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Show U. S. TO SAVE FM BILLIONS Economies to Result From ; Adoption of Hughes Naval Limitation By HARRY L. ROGERS (International Nwo Service) WASHINGTON, Feb. 25. Five billions bil-lions of ilollars is the amount the United States will save during the next 15 years by adoption of the Hughes plan for limitation of naval armaments, according to a compilation of figures completed tonight by American Ameri-can naval experts. The figures are based upon calcula Hons of the saving to be accomplished through tho scraping of 30 capital ships, i h e abandonment tf the policy I of building two new capital ships a year, the economy resulting from the stoppage of work on new dread naughts and battle cruisers and other savings accruing from abandonment of work en certain naval bases and other shore establishments. The five billion dollar figure takes no account of radical developments In thl C08l oi Capital ship construction or of any extraordinary phase- of the competition In armament which might le-ad the I'nlted States to exceed tho two ships a year program, hitherto IVgreesI upon by the general board of the navy as necessary to maintain the American fleet in its present position in face of competition from Great Britain Brit-ain and Jap:.n , I The estimates also leave out of account ac-count the enormous ezpendlturee I which would be Imperative if capital I ships should so Increase In size and I displacement as to necessitate enlargements en-largements of the Panama canal. Thp cost of maintaining a modern 'capital ship Is approximately Oon,-000 Oon,-000 a year, naval experts say. Under the Hughes plan, the I'niteei States Is I to scrap thirty capital ships malting a saving of $90,000 000 a year In main tenance alone. Carrying this amount over a period of fifteen years, the noin lnal duration of the naval treaty, this Item contributes very materially towards to-wards the total of flvo billion dollars, I The second big Item In the expert Computations Is that resulting from elimlnaton of the naval general board plan for the constructon of two new captal ships a year. The present cost, of a modern battleship is approximate Ijjf I40.000.0UO. Indications are that the battleship of the future will cost somewhere some-where in tho neighborhood of $50,000, jOOO. The third heading on the list 'of economies Is that resulting from the agreement to scrap thirteen new capital cap-ital ships, which, when completed would have cost the United States $520,000,000. As ?330.ooo.ooo has already al-ready been spent on these ships, the saving amounts to approximately $190 000.000 which must be compounded compound-ed over a period of fifteen years. Tho last item has to do with the saving to be accomplished In connec I lion with reductions of shore establishments, estab-lishments, which Is estimated at $10,-000,000 $10,-000,000 a year. |