DEFENCE TO COST £1,600,000

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 5, 29 September 1937, Page 7

DEFENCE TO COST £1,600,000

Our Own Correspondent.)

Air Scheme; Co-ordination pf Seryices ( VOTE FOR THE LEAGUE

(From

WELLINGTON, Last Night. The Government proposes to spend £1,600,000 this financial year upon the Dominion ;s defences. Attention was drawn to thi? item of contemplated ex* 'penditure by the Minister of Finance, the Hon. Walter Nash, in the course of his Budget speech in the House of Representatives to-night. He also pointed out a related item— -the provision of £15,000 as New Zealand'? contribution to the League of Nations. "These items," said Mr. Nash, "are inextrieably linked together. Tho Government is of opinion that there qan be 110 permanent peace "between the nations other than through a body to which all the nations are pledged and bound to act in accordance with principles of agreement, law and order, The Government believes that the League pf Nations is such a body and that by effective application of its principles alone can peace be perchanently acbieved. "The difficulties are real," he added, "but as a small unit in the world of nations and as one of the nnits indissolubly bound in the British Commonmealth of Nations the Government is willing to pledge the Dominion to live up to the principles of the League, If the Governments of other nations would liye up to the same principles,

the worlfi could- go forward to an era of life far surpassing anything in recorded history. ( * Uxitil the League becomes eff ective the Government must take the steps neeessary inside its powers to defend the Dominion. "To this nd, and with valuable assistance from Great Britain, an air defence scheme has been organised; the proposals with regard to co-operation in naval defence have been finalisd; and steDS have been taken to reorganise the 'land defences and to co-ordin-ate the three branehes of defence services to eliminate waste and to ensure the most effective nse of our resources if and when need may arise. If thd expenditure on the. League of Nations leads to an effective organisation, the need will never arise,"