BRITISH REARMAMENT

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23647, 3 November 1938, Page 11

BRITISH REARMAMENT

NO AGGRESSIVE INTENTION 1 ' ' ' • MR CHAMBERLAIN'S ASSURANCES SPEECH IN HOUSE OF COMMONS (British Official Wireless) (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) .'.';•'.',• RUGBY, Nov. 1. " In his speech in the House of Commons Mr Chamberlain referred to some adversions which have been heard abroad on British rearmament, and asked why a different standard was being applied to Britain in this matter. However, he added the repetition, which he clearly thought should have been unnecessary, of assurances of Britain's peaceful intent. "I would repeat here categorically," he said, "that we have no aggressive intention against Germany or any other country. Our sole concern is to see that the country and her Imperial communications are safe and that we shall not be so weak relatively to other countries. "Our diplomacy cannot enter upon discussions on an ..' equal basis. There is nothing further from our minds than * to enter upon a new armaments race."

REVIEW OF DEFENCES NOT YET COMPLETED A FIVE-YEAR PROGRAMME i MAKING UP DEFICIENCES ...(British Official Wireless) , /, v " RUGBY. Nov. 1 yuThevseCond half of Mr Chamberlain's speech was devoted to questions arising from a review which the Government had made of the civil and military defences to see ' what arrears or deficiencies had been revealed, in the'recent emergency. .The civil side of the review was complete, and while it naturally showed that preparations were far'from comprehensive or perfect, nevertheless Mr Chamberlain was of opinion that had they been put to the test, they Would have worked a great deal better than many supposed. The Government, however, had come to the conclusion that the whole subject of air raid precautions : has assumed such gigantic proportions,and complexity that a separate , Minister Was require!'.to. pive \. his .! ; whble attention' to. it, Sir, John Anderson,, as Lord Privy Seal, would ;in fact be of Civil Defence, having direct, charge of air raid precautions;; ',-/_• ';: •.,.' < - ;;:J*aWonai Voluntary Serv|6e : Mr Chamberlain said that Sir John Anderson (the new Lord Privy Seal) would also.be responsible in consultation With the other departments concerned for the arrangements for a national voluntary service. . In. connection with air raid precautions Sir John Anderson would preside over the Co-ordina-tion Committee of. the Ministers of the various departments affected, and he would, of course, be a member of the Committee of Imperial Defence. As to national service the Government was satisfied that it was desirable and practicable to meet the need of civil defence by voluntary action, suitably organised.'" "■ r: ' '•"■"■ ■'-..•'.. The review of the military, naval and air defences was not finished, but in the meantime Mr Chamberlain reiterated the unwillingness of the Government to accept the proposal for a Ministry of Supply, : which, he argued, would cause dislocation of the existing, arrangements Without guaranteeing any improvement, and would involve the use of compulsion, which employers and workers would not normally accept in peace time. He made the point that they were only in the third year of the rearmament programme which had been undertaken and organised as a five-year programme. To argue that because everything was not completed in three years the programme had broken down was. therefore, foolish He doubted if it would have been possible to squeeze the five-year programme into three years, but admitted that, the review had shown the special urgency of certain parts of the programme, for which certain practical reinforcements were necessary if they were not to jeopardise the whole, of the schemes.. The Government would; therefore, direct itself to those parts. He reminded the House that there would undoubtedly be an addition to the total cost of the programme. The Joint Declaration This brought the Premier to the joint declaration with Herr Hitler after the Munich, meeting, which, he said; seemed to have dropped out of sight. "Yet I. myself feel in that declaration, if properly followed up, lies a chance for a new era of peace in .Europe," he said. " I believe in-, deed I am convinced, that Herr Hitler meant it when he signed it. I am" equally;convinced that the views expressed are the views of the majority of the people both in Germany and iri this country. That being so, let there be no mistake as to our policy and our intention. It is our firm determination that there will be no sitting still waiting for peace to come Goodwill of Powers . "We shall not wait until the crisis becomes acute. We shall try to consolidate the goodwill of the four Powers which assembled at Munich and will endeavour to restore European confidence by removal of fears and suspicions. We will not get far unless we get the idea that democracies and totalitarian States are not to be ranged against each other in opposing camps, but that they can. if they choose, work together, not « merely for the settlement of differences after they have arisen, but also in consideration of a constructive programme/which will facilitate the international exchange of goods and improve international relations in

THE LABOUR VIEW CRITICISM OF AGREEMENT "VAGUE OBLIGATIONS" AIR DEFENCE NEGLECTED (British Official Wireless) RUGBY, Nov. 1. (Received Nov. 2, at 5.5 p.m.) Opening the House of Commons debate, Mr C. R. Attlee said they would have an opportunity to-mor-row, in discussing the Government's proposals, to ratify the AngloItalian agreement, to state their objection to that course and explain their position on the very large questions of international policy it raised—particularly the vitally important question of Spain. After criticising the application of the. Munich agreement and asking for further information on the proposed guarantee of new frontiers for Czechoslovakia, Mr Attlee said he was opposed to committing Britain to vague obligations outside the framework of the" League. He called. attention to.; the economic consequences of the recent events, and contended that through the absence of economic planning the Government had left the country, despite its great economic resources,' in no fit condition to need the challenge of the> trade drive by Germany. Mr Attlee said that they had heard talk of a national register, but there was already a national register of people who wanted work but could not find it. Unemployment was an example of how. the country's immense potential strength wap not being brought into play. The same lack of planning was seen in the Government defence measures. There had been failure to decide on a plan, as a result of which the vital need for passive defence against air attack had been neglected and subordinated to the needs of the fighting