ARMAMENTS IN EUROPE.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20551, 20 May 1932, Page 11

ARMAMENTS IN EUROPE.

GERMANY'S POSITION. WARNING TO THE WORLD. BERLIN, May 12. Declaring that armaments in Europe far exceeded the pre-war level, the' Chancellor (Dr. Brucning), in the Reichstag, issued a warning to the world that Germany would not submit to the present inequality of armaments. To an attentive House he declared that Germany had been almost completely disarmed. She did not desire to arm beyond the pre-war level, but merely wanted equality. Although some nations appreciated the German standpoint, there were others who held views which would lead to the most serious and earnest discussions during the next few weeks. "Tho world situation," he declared, "can be altered only when disarmament and reparations aro settled, and when nations turn from the madness of excessivo tariff walls that arc leading to the destruction of international trade." "Tho only hope," he Chancellor added, "seemed to be that the world crisis would make such rapid and ghastly progress that the nations will be convinced that, an agreement* is imperative." The breakdown of tho Disarmament Conference would lead to grave political consequences and the complete obliteration of political debts is the most important requirement for the world's recovery. Closely following Dr." Brucning's declaration came the intimation by 3 the Minister for Finance (Ilorr Dietrich) that it was generaly known that conditions made it impossible to inchulo the reparations payments in tho Budget. "The question of the Government's attitude towards payments appears, therefore, to require no further discussion," he added.