BRITISH MEMORANDUM

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 72, 26 March 1934, Page 9

BRITISH MEMORANDUM

DISARMAMENT PROBLEM

NO ILLUSIONS

(BrlUsb Official Wireless.) (Received March 26, 11 a.m.) RUGBY, March 2-i. The French Note in reply }o the British disarmament memorandum is engaging the closest attention df British Ministers and will be prominently before them during the next few days. Speaking last night at Bradford, the Lord Privy Seal, Mr. Anthony Eden, said that he. could not even comment, but urged. that in the difficult days before the Conference resumed on April 10, the public should not assume too hurriedly that all had failed. There might be other less discouraging factors which did not appear on the surface. Answers from Italy, Germany, and France would be studied with the greatest care and understanding by the Government, and as long as there remained even a remote hope of securing agreement, the Government would persist in its attempt to do so. They had no illusions as to the difficulty, but»in an endeavour of this kind the word impossible should have no place in their . vocabulary. What the Government • wanted to achieve was the realisation of a disarmament convention, not spectacular perhaps, for that might be out of their reach, but one containing disarmament —a realised step forward. Secondly, the Government sought the restoration to the League itself, of the authority which it could only enjoy from a fuller membership than it commanded today. Although it was generally hoped that the- French Note -would mark a greater advance towards agreement, the newspapers express conviction that it will not be allowed to bring the exchanges of view to a close, and the issues upon which further questions and answers are obviously called for are freely discussed. : , . ■ . The "Times" says that the conclusion cannot be escaped that if a new system of agreed limitation is to take the place of unregulated competition, every signatory State must be prepared to share the responsibility of maintaining it intact. The sacrifice of tradition involved for Britain would be considerable, but there can: be no doubt that otherwise no Continental regula-* tion of military armaments is likely to be established. It "must, however, be the essence of any convention that every nation should be able to have its own defensive equipment in men and material. , In a regulated system the numbers and amount willbe agreed, known to all and verifiable. There will in the course of time, and if the system is maintained, be no armaments above a permitted level. The gain to international confidence and common prosperity would be incalculable. No effort must be spared so long as there- is the smallest hope that this splendid objective can bo reached. . "'■■ NEWSPAPER OPINION. The "News-Chrbriiele" also contemplates Britain undertaking'to implement sanctions against a breach in order to secure a convention. It says that such a convention, although imperfect, would at least secure a breathing space during which conditions would not become steadily worse. . The- "Daily Herald" says that the question of Britain's agreement to the sanctions for a breach of fulfilment of the convention depends on what kind of sanctions and what kind of convention. In the first place, if the British people are to accept new obligations it could only be in return for disarmament so considerable- that it would of itself be a pledge both, of peaceful purpose and of honest intent. Secondly, it would be out of the question to agree to enforce any convention which did jiot frankly fulfil, the pledge given at Geneva in '1932. Lastly, any obligations must be within the framework of the League. On these lines the "Herald" conceives it to be possible for the British Government to discuss questions posed in the French Note. The "Morning Post," on the other hand, believes that the Disarmament Conference is, faced with a dilemma from, which there is no escape, and urges the^ British Government to abandon a further assumption of an initiative foredoomed in advance. . The '' Dail^r Telegraph says th at the suggestion that the Ltcarrio Treaty with its provisions against aggression should be extended to the frontiers of practically all the Powers of Europe is out of the question., But the door to a further exchange of views on security is not closed. Upon one matter Germany might well smooth the path. If Herr Hitler would now definitely pledge Germany to return to the League upon the conclusion of an armaments agreement, it would •do much to remove suspicions and enormously facilitate further negotiations that must follow upon the French Note.