EMPIRE DEFENCE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 124, 28 May 1930, Page 16

EMPIRE DEFENCE

THE AIR FORCE ARM

POLICING OF THE EAST

DEBATE IN THE LORDS

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, iOth April.

, Lord Trenchard opened iv the House of Lords yesterday an interesting debate on the place the Air Force should take in the defence and policing of the' Empire.

■ Lord Trenchard, who spoko for the first time i~ the House of Lords, pointed out that Mr. Montague, the Undersecretary for Air, had stated iv the House of Commons that. with regard io the first-line strength of the Great Powers in the air, France had 1300 machines, Italy 1100, America 900, and Great Britain 770.

"That means," he said, "tliat we are fourth, and surely that fact requires very earnest consideration. If, a.s I think, wo are becoming, i: wo have not already become —as dependent for our very existence on the Air Service, as ■we have been in the past, and, indeed, still are, on the Navy, I feel that this is a subject which wants careful watching, and I would ask the Secretary of "Stats for. Air what is the policy of the Government with regard to that." '"'he great advantage of the Air Force •was that its, range enabled if to nip trouble in the bud with a maximum of efficiency and a minimum' of cost in casualties and money. As a weapon, it was no more inhuman than any other instrument of war, and so potent that the threat of using it often obviated the need to use it. He asked that the policy of substitution should be thoroughly explored, and suggested certain other localities where it might be effective. ' ". 1' Was it not possible to have some inquiry made to see whether the Air Force could take over some of the humdrum responsibilities of Imperial defenced He might be prejudiced, but •was there any harm in seeing which Service was the most economical both in money and life? ■ There were two points to be considered, whether the Air Force could undertake the duties' of defence more efficiently for the same money, or as efficiently for less. j BED SEA AND PERSIAN GULF. Earl Beatty said there would be great rejoicing in the Navy if the Air Force could take over its duties in the Ked Sea and the Persian Gulf, because if there were two places in which the .Navy did not wish to serve it was those. He contended, however, that the Air jForce could not undertake the duties : there, which consisted of watching for '. slave traffic and traffic in arms. These could only be 'controlled by the Navy. Weather conditions in those quarters ■were such that flying boats could not ; always alight on the water, and for i iiine months in the year the traffic in .slaves and arms could, continue unin terrupted if the Air Force took over the duties now performed by the Navy. Lord HJumer expressed doubt as to the fitness b£ tho. Ah- Force for- work as suggested by Lord Trenchard. Admitting that it could strike quickly and hard, British rule stood for justice, in-tegrity,-and humanity, but that point of view would not be spread by ha\'ing an aeroplane circling overhead, since the inhabitants might regard it as-a threat.' Lord Lloyd said the proposals in-

volvef1 a complete reversal oi our traditional : policy. They substituted the impersonal and inhuman agency, and however valuable that was as a weapon during the war, it meant nunishment and intimidation. To substitute that would hai-e a most damaging effect on our influence all through tho East. Lord Thomson, Air Minister, said no Government confronted with a proposition which might e> jure economy withou sacrificing security could fail to give its attention to the .proposal put forward by Lord Trenchard. The Government at the moment wa- "iving the matte its most careful consecration, but the investigations had not yet actually begun. It was a matter for grave deliberation and careful and exhaustive inquiry, and it was profitable that such an inquiry should be made if thereby we could assure security and save a little money.