DEFENCE DEBATE

Hokitika Guardian, 22 July 1936, Page 5

DEFENCE DEBATE

BRITISH HOKCES 'i)i' \ '■ : : aUESTiON OF CO-ORDINATION. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, July 20. The Minister for the co-orainadon of Defence (Sir Thomas iiiskip) initiating the debate in the Commons, gave a review of his Department’s efforts to accelerate the programme of rearmUUiuit, j i • iur hees Smith/ for the Opposition, aim me mutual spokesman, on 1 Arculoam ' Dinciair, complained oir Tiioinas' speecn snonecl lack ot co-or-dination between the rearmament progranime and tne foreign policy, and between the assumed requirements of Britain,and the collective system generally. ivir Churchill said lie tnought that he uould. fissure ,fcir A. Sinclair that in any war in which Britain i\oi.ld ever bg . engaged, she would, be . acting. ;entirely in conformity, ,;>vith the spirit, of the Covenant of the .League of Nations. He went on tp. criticise the administrative systepi. adopted by the Gpvernment. for the, co-ordinatiou of describing Sir ,'I homas ..;,Ps the innocent victim ,qf. responsibility, so strangely, so jnharmoniously, ana so perverseiy. grouped, . and endowed with powers so restricted.. No one could regard the experiment as satisfactory. .He urged .the separation of the function of coordinating high strategic, thought from .those problems connected with material supplies. Sir Thomas, referring to the naval programme, said that : in ship, production, equipment,, and personnel, reports werg • satisfactory,, and while maintenance and were proceeding in a normal manner additions and expansions on a. f growing scale were constantly taking place. He was not aware of any anxiety in any quarter as to the naval position. Regarding munitions when the new source .they hoped to secure • among private firms was available, and the Government factories 1 were in production ■ seven-eighths of the total requirements of shell, fuse and cartridge case would have been provided for. A great advance had been made since he spoke eight weeks ago, in the provisions of tile necessary, gauges of all types and. descriptions. Sir Thomas announced the dispersal of the Royal ordnance factory at Woolwich to various points in South Wales, Lancashire and Scotland. lurning ro uie 'Air' i) orue; the Minister tnat it was a new' and uny known, lacior m future war. its tier \eiopmenc in niaciimes'tina equipment duuug tne iast 'thfee oY 'four years ■ was 1 s.nipiy amazing. Tne' best illustration machines were uiitUf protiuetion ‘to-day,' for fegiiiar' use in tne. Air T’orde, iViiich, live'years ago, would fiave been 'seiiouj' competitors, for the Schneider Gup. Coining' to the question' df n the M .'expansion of aircraft production, he said that; com-j paling April, May and June with the , corresponding period of last year, de-j fiv e ry was about .three and a half | times as many aeroplanes ana over twice as many engines. Before he concluded, Sir Thomas spoke, of the work, being done on the problem of food supplies in war time and said that they were o’n the point of reaching conclusions which, he hoped, would ensure to the country an increased output by agriculture, as well as a sufficiency of supply from abroad of all essential food and feed- • ing stuffs, for which the ’country was dependent on imports. , • Sir Thomas Inskip, referred .to Mr * Lloyd George’s declaration that it . was easier for a strong country to, gain-its objects by peaceful ..(diplomacy than for a weak one, . ;i He ; said this remark referred to Germany, ..but if was equally true, of, Britain, or of any country. •; He hoped that, the labour members would remember that observation when they were, confusing questions of defence with those of British foreign policy., H| added that the Chiefs of Staff had been freshly studying the fcontrol of'production and of merchant shipping and’had been'concerting plans for aerial and. naval co-operation, on which security depended. Mr Lees Smith (Labour) complained that Sir Thomas. Inskip had dealt almost exclusively,jiyith questions of supply. He <jid not refer to the coordination of the defence services, on which matter lie was unable to concentrate while he remained engrossed with the problem's of supply. He did not possess his own staff. Mr Lees Smith said that the result .of this would-be that millions sterling would be largely wasted, owing to the lack of co-ordination. Mr W. Churchill said that it appeared that the German expenditure on the upkeeu of trie forces absorbed three hundred millions a year, and that the Germans were spending on 1 the forces five hundred millions on expansion—fivd hundred millions for something very serious, which might > happen soon—compared with Britain, who was spending seventy-five millions on expansion. He added that they should remember those hammers of which General Goering spoke. Those hammers were descending day and N . night in Germany. Mr Churchill concluded hv referring to the wartime secret session of Parliament. Hi Lie suggested that one should he held now. If, however, that were im-

possible, then Mr Baldwin should receive a deputation of the older members of the House of Commons, and hear a esse which could no longer be submitted publicly with safety; this being on the condition that nothing should be later disclosed which the Goyeriiment had not already revealed. Air Neville Chamberlain (Chancellor of the Exchequer) said that what was required was largely common sense, determination, and industry, all of which Sir Thomas Inskip possessed. Sir Thomas had every reason to be satisfied with the progress made. He added that a secret session could not be held in peace time without arousing unauthorised rumours and speculation, stirring up the country. The Government would be prepared tp receive the deputation which Air Churchill suggested, the members could not expect to receive the information that was being withheld from the country. General Alexander (Labour) declared that it was useless to suggest that the eight hundred millions which Germany had spent in building up Her army, navy and air force, compared with the expenditure of Britain, which had the most powerful fleet in the world, worth at least 1200 millions. The Government would never get Labour support, except on the condition that the. military expenditure was exactly what would meet the requirements of collective security, and that British armaments would be used, not as an instrument of national policy, but in support of the Covenant of the League against aggression. Sir Thomas Inskip, winding up the debate, insisted that th e very heart of the responsibility connected with collective security imposed an obligation on the British people to recognise that, if it even imperilled Britain and the Empire, they must defend it. A Labour motion to reduce the supplementary vote, including Sir Thomas’ salary was defeated by 320 to 155.