§ 17. Mr. LEACHasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty the Government's attitude to the American proposal at the Naval Conference for a 20 per cent. all-round cut in naval armaments?
Lord STANLEYAs agreement on quantitative limitation is unlikely to be reached by the Naval Conference, the American and other proposals for achieving limitation by that method are no longer under consideration.
§ Mr. LEACHAre we to take it from that answer that the Government consider that the proposals for reduction are dead?
§ 10. Lieut. - Commander FLETCHERasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty whether, in their considerations of our naval defence, the naval staff regard Germany as still bound by the Treaty of Versailles not to build battleships of more than 10,000 tons; and, if not, will any decision on limitation of battleship size arrived at by the Naval Conference become applicable to Germany?
Lord STANLEYGermany already has two battleships of 26,000 tons each under construction, and the naval staff must necessarily take into account the practical bearing of this fact. The agreements reached at the conference will not be applicable to Powers other than those participating in the conference, but it is hoped that arrangements may be made for the acceptance of corresponding undertakings by other Powers.