DOMINIONS DEFENCE

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 143, 2 June 1936, Page 7

DOMINIONS DEFENCE

Air Arm the Best Precaution SAFETY IN SPEED LONDON, June 1. Discussing the Dominions and defence, the "Manchester Guardian” reviews the position in the P-icific and Mediterranean and suggests that bad League action defeated Mussolini with the formal help of the Soviet and the informal help of the United States, it would have opened at least the possibility that the League, again aided by the United States, might have affected the course of events in the Far East, but of that there is now no hope. A section of the British Cabinet desires a settlement with the return of Signor Mussolini to the League and of tie British Fleet from the Mediterranean. If that were done the anxieties of the Dominions would not be lessened, for tho fleet would bo in the North Sea. Thus, for the Dominions, the League offers no shelter if Signor Mussolini wins, for the British Fleet would be immobilised in Europe. The United States, which is building a great fleet, is still an observer, and the Dominions are left wondering whether Japan and Italy will take wings, which, the Chinese proverb says, should not be given to tigers. Hence the lively discussion iu Australia and Canada about defence. The "Guardian” concludes that tho aeroplane is unequalled in mobility and is the readiest means whereby, if tho worst happened, the different parts of the British Commonwealth could cone to each other’s aid.