THE COMING YEAR

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 40, 17 February 1939, Page 7

THE COMING YEAR

ESTIMATED COST I' r ABOUT £523,000,000 = NO AGGRESSIVE AIM J AR'IS Ll’i TATION LEAD j r AWAITED I I British Oiiiciai Wireless. J Received Feb. 16. 5.5 p.m. s RUGBY, Feb. 15. i A White Paper which the Prime- I Minister promised the House of Com- • mons would be available in advance ‘ of the defence debate was isssued to- ■ night. It reveals that the total esti- 1 mates for the three Defence Depart- ( ments for the next financial year will ‘ be some £523,000,009, and that the 1 total defence expenditure, including J expenditure on civil defence, will be 1 in the neighbourhood of £580,000.000. J This compares with the expenditure for the three Defence Departments in " 1937 of about £262.000,000, and in the j current financial year about J £388.000,000. The total expenditure on defence in the first three years of the five 1 years ending in March, 1942, will < amount to over f 1.173.000.000, and ‘ •he expenditure in the third year will exceed that of the second year by 1

about t . ecd the portion of the <u. . r.t year’s defence expenditure mel from revenue by as much as £307.000,000. The main reason tor the substantial increase in the expenditure on the defence programme, it is pointed out. lies in the expense to which it has been necessary to go to enlarge the original programme in order to make adequate provision for defence against the contingency of air attack. Expenditure Deplored Towards the end of the statement the Government declared: “It is everywhere recognised that the British armaments have no aggressive purpose. Britain deeply de-] plores the need for the expenditure of, these vast sums on armaments. She. has already indicated that when other| nations arose prepared to consider, some arrangements for limitation of I armaments this country will be pre-: pared to play its part, but in the absence of a general reduction of arma-’

ments it is inevitable that this country should continue to take steps which are necessary in the light of present developments for its own protection and for the discharge of its responsibilities elsewhere/' Regarding the progress of the rearmament programme, the White Paper states that the earlier stages have now been completed. The industrial capacity has been largely inre ise L New models have been designed and tried out and are in production. All three service departments are now receiving armament stores of a ; l kinds, and the latest models in large quantities a.nd production will continue on an increasing scale. Naval Construction Regarding the Navy, it is shown that in tne three financial years before the Great War the average annual tonnage of the principal classes of warships completed, excluding submarines, was 170,000. The completed tonnage for the year ending March, 1941, will be 219,500, while the tonnage building by the end of next month is expected to reach 659,000. The inclusion of another two capital ships in the 1939 programme makes nine of these vessels under construction. Also in the 1939 piogramme there will be included two destroyer flotillas and 20 first escort vessels of new type, intended for the protection of shipping against submarine and air attacks. Great progress has been made in the strengthening of the anti-aircraft armament of other ships of the Fleet. The monthly rate of delivery of aircraft has been more than doubled during the current financial year, and will show a further substantial increase. The expenditure on air-raid precautions amounted to £3,500,000 in 1937. For the present year it is estimated to reach £9,250,000, while for the next year the estimate is £42,000.000, exclusive of assistance to vital public utility services and water emergency and fire-fighting purposes, estimated at £9,000.000. ARRANGEMENTS MADE SLOWING DOWN OF ARMS PRODUCTION WHEN TIME IS RIPE Received Feb. 16. 5.5 p.m. LONDON, Feb. 15. The While Paper emphasises that it is impossible at present to predict how soon the world situation will permit ol a slowing-down ot the production of armaments, but suitable arrangements have been made to secure adjustment of the programme in the light of any improvement in the international situation.