HUSHED HOUSE HEARS MR. BALDWIN

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 57, 30 November 1934, Page 11

HUSHED HOUSE HEARS MR. BALDWIN

Tense Atmosphere Evident SPEECH LOOKED UPON AS GRAVE WARNING By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright. London, November 28. The atmosphere of the House of Commons has seldom been so tense a* to-day. The Chamber was packed from the moment Mr. Churchill rose the conclusion of the debate three and a half hours later. The House was hushed as Mr. Baldwin made his disclosures. There was no single interjection or Opposition attempt at controversy during Mr. Baldwin’s .slow, solemn statement. His concluding remarks were regarded as a grave warning to Germany, though not, an ultimatum, that Britain would take even more drastic rearmament steps than were at present contemplated if Germany continued to violate her obligations. Nothing so impressed the House as Mr. Baldwin’s announcement of the enormous augmentation of Germany’s air budget and her greatly increased lighting aircraft production capacity within six months, all of which, with military forces, constitute a violation of Versailles obligations. It was widely considered at the conclusion of the debate that, although Mr. Baldwin emphasised that war was not imminent and Germany unlikely to equal Britain’s air force for two years, Britain had no alternative to undertaking a great air construction programme in the interests of security. “The Times” says that information in possession of Mr. Churchill and those associated with him on the subject is” of a grave character, and that there is reason to believe that similar information has been under consideration by* Cabinet at its recent meetings.