Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 8 July 1931, Page 4

There is proceeding in Britain at present a national drive for international disarmament such as the country has never before witnessed. It is going on within and without the political parties. Tens of thousands of signatures are being obtained to petitions supporting the movement, and the three political parties have combined to present a united front' at the critical Disarmament Conference that is to meet at the beginning of 1932. The , important .statement -made by Mr MacDonald in the House of Commons last woek, and supported by the other parties, illustrated the non-party nature of the campaign. The process of consultation and agreement has been going on for some time, for the three party leaders met early in May to formulate a non-party programme of action. “Unification of national policy is necessary, 11 wrote a London correspondent at the time, “not only to impress upon other nations that the British people | think substantially alike as far as disarmament is concerned, but to avoid a possibility of changes if the Labour Cabinet should happen to fall while the Conference is sitting.” Moreover, the party loaders are prepared to be crusaders, This week a mass meeting at the Albert Hall will be addressed by the Prime Minister, Mr Baldwin and Mr Lloyd 'George, who will stress the necessity of stopping the race in armaments. In no other country is there such unity and such resolution of this all-important subject. England, however, is rendering much more than lip service to the cause. She has cut her army and navy to the What the Prime Minister -said! so impressively recently had been said many times before —in practical disarmament Britain has given a lead to the world, but if the movement is to be effective it must be international. This is to say, Britain cannot go on indefinitely cutting down her strength. There must be corresponding action in other countries. Indeed, already it is questioned in Britain whether the sacrifices made have not been too perilous a gesture to peace. At any rate, the figures of comparative expenditure are there foi all the world to see. Britain has set a. definite practical example, and. if in the face of other countries, unwillingness to co-operate she refuses to expose herself defenceless to the world, she cannot be held responsible.