THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1935 BRITAIN'S QUANDARY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22100, 4 May 1935, Page 12

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS SATURDAY, MAY 4, 1935 BRITAIN'S QUANDARY

The House of Commons debate upon foreign policy can hardly be a debate at all. The facts stand clear for all to see. Indeed, on the day that Mr. Mac Donald made his statement, they were further elaborated by the announcement of General Goering that Germany had done 'something decisive for peace—she had rearmed. He boasted that the German Air Force was now prepared to hold its own against any in the world, that it was equal to any constellation of the Powers that might arise for or against peace. Ttds aei'ial arming has been done by stealth. It began long before llhere was any evidence that Germany was preparing to reject the obligations of the Treaty of Versailles. So also was the naval programme. In face of these and all previously ascertained facts, criticism of tho British Government's actions in foreign affairs or in the matter of del'ence precautions, could be nothing more than • the reiteration of old arguments which no longer apply. M:r. Lansbury expressed disappointment that the Prime Minister's statement, after three years of disarmament talk, largely dealt with the increase of armaments as a preliminary to peace. Had the Government, he asked, gone back on the League Covenant? He might just as logically have aaked that the stable door should be shut after the horse had gone. Britain's defences under the circumstances are in a deplorably weak -state. This isi the result not of three years of disarmament talk but of more thfm three years of disarmament example. The comparatively modes'! i increases that are now being made in the Navy, the Army and the Air Force;, increases which in the case oil the Navy and Army are hardly more than what might be a normal programme, are safeguards compelled from without, not initiated from within. The hand that wrote the new Estimates was the hand of Germany, and Britain's participation in any system of collective security, in any limitation of armaments, is in no way prejudiced by reason of tl?ese precautions, which day by day appeared to be more and-more inadequate. Probably there never has been a debate in thie history of the House of Conimomi in which men of all schools of thought have been less sure of their ground. Those who a few years a?o felt that their feet were firmly placed on the power of Geneva realise that there has been a landslide. What they believed to be rock hasi crumbled. Their eyes are still turned to the lofty heights, and they hopefully anticipate that the Lea-gue tall cross the fissure and crevasse antjl mount, again on the living rock t'» the Bublime goal. But the day is not yet. Others who were less convinced of the permanence of the path thi-y travelled found foothold in pacific pacts and looked ahead with confidence. They also have realised disappointment and observed risiks. Clouds in the sky have increaiied their apprehension. None, whatdver his place and attitude of mint! may have been, can discern any straight and obvious way. The Government, it is clear, must feel ils way, and only the habitual critic who refuses to admit his perplexity can destroy the spirit of unily that is so important. Sir Herbert Samuel has stated that Herr Hitler liad consolidated British opinion to an extent that could not have been foreseen. The NewsChronicle. iij is to be observed, is speaking with the voice of the Morning Post upon the necessity for Britain to sue to her safety in the air. Even so uncompromising a critic as Mr. Maxj,on found it impossible to support llis attitude except by changing hisi ground. He said that the German regime had outraged the standards o:l civilisation in a way unparalleled. bub affirmed that British diplomacy ishould be directed toward making the voiceless German people, in whose pacific intentions he trusts,"have a voice again—mere verbal futility. Sir John fiimon and Mr. Anthony Eden went :o Berlin after a series of conversations by the representatives of the British, French and Italian Governments, with a definite plan for peace that had already been communicated to the German Government. It bad a fourfold basis : the exchange of views on the subject of security, the exchange of views on the subject of armaments, the exchange of views on the subject of the return of Germany to the League of Nations and the exchange of views on the subject of the proposed Air Pact. All thai; lay behind this agenda remains the aim of British policy, and Herr Hitler's declaration of his willingness, in principle, Jk> negotiate a multiple non-aggression pact with Eastern Euiopean countries might be made the medium of a much more comprehensive agreement. But where lies the initiative' 1 As the British Prime Minister has stated, Germany's dec! arations in regard to land, air and naval forces must profoundly disturb the peace of mind of the whole, of Europe. She has claimed equality of status, but there is'fear, and justifiable fear, that she

seeks military predominance. Hence the newly-signed agreement for mutual consultation and assistance between France and Russia. It is an agreement within the four corners of the League Covenant but further evidence of the drift toward the old system of alliances, the development of which may handicap the best efforts to promote goodwill and cultivate' the doctrine of peace. Sir Austen Chamberlain and Sir Herbert Samuel have both asserted that Germany is still actuated by the doctrine of might. "Germany has gone through two revolutions since the war," said Sir Austen, "but it seems that the old spirit has little changed." The whole education system was directed to making a military race prepared to fight and fit to fight. Sir Herbert mentioned the adherence to the philosophy of Nietzsche and the policy of Treitschke by a large body of the German people, who were obsessed with the desire for power and predominance and found glory in war. If these responsible statesmen are wrong the evidence is strangely deceiving. Germany's policy arouses the gravest suspicions.