GRAVE DANGERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 154, 1 July 1937, Page 9

GRAVE DANGERS.

ARMAMENTS RACE.

FALSE PROSPERITY.

DELEGATES CRITICAL.

(Special.—By Air Mail.)

GENEVA, June 11. i "I predict that the working men and I women of the world will not for ever be content to stand by while civilised living is sacrificed on the altar of armaments, j "Not for much longer will they be 1 willing to forge the means of their own ' enslavement and their own destruction." ' Grave Dangers. 1 These were the strong words used in the International Labour Conference j, to-day by Mr. E. F. McGrady, President ] Roosevelt's Assistant Secretary of ' Labour and United States Government delegate. He was one of three speakers who 1 uttered warnings, in the general discus-, 1 sion. of the grave economic dangers:' inherent in the arms race on which 1 Governments have launched themselves.: 1 And Mr. Arthur Hayday, British! workers' representative, and M. .louhaux. French trade union leader, joined;' him in criticising the false impression of: prosperity which the armaments boom' jiias brought in its train. "Even if war is avoided, what is going ; i to happen when the armaments boom ! bursts?" demanded Mr. Hayday. Workers Suffer. "Where will be the gains in produc- I tion and what will happen to raw. material prices? "Further, what will happen to employ- j ment if we emerge from one depression only to prepare to plunge into the next The arms boom it-elf. Mr. Hayday went on. had brought piv*»perity to only one part of the community. Wholesale prices and the cost of living were moving steadily upwards, but wages still lagged . behind. i

"The workers are always the last to benefit and the first to suffer," he ml id. "Stocks and shares can become enhanced in price and basic profits may incraase, but always the worker is the last to come in for consideration in these times of so-called prosperity." Despite all the talk about prosperity in Great Britain, one and a half million 1 people were still without work. The report of the Director of the 1.L.0. indicated that there were some 50 per cent more unemployed in the world than in 1929. "Why is this?"' the British workers'] delegate asked. "Is a country really prosjierous when every eighth man ini it is idle I One Solution. j< One solution of the unemployment j I problem was a genuine revival of inter-1 ( national trade, which would give a peaceful outlet for the energies now; , going into armaments production. But what was wanted was strong; leadership, especially from the British 1 ;! and United States Governments. Mr. McGradv drew attention to the dangers of excessive armaments manufacture ending in a serious decline in the standard of living. Extra taxation and heavy borrowing! i forced upon Governments meant that ! in the long run the cost of armaments! must be borne by those engaged in pro-; .'ductive labour, who received less than. ■ they could and should receive from their' .toil. | j This would imt only mean prevention of the raising of the standard nf living.! I. but the present inadequate level could :;not be maintained. i i Fascists Blamed. In a forceful speech Mr. Jouliaux drew 1 ' attention to the hitter struggle that is ' being waged for the |x>r.session of raw ; materials and scrap iron. There coult! lie no doubt that the raw .materials required for consumption were lacking at present because they were jbeing used solely for tile manufacture' lof means of destruction, he said. j This was not the consequence of; | social legislation, for which many people blamed the present state of affairs. ! "It is a consequence of the policy of ■certain (.iovernnients. and I am not > accusing the (iovernnients who are ; i represented here at thi— conference." he I , said, referring pointedly to absent Gerj many and Italy.