Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 12 May 1931, Page 4

lx a short time the long-awaited International Conference on Disarmament will be held at Geneva, and effort s are being made in all countries to arouse public sentiment in its support. A petition, which is expected to include at least a million signatuie* of more or less eminent persons, js being circulated throughout Europe, and in England a national demonstration lia s been arranged for July 11, the gathering to be addressed by Mr MacDonald, Mr Baldwin and Mr Lloyd George. This will be the first time that the leaders of all the political parties at Home will have spoken from the same platform to urge disarmament, and their active co-oper-ation indicates clearly the extent to which public feeling has been aroused on this question. No doubt the break, down of the Franco-Italian naval negotiations, coupled with the comparative failure of the,London Conference, when only three great powers signed the Naval Pact, has seriously alarmed the leaders of public opinion and caused grave apprehension lest, if no adequate precautions are taken, sooner or later the world may drift into war again. But while every sane human being recoil,* from the thought of war, and desires to avert it, we may well wonder, says an exchange, if Britain, in her sincere desire to promote the great cause of world peace, has not already surrendered much of the naval and military strength indispensable for her national and Imperial safety, Mr Shaw. Secretary of State for War, presenting thi s year’s Army Estimates to the House of Commons recently, pointed out that during the past ten years Britain's expenditure on her army had been reduced by oO nor cent —a reduction “unmatched bv any large nation in the world.” But Mr Shaw takes a most serious view of the fact that Britain’s action has been “unilateral” —she has not waited for similar concessions from other Powers, nor have such concessions been

made; and he warns the world at large that the Labour Government, though pacifist, i-s “not necessarily an unresisting Government.” Nor is the danger of defein eiessnes s through enthusiasm in the cause of peace less strongly marked ill naval affairs. A few days ago Earl Jellieoe stated publicly that be has “strong in i> givings” as to the present strength of the Navy, and he went so far as to add that ‘‘it must he difficult for the Navy, seeing itself slowly wiped out of existence, to retain its efficiency.” Even more emphatically, Sir Ro-nnell Rotld, with a lifetime of diplomatic ■and'- public experience behind him, recently do dared that ‘‘the tiling which struck him with terrible apprehension was the impotence"of Britain and the preparedness of tlic rest of Europe, not only for war. hut for immediate war” : and lie maintained that if the present position of Britain were no taken seriousi.v into account “the Disarmament Confer ence would be nothing le, s than cainotillage, delusion and fraud.