MEETING THE COST

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 40, 17 February 1937, Page 12

MEETING THE COST

BURDEN TO/ BE SPREAD

"A LEVEL/ OF SAFETY"

(British <j ffldal Wireless.) (Received Fe* ,ruary 17, 2.30 p.m.) BC' UGBY, February 16. . The White | Paper states that the necessity for $ lcreased defence expenditure' has bor ;n forced upon the Government patf .ly by certain needs of time, and pa rtly by the long interval during whics a comparatively small demands have^ been made upon the national finap .ices for the purposes of defence foj ;ces. It woulr i be neither practicable nor just thatj' the whole burden of making good th« je deficiencies in the short period of . five years should be thrown upon thy > taxpayer during that time and his/ Majesty's Government is satisfied tl at in proposing to spread part or:it o/./er a longer period it is pursuing S , course which is entirely justified bo th in equity and in the general intere* jts of the nation. Th® statement emphasises that the prog? amme which must be carried out befoi c national defences can be restore d to a level of safety covers a Wid* >range. It includes the provision of f ,reat quantities of materials for all thijj ie services in the form of ships, guf is, and ammunition, and aeroplanes, t«f iks, arid equipment of all types. It af so involves large additions to the persi innel of the services and heavy exV enditure on the purchase of land and »-he erection, of buildings, barracks, • workshops, and arsenals. To enable this programme to be carried to a successful conclusion arrangements must be made with industry for an extension of its capacity to supply munitions for defence services. NEW PROBLEMS. j The .development of air power has raised entirely new problems of deCciice ooth at home and abroad, requiring not only increased quantities of ■xbvious defensive weapons and equip--ment, but also a certain redistribution and dispersal of resources. The formidable nature of the task confronting his Majesty's Government is apparent. Since the Government j first embarked upon it the conditions which governed its extent and pace cannot be said to have become more favourable and at present, at any rate, there would, in the view of his Majesty's Government, be no justification for any reduction or slowing down of the programme. It is the Government's firm belief that in the form presented it is a contribution infiispensable to peace and one which it is the duty of the British people to make. The-WhitePaper reviews in

successive sections the needs of the Navy, Army, and Air Force, and deals with the question of reserve factory capacity and problems of home and ; overseas defence. The desire is to' deal with all problems by elastic means susceptible of adaptation in thf ; light of changes in world condition s and of new needs arising from the ir itensive application of scientific i> asearch and invention. Recent ye? rs have witnessed an immense elab« ;a---tion of the mechanical equipment' of

fighting services. * Moreover, forces once equipped tf just be assured of swift and steady replacement in war. Defence agj unst the ever-increasing destructive pp.1 wers of air forces is costly. While ' these necessities are common to ,'.' many nations, the wide dispersal of J ,ritish territories and the dependence' of the Home Country on supplies froir i overseas lay special responsibility', upon British forces, and, above all, Upon the Navy to preserve the freedom of communications. The modernisatif >n of the defences of strategic points ir i various parts of the Empire is in -itself a formidable item in the cost < ;f the defence programme. ' '