12 APRIL 1924, Page 2

The abandonment of the scheme will unquestionably allow Japan to

slacken her own naval construction, which she naturally will be glad to do. If we had pro- ceeded with the construction of the base, she would unquestionably have increased and expedited her naval programme. Thus the relative strengths would be about the same, whether we had or had not constructed Singapore. Advocates of the scheme have always concentrated on the increase of naval strength which it would give us. They have never examined the question whether there would be any relative increase compared to the other fleets in the Pacific, which is, after all, the more important question.

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