OXFORD DEBATERS

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18347, 2 April 1925, Page 13

OXFORD DEBATERS

LABOUR'S WELCOME.

MALCOLM MACDONALD AT trades hall.

t„ the rooms cf the -LA. at th-.- ~ L Hall vestcrday morning a wcl- ' Tfad 1i ;, tendered to Mr Malcolm STd-m, sm * i! "r : y "r El 1A the labour Party, the .• 7LC *> Vc "Z V""""'- 1,,u ; J "• j ghelley presided over a good Cc"" ICC Ivcl, ' omi,,>; > pCC '''v S nT ». including file b\ Mi 11. L. ®.l «,i MT chairman of tlic New ?°W Parliamentary Labour Party, 'f Mid that ho had very S°'t pleasure in welcoming Mr £ Laid as the son of Kamand. also for his own ®Lnal worth. He snoke .of iUmsay part in up the Independent Labour Party ana ® mitin<* the British industrial. iiinl '"isiicil 'movements 011 the political S,i of Socialistic action. In Great Ji.iii lie said, a Labour Government nnlv possible alternative to a Government. Tlic last 7&di(l not result in the defeat o) t toJT because the winning of seats iff not nearly ro important as tho Sine of the votes of the people-, and jKlcction iiad resulted in an nceesa million votes .mil more. He ■S-confident that the British Labour Pirtv would bo on the Treasury LenAa permanently and lie was sure that Wf SlsoDonalri would take back to his Erfous father the from M" in New Zealand that.. just as labour was destined to win out in the Aid Country in the near future, m> the Üboiir movement in New Zealand was " ; to be the victorious party. ''ttlacConald. who was received with ii 10 nlausc, said that tho kind speeches ' *a%l listened to had made, attractive i tho possibility that ho might, settle in Vew Zealand, but Mr Marios remark ' ,u t a Labour seat could J>c easily found for hi.m had upset his plan.;, Ljuso what ho had been trying to find in England during tho past jew rears was a scat difficult to win. ile bad on one in wltich two Dukes resided," but ho was sorry to say that their rule was nenring an end: alter too fights'tho Labour Party had como •Hhin 1500 votes of winning and was fikclv to win next. time. They were ; lare that "ho was travelling under • the avispiees of a University of somo- ■ "w ,sh«dy political opinion; tr.crctore he'hadno specific instructions from his mrn labour friends, but he Iclt snro Jfct they would like, him to convey ' fraternal greetings to the New Zealand Labour Partr, the W.E.A , and tho p«aca Cojihcil. If ho tried to talk to tham ftbout tho principles of the Bniirfv labour Party it would bo liko ' attempting, to teach his grandmother •to «C rett! (Laughter.) Alter a lnuhorous reference to tho comparatively brief etay of tho MaeDonald •family at No. 10 Downing; .street, ho Bicl that be cauio to them as one who WM Qrtito certain as to what was going to Mppon in British party politics and to'.Bve them reassurance and iresh topes. Ho went on to develop the life'that as tho British people have aliniTß had a strong tradition for tho t*M»rty system, the result would "e liberal Party would) disappear forcing'only tho Conservative, and 1/ilW'Parties. The Labour I'arty, ho wk|sinitoly established as one of tho partio9 in the State. He UTMislat there should he closer coMiajJP'oen the Labour Party in . the Laliour Parties in the I 1 ittfilriM'ovcrsea Dominions. Tho ' -EnjpGovernment in Britain, in i - ajpjlgva Cabinet, would require to ' 'Mint, a .Colonial Secretary and the ■>Mp:' l £arty would have to, consider •Mnioii and Imperial affairs. The Mqf opinion in tho Colonies that rbnid want to get into touch with Ibo tho Labour opinion. Ho wits iissatisfied. with a lot of the infion of the opinion that British r people had about emigration to i and the other Dominions. Ho it that the possibilities for emin were very great but that tho al Labour Parties were right m siging the necessity for the crea- £ good conditions for the people p here as well ak the creation of r conditions for people likely to in. While it was unlikely that years they would bo welcoming of his—nothing in his travels saused him to contemplate a s in his bachelor condition —-if *t> his power he would 'be back Ignore 19 years hnd passed, ase.) 3T NIGHT'S DEBATE. ON SINGAPORE BASE. Dxford Debating Team provided evening's enjoyment to .a big c at tho Choral Hall last night, • Chilton, Rector of Canterbury i was in the chair, lind Mr If. mil, chairman of tho • Board of »rs, was on-the stage, notion, "That tho Singapore Base bo proceeded with as cssontial dcuritv of the British Empire," red by Messrs A. L. Haslam (Can- ), M. C. Hollis (Oxford), and-A. assiogton (Canterbury), The S were Messrs Malcolm Mac(Oxford), C. E. Bcehy (Canterand J. D. Woodruff (Oxford). iQßlam said that perhaps no n was of more importance to itisli Empire than that of the >Te Baae. The provision of the is. raado necessary by the menace in, wljcro an oligarchic Governlikely to have n jingoistic [gressive policy. Their writers penly urging the country to rely strength of its right arm, to tho hated Caucasian off the faco •earth, and to take a place in However much Japan might '„^B®>pea _ ec, there was one force that ulsjffiuriving her to a disastrous future, of over-population and eco•f®Spies had to be solved, and there was ;v!¥ili>ltlet. in America i'or her surplus His opponents could not • situation of the base, for agreed- that it was ju»rsaid that he had no ,SRH)yithMr Hcslam on the strategic. the base, but. that speaker had . most pessiinij-tic speech he ■Jsfecver heard a statesman deliver. a student of Japanese, he , seen the inflammatory articles wou 'd found the opi tlic base on the ground that f'fflWownta had "given little safety to i m!l king them, and that they wh W " procured peace but war, by an atmosphere of international iforesaw Singapore as tho ' of another armament race. ■•'.jj.? 11 , 0 aspect armament was a defence, a stronger sense it was a proJtfilT an promoter of war. The late ii Minister iiad said that the counjfeki?, i® the meantime was to es\vjSijf confidence, and to .lllay inter- . sus pici°ns, and it. was with . llc y in mind that the GovernP° st P oli ed the completion of ''Af'ffin ™C a porQ base. As a result of o speaker submitted, sus- ' ?■ / n §x! ' ,een allayed, and there had j f«l i beginning of a pericd of l 0 ot ' lor hand, the j

