LABOUR AND ARMAMENTS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22544, 8 October 1936, Page 10

LABOUR AND ARMAMENTS

To the British Labour Party's conference Dr. Dalton has contributed a breath of wholesome air when discussing the question of armaments. "If a Labour Government were to assume power to-morrow," he has said, "it would be compelled to proceed with the increase of Britain's armaments," adding that the time had come to warn the Fascist States there was a limit to Britain's tolerance of their threats. No doubt responsibilities of office have given Dr. Dalton an appreciation of the position created by the bellicose temper of these States, for he was Foreign Under-Secretary at a time when the gestures of peace that have proved futile were being hopefully tried. The resulting disappointment cannot be easily forgotten. Naturally Major Attlee, as leader of the Labour Opposition, has hesitated to go so far. His care is to see that the right to criticise the Government's policy is not prejudiced by admitting the truth of its case. But even he has felt compelled to say "We are not prepared to be conquered by Fascism from either without or within." The motion carried —one submitted by the executive—scarcely does justice to the views of Dr. Dalton and Major Attlee, since they evidently acknowledge the weakness of any form of collective security likely to be soon given to the world by Geneva. They seem to realise that, in order to be influential there or anywhere else for peace, Britain must be possessed of means to compel respect. To begin by trying to increase armaments only up to the level vaguely and indefinitely necessary for cooperation with others is to invert the process applicable to present or prospective conditions. It is well that many Labour leaders are frankly aware of this.