Planes and Land Forces

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 649, 29 April 1929, Page 11

Planes and Land Forces

DISARMAMENT SEARCH

Navy Parley Sought for 1930

AIRPLANES and land armaments are now engaging the attention of the Preparatory Disarmament Commission, following America’s welcome utterance on naval limitation.

(United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) (United Service)

GENEVA, Friday. j r pHE Preparatory Disarmament 1 Committee adopted a French amendment elaborating the original Convention and enabling signatories to indicate separately the number of ' airplanes, dirigibles and aircraft-car-riers at home or overseas; also the number of airplanes and organised military bases at home or abroad. The British and Japanese delegations to the Disarmament Commission received instructions to ensure that a special effort be made at the present session to agree to a future naval disarmament conference, probably at Washington, in 1930. MILITARY EFFECTIVES Mr. Hugh S. Gibson (United States) made an important statement on the limitation of military effectives. He pointed out that the United States had always maintained that trained reserves should be included in peace time armaments. He urged the delegates to make all possible concessions, and freely to place their cards on the table, and not to adopt a spirit of bar-1

gaining, which would lead to months of negotiations. M. Massioli (France) approved of Mr. Gibson’s view, and said France was ready to comply, placing her cards on the table. Count Sato said Japan was ready to make all possible concessions. The committee agreed with M. Maxim Litvinoff’s proposal from Russia that preparations should not be made in peace time to convert airplanes into war planes. BRITAIN’S DESIRE A British Official Wireless message says the Home Secretary, Sir William Joynson-Hicks, at a meeting at Hounslow last night, expressed the need for a general reduction of land and sea forces, adding: “If we can get rid of great armaments, we can do more to secure peace even than by the pacts we have signed. I take this opportunity of saying, on behalf of his Majesty’s Government, how warmly we have welcomed the declaration of the United States in favour of a reduction of armaments, and we shall I do all we can to support their views.”