|tmuea at foot of next column,) wL ' -

prophecy mado by. Mr Bruce that tho postponement of the base .would do*'incalculable harm to had been proved falso^•• ' Mr Hollis contended that the Singapore, base " was merely tho carrying out of the national naval policy, under now conditions. . When the naval centre shifted from tlio Mediterranean to tho North Sea, Lord Fisher had made tho necessary alteration, and now there had been-another "re-Orientation" of naval strategy, which demanded there should be a base at Singaporo. The abandonment of the base was strongly opposed by Australia, New Zoaland, and Newfoundland. The ton millions the base would cost would not be' very great as insurance, on the thousand.,million pounds' worth of English shipping that went through tho seas to be protected by the base. England was a rather bad last in the old raco to build armaments, America and Japan having their bases already. Criticising 'the "armament policy" of Mr Mac Donald, ho asked why no battle had been fought on English shores for 300 years. Mr Bceby said that tho . opponents had not grasped the fact that naval power did not depend on tho power of the weaipons one possessed, but on the relation in which they .stood to tho weapons of the neighbour. Twenty millions spent on a base was annulled when, say, Japan spent twenty millions on another base. There was no dangor in the Pacific if the of the Washington Conforenco was not broken. He criticised the base on strategic grounds, saying it would be no protection to Australia and New Zealand. Mr Brassington said that his opponents liad avoided the question, "Call wc trust Japan?" The "grab" for China, with its geological wealth, had already bogun. Russia, Japan, and America wore all interested in China, nnd New Zealand and Australia wero on the edgo of a volcano. Japan had absorbed Western civilisation improper, ly, and there was no protection there against violent policies. Japan needod the resources of China, and by reaching out for them she had adopted a policy which must lead to war. China would revive, and Russia and Japan would become embroiled in a war. It was only a matter of common prudence that New Zealand should be in a position to bolt its doors. Mr Woodruff declared that tho British Empire should not consider itself interested in China. If Japan could find no outlot iu Australia or America, he was prepared to allow it to go to China. The whole debate in the British House had turned on the question of what sort of base was to be founded. It was proposed to lay down at Singapore a dock to take capital ships, and that was against the agreement, at the Washington Conference. 110 deplored the "scare-mongery" about tho strength of Japan, saying that tho British Navy, according to an authority, was twice as large as the Japanese. The national finances were a much more ureent matter now than before theS and the base would represent an outlet of money that was absolutely not warranted at the present time; He opposed the project on economic 8F Mr Hollis replied briefly. The chairman proposed a ™ te , thanks to the visitors, and.wished them a peasant journey to Duncdn., where they go to-day.