BRITAIN'S ANSWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 879, 24 January 1930, Page 11

BRITAIN'S ANSWER

EXAMPLE TO WORLD IN REDUCED WEAPONS WARNING TO CONFERENCE British Official Wireless RUGBY, Wedensday. Britain’s answer to those who said she was not setting an example in disarmament was given by the Prime Minister, Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, who, in a broadcast speech, said he would answer quite specifically a statement which had been very widely scattered that Britain, while talking of disarmament, was showing no example. In the case of British Army establishments there had been a large reduction. Since pre-war days there had been a limitation of personnel, material and military expenditure. “Generally our personnel today shows a reduction of 50,000 compared with 1914, and 152,000 compared with 1921,” he said. “After actual war forces had been disbanded we are the only nation among the leading powers who can show a continuous reduction in expenditure on its army. “I am making no criticism of what other nations have done. I am only concerned to assure you we in this country have already assumed some of the risks of peace by an actual reduction in fighting power. “The position in the British Empire in December, 1929, compared with August, 1914, presents a remarkable contrast, which deserves to be pondered by those who speak lightly of the British contribution to naval disarmament. Here are the facts: Capital snips in August, 1914, were 69, and in December, 1929, 20. Cruisers with guns of eight inches and above in August. 1914, were 27, and in December, 1929, 11. Cruisers under eight-inch guns in August, 1914, totalled 50, and in December, 1929, they were 43. Submarines in August, 1914, were 74, and in December last year, 53. AIR FORCE REDUCED As regards the Air Force, before the war the air services of the world were just struggling into existence, and no comparison therefore can be made between their strength today and in 1914. In the course of the war, however, Great Britain built up a large and powerful force which, by the time the Armistice, was signed, comprised no less than 3,305 line machines, with a personnel of 300,000 strong behind them. “We were in fact at the point to create the strongest air force in the world. After the war this powerful weapon was virtually scrapped, and today the first line strength of the Royal Air Force on comparative lines is no more than 772 machines, with a personnel of 31,000, and the air fleets of other great Powers far outnumber us. THE WARNING VOICE “Could there be more striking evidence of the will to peace in the British people?” The Prime. Minister added: “How much farther we can travel along this road of reduction depends on the decision of those in conference with us. Those who are willing to limit and reduce will tread the path of disarmament along with us. We cannot go much further ahead alone. Indeed, if we cannot get an agreement we may be forced to expand. What constitutes the tremendous gravity of our deliberations is that the alternative to limitation is competitive building, and the end of competitive building is war.”