DOMINION’S PERIL

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXVI, Issue 12375, 14 June 1938, Page 3

DOMINION’S PERIL

London, June 13 “New Zealand will be one of the most vulnerable countries in the world when Japan has beaten China. In tho next 10 years the Dominion may find, itself in a position of the greatest peril,” This warning is given by Viscount Rothcrmoro in an article in the Daily Mail, says the Sun-Herald cable service. The article is strengthened by a map. Throe routes from Japan to New Zealand are shown—directly past New Guinea, southerly to Singapore by sea and via Sydney by air. Also indicated on the map is the United States naval station of Guam. “Now Zealand,” Lord Rothermero adds, “is a very tempting bait, as its area and climate are very suitable for Japanese settlement on a large scale. “The Dominion may in 19 39 spend 21 per cent, of the national revenue on defence, while Britain’s expenditure in that direction will be 4 0 per cent, of the revenue. “New Zealand, therefore,” he asserts, “supports the argument that a parliamentary democracy cannot arm. This is a terrible conclusion, because even if it is only partly true, it means that parliamentary democratic countries have no future.”