BRITAIN’S FUTURE

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 160, 3 April 1937, Page 8 (Supplement)

BRITAIN’S FUTURE

No Slackening With Defences BRIGHTER OUTLOOK FOR PEACE The view that the international outlook was brighter than it had been was expressed by Sir Thomas Inskip, Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence, in a recent speech in England. Referring to progress with the rearmament plan, he said :— “We are now approaching that happy period when everything will be in full production and we shall have the satisfaction of seeing those things produced in actual concrete reality for which so much painful and laborious preparation has teen necessary.”

He added that he hoped that they would never again as a nation make the mistake of allowing our defences to fall into a state of disrepair, which was the case up to two years ago. Costly Experiment. “It was a very costly experiment,” said Sir Thomas. “It was done with the best of motives. We tried to show the world what an honest attempt at disarmament meant. “We took the risk, but it has cost us millions and tens of millions of money to re-equip the nation in haste, when it would have been much easier to have done it in a regular methodical way, which would have been possible if it had been done year by year.” It would be imprudent, however, to do as some people suggested—to stop all the normal trade of the country and concentrate on armaments. “We must think of this business of rearmament not as a sudden spurt for a particular crisis. I hope the war so much talked about will never come. “Indeed, I think things are very much brighter to-day. What we must do is to put our three services into a proper state of repair, give them the equipment they need, and then not stop when this panic or crisis is over. “We want to carry on in a regular businesslike way, keeping the firms upon which we depend alive with a regular flow of orders.” Rebuilding Defences. One of the difficulties of the rearmament programme had been that some firms, which 20 years ago had been able to produce all the Army, Navy, and Air Force required, were allowed to get into a state of disorganisation because they had not the orders to keep them going. “We are rebuilding the organisation,” lie went on, “and I hope we shall maintain it in the years to come without having to go through this painful and expensive process which we are experiencing at present.” But rearmament was not their final goal. It was a means to an end. and must go hand-in-hand with a policy of appeasement which would bring satisfaction to ourselves and to the other nations of the world. This country was showing a leadership in bringing about that, appeasement which rejoiced all their hearts. Some people did not realise that the Deague of Nations spirit had spread in the world and had taken control of our policy. We no longer sent forces to compel people to conform to our will or to fall in with our national policy. “But we are equally determined,” added Sir Thomas, “that we shall have forces adequate to defend ourselves and our interests. While aggression has been finally struck out of British policy, I think defence is more firmly seated than ever before in the councils of the nation.” Organising Labour. Sir Thomas said that some of his colleagues would shortly he meeting representatives of employers and trade unionists in the building trade to see bow they could organise available labour in that industry, without checking in any way the housing programme, and, still more, without stopping the Government’s programme for the erection of factories.

At. present there was a boom and they wanted to prevent an enormous accumulation of orders arising out of the boom, and then once more find themselves faced with a sudden slump leading to depression. If they could carry out the Government’s programme and at the same time let the big firms cultivate their export trade, they would avoid those unhappy consequences with which they bad been so familiar in the past.

Sir Thomas, referring to the Government’s physical training proposals, said be did not think anyone in his senses really thought that the Government had any ill intent iu promoting the health of the people. He knew that some suspicious people believed there was some wicked plan to train the nation for military purposes. “The Government certainly has no motive of that sort.” he declared. “Its sole purpose is to promote an AT nation.”