NO IMMINENT FEAR OF WAR

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 36, 26 February 1937, Page 5

NO IMMINENT FEAR OF WAR

iBritisb Official Wireless.)

Chancellor's Defence of Loan Proposals PACTS TO ENSURE PEACE

(Eeceived 26, 11.45 a.m.) EUGEY, Feb. 25. Moving the second House of Gommons reading of the Defence Loans Bill, the Chancellor 'of the Exchequer, Mr Neville Chamberlain, welcomed the absenee from the Opposition's Tejection motion of the suggestion made by Mr G. R. Attlee that the Bill was a war measure. It would be unfortunate, the Chancellor declared, if any apprehension of imminent war was created at a time when there was no reason or justification for any such fears. Answering charges that the Bill's proposals would weaken the national credit and depress the standard of living and that it contained no provisions for preventing profiteering, Mr Chamberlain said that no matter in the whole problems connected with the rearmament programme had received more continuous or more conoentrated attention than the prevention of excessive prices. Mr Chamberlain went on to «ay that the national credit had been steadily huilt up during the last six years and the standard of life had been protected by the proviaion of a constantlyincreasing sum for social services. Lord Halifax, speaking at Southampton, def ending Britain 's rearmament programme said it was the view of the Government that the peace front might be immensely strengthened by a system of regional pacts whereby certain areas would be sharing common interesta in those areas and would be prepared to unite themselves by a pact to do more than the Covenant imposes; namely, say in advanc® if the peace was disturbed in those areas that they would be prepared to fight to preserve it. "I would regaTd it, frankly, as dishone3t of this country to sign pacts or undertake obligations arising out of them unless we knew we were in a position to be able to carry them out," he added.