SAFETY OF BRITAIN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21932, 16 October 1934, Page 9

SAFETY OF BRITAIN

GOVERNMENT'S POLICY INCREASED AIR DEFENCE British Wireless RUGBY. Oct. 14 The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, speaking at Birmingham, said that during the last few months events on the Continent had made many people very uneasy about affairs in foreign countries. That feeling had found expression at the recent conference of the Conservative Party at Bristol, when it assured the Government of its full support for any expenditure necessary to ensure the safety of the country. , No one in the world believed that the British Government or country would willingly do anything that would lead to war, said Mr. Chamberlain. Their whole interest lay tn the opposite direction. All the efforts of the Government had been directed to trying to remove causes of war, but it would incur a terrible responsibility if some day, through neglect, the country found itself unable to protect itself against hostile attack. The Government had given long and anxious consideration to the problem, and had reached the conclusion that in a world where no Power had disarmed and where others were continually increasing their armaments, a programme must be embarked upon now which would mean a very considerable increase in the number of air squadrons available for home defence. This would involve making good some deficiencies which had been allowed to accumulate. The Government, however, would not relax its efforts to prevent a general building up of the level of armaments.