DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21363, 4 January 1935, Page 9

DEFENCE OF THE EMPIRE

Secrecy Condemned SIR MAURICE HANKEY'S MISSION (UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION—BY ELECTBIO TELEGRVPH —COPYBIGHT.) (Received January 4, 1.30 a.m.) LONDON, January 3. Though Sir Maurice Hankey, Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence, is not due from Canada until Sunday, most of the newspapers are already giving prominence to the reported outcome of his tour of the Empire. The "Daily Herald" declares it is the forerunner of a full scheme of Empire defence. It says the Labour party will make another attempt to secure from the Prime Minister (Mr Ramsay MacDonald) a frank statement about "these mysterious transactions." "In the meantime," says the newspaper, "if Mr Mac Donald does not make an early statement the public in the Dominions will soon know far more about the mission i than even the House of Commons." In a leading article the newspaper recalls Mr Stanley Baldwin's appeal to Germany to tear away the veil of secrecy surrounding her military preparations. The article continues: "It is stupid, mischievous, and intolerable that Sir Maurice Hankey's perfectly sensible and proper mission should be given the appearance of a furtive, conspiratorial errand by Mr Mac Donald's pitiful attempt to persuade the House of Commons that he was on a private holiday. The newest revelations about the mission make it imperative that the veil of secrecy should be torn, and that the Government should give the world a full and frank statement about the defence preparations of the Empire." The "Manchester Guardian" sarcastically contrasts Mr MacDonald's emphatic statement that Sir Maurice Hankey's visit had no political significance with reports from Australia about his recommendations. It adds:—"Whether they should or should not have conscription is a matter for the Australians themselves to decide. Doubtless the Australian Government has asked Sir Maurice Hankey's opinion but it is clearly a serious thing, and a most important departure in policy for the Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence to advise Australia to reintroduce conscription. One must ask in what capacity and as a representative of whom or what body of opinion Sir Maurice Hankey is now speaking.