te the Rogers bill to increase the army's air establishment materially That and a reasonable reasonable reasonable reason reason- able increase in army personnel together w with th modernizing and mechanizing present forces is essentially all that is in view The naval expansion program is not as clearly clear clr- ly under understood We Ve know that new ships ships are contemplated but many of them are are accounted for by the fact that we have been having a naval holiday of our own We h have ve not been keeping up with treaty quotas but now nov intend to make up for deferred building Admiral Standley is said to be ready with a program calling for tor construction of two battleships and approximately 10 light cruisers The battleships battleships battleships battle battle- ships would cost about each the cruisers substantially less The k kind nd of navy a nation needs need depends o ob obviously ob- ob on the foreign policies the nation is goi going to follow If we should follow some of the suggestions made in connection with n na nationalizing nationalizing na- na munitions manufacture and draw in our horns until the shooting is over keeping ir im imports 1 p ports and exports down to a bare minimum we dont don't need much of a fleet If w we are going to insist on the freedom of the seas and on our right to trade to-trade trade when and where we p please ease the biggest navy possible will be none too big It is the same in connection with the orient How far are we prepared to go in maintaining the principle of the open door in China Chin for in instance in in- stance To what extent are we prepared to protest the growth of Japans Japan's Asi Asiatic tic empire Are we going to fight if need be to protect American trade in the far east One set of answers to those questions would make a big fleet useless the other would re require require re- re quire us to spend on our navy every dollar we we could spare |