DISARMAMENT.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20828, 11 April 1933, Page 10

DISARMAMENT.

.— _ # POSITION OF GREAT BRITAIN. FEAR EXPRESSED FOR THE FUTURE. That disarmament by Great Britain had been carried out to an alarming degree, and that in the event of war breaking out, which he considered not unlikely, Great Britain would be seriously prejudiced, were statements made by Mr J. J. Dougall, President of the Canterbury (New Zealand) branch of the Navy League, at its annual meeting last night It was safe to say that at no iimt in the last 50 years, with the exception of the years of the Great War had Europe been in a more unsettled condition, said Mr Dougall. There was a great cry for disarmament, and u was many persons' wish that war would be stopped. But whether humanity could ever end war was a matter for the future. "Under Mr Ramsay Mac Donald however, Great Britain has disarmed to an alarming degree, said Mi Doueall "We do not take much „Sof what takes place in the world, but with the building of armaments by Germany and Italy there, :s nothing: in the British Navy which could hope to have a possible chance of success against the new cruisers of these countries. Great Britain is the only country which has disarmed. She has now 52 cruisers, of which eight are obsolete, and in two years 20 more of these will be obsolete. There is an undoubted chance of a disturbance breaking out. France and Italy are armed to the teeth, and the United States navy is much more powerful than it was in 1914. The British <-rmy is just sufficient to keep the outlying parts of the Empire garrisoned, and if war were to break out to-day England could not send an expeditionary force." Cause for Anxiety. The position was a serious one, he said, and he would not speak so seriously if it were not that the times were abnormal. There was cause for anxiety also in the future of the British mercantile marine, he considered, for it was the essence of Britain's power. Because some nations, such as America and Greece, subsidised private shipping, the British mercantile marine was in a very parlous condition. He made reference to these matters because in the past the Navy League had played an important part in the history of the nation in drawing attention to similar dangers which might ultimately have a prejudicial effect on its life.