“MILITARY” POLITICS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 21 April 1934, Page 12

“MILITARY” POLITICS

SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED Speaking in tho House of Lords Viscount Cecil said it was absolutely vital that the principle should be maintained that there was only one organisation in this country which was entitled to use force, and that was the Government. That was vital to the whole conception of liberty. He had no desire to try to decide between the rival merits of Sir Oswald Mosley and Sir Stafford Cripps; that was not the issue before the House. They were in the presence of certain manifestations which he believed were utterly insignificant and unimportant at this moment, but which certainly believed that private individuals had the right to organise themselves in a military or semi-military way to force changes of the constitution by force of arms. That was a most dangerous thesis, and now was the time to lay down very clearly and definitely the principle by which any ovement of that kind —whether it came from the left or right was quite immaterial —should be dealt with. He believed that it was enshrined in tho English law, but, if not, by all means let whatever measures were necessary be passed rapidly throimh Parliament to give the Government ample powers to deal with these, things. Be- j cause they were at the moment negligible and unimportant now was' the time to pass such measures before : they became really serious, as they j might conceivably be if there were ; some great economic disaster, when it j might be much more difficult to take i action. He hoped that the Govern- | ment would tell the House, not only j that they were watching and considering the matter, but that they had a definite policy for dealing with it, and were prepared to recommend to Par- 1 liament and the •country whatever measures might be necessary to make it quite clear that none of this playing 1 at soldiers by private individuals could be tolerated. .