The Guardian And Evening Star, with, which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, MARCH 14, 1927. WARS ALARMS.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 March 1927, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with, which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, MARCH 14, 1927. WARS ALARMS.

The very considerable number of people. says an Auckland paper, who believe that hostility between nations always tends to increase with th« growth of armaments will regard the British War Estimates with disfavour. It is true that the figures represent a reduction of about a million on last year’s expenditure. But the actual amount of ‘'net cash” required by tlie M ar Department is considerably over £•11,000,000, and this is certainly a very substantial sum to expend on protection against possible danger, especially at a time when the country's industrial and financial condition leaves so much to be desired. One most interesting feature of the War Secretary’s statement is the evidence it provides of the extent to which the model 11 army is now being “mechanised.” Cavalry as a military factor is already almost obsolete, and the miniature army on which Britain’s military establishment is to be modelled in futni'R appears according tq {he de-

scriplioii given l.y Sir !.. Wortliittgt in-Evaus. U) consist almost enirely ol ‘■mechanised unit.-." The day oi the I tank and tin. uiacliiiia-gun and the I aeroplane has certainly come, and tinwars of the future if iln-v actually eventuate —will be fought to a iar larger extent than ever h-lore by mccli;l nieal means. Pnfortunaiely this does not apuear to mean either that the utgauisat it:ii and euuipmtent. of Mfinios will cost much less, or that the awful total of suffering and destruction entailed by warfare will he substantially icduced. A- it matter of I art it is tensonahte to assume that anotlu-r war on a large settle would prove In be ab-o-liltclv unprecedenti-d ill horror and destructiveness. And these considerat ions suggest with '.treat lovt-e the nice 11 1 necessity tor concerted and mganised effort by all nations to prevent such unspeakable calamities. Ihe comments olio red on the Army Estimates |,V Mr Greenwood on helmll' of tin- l.alioitr parly are in this respeei very int i the point. 'l’lie suggestion that the Powers should all be subjected to the same military limitations as Germany is absurd, because it assumes and implies that Germany in not and was not in any special sense a menace to the world’s peace. Ihe disarming of Germany is simply one phase of the movement in favour ot policing tbe whole world in the interests of humaniiy and civilisation. Bill Mr Greenwood’s argument, that the modifications ol military methods proposed by the War Ohcv will prate futile ill face of the fiendish devices: which the chemist and tin- bacteriologist now have reatlt to hand, contains a large element of truth. As Captain King pointed out during tindebate, it is nonsense to talk ahold general disarmament while Russia, having round to destroy Western civilisation, comma nils turces totalling* p rluips ten million men. But the vlio'e tone of the discussion, as well as lie facts produced, should strengthen the determination of the British Government and the British people to avert by all means in their power the terrible calamity of a great war.