The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1928. MR. SEMPLE’S ANTI-WAR POLICY.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVII, Issue 10564, 18 April 1928, Page 4

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED DAILY. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1928. MR. SEMPLE’S ANTI-WAR POLICY.

I Whilst everybody will agree with *;Mf Semple’s statement'-at the La* :bor Congress ill Wellington that : world-wide disarmament would do ‘more than .anything else to promote international peace, .there will, jus . matters' stapd,;. he -little sup-, port for liis contention that money; ■ spent bn defence by this Dominion ' amounts to /waste. It |is. obvious •that he overlooks the fact that this LDpminion, in common with the (Motherland. and '.other nations of l tliQ Empire, maintains armaments 'as weapons of defence and not of offence!.. If. Greater Britain were leading- the way in the race for armaments, no exception could he taken - to criticism of its .attitude. 'But all the facts,, go' to' show that ) tlfe; British ( nations yl%©; reduced (their means', of defence 1 to the lowest • extent,, consistent : with safety J (Had the League,; of Nations never (come ■' into? existence," and (had the Locarno and» Washington treaties ’never, been enacted, it : is certain (that all : portions, of the Empire -would,, to-day,(be., spending a great deal more on . armaments. Unhap.piiy, only Western Europe' can he said to have :profited by tlie lessonssof- the- Great; Wat, which showed, unmistakably,- 1 .that ’war cannot now | lie: waged ■ on' a vast - scale without

entailing enormous . sacrifices upon, victors and vanquished alike. Is it not noteworthy that those nations which .have not linked, .up with the • League of Nations talk loudest about the likelihood of war? Mr. Semple and his friends should feel, .proud, that Britain is most anxious, Tor instance, to induce the United States to share with her in a real naval holiday. ’ What is more, they should be loudest in their denunciation of the cry of the gentle -Russians that war is inevitable. But what does one find? The head of The official Labor party in this Do- ; million is silent in respect of the ‘Russian attitude—-which, assuredly', (does not amount to willing for peace —but strong in hostility to. this portion of the Empire taking any active steps in the direction of de- ‘ fence. preparations! Mr. Semple .should, by this time, know that belief in peace would not save this or any other .portion of The British' Empire if it again had war forced upon it. It is absurd for him to infer that the British peoples are not whole-heartedly' in favor of the •establishment of permanent international peace. They are, of course, unwilling, in the present time of unrest, to denude themselves altogether of means of defence and present .a ready target for those nations which, designedly, refrain from assisting, by deeds, in ( promoting world peace. .i : .. 1