3 JULY 1909, Page 10

M. Philippe Millet, the London correspondent of the Temps, contributes

a most interesting article to the Morning Post of last Saturday on French naval strength. Starting with the assumption that the whole problem has been altered by the Entente with England, M. Millet emphasises the fundamental necessity for France to maintain a definite two-Power standard in the Mediterranean. Again, "it is obviously to Great Britain's interest that France should be her watchdog in the Mediterranean while the English Fleet is guarding the French shores of the Channel and the Atlantic." By a comparison of the programmes of the Austro-Italian combination and of France, M. Millet shows that on paper France will easily maintain a two-Power standard in the year 1912 with a small margin of superiority. But if the Austrians and Italians accelerate their construction so as to have between them six Dreadnoughts ' ready in that year, things will be "quite upset," and the Mediterranean in danger of being lost to the Dual Entente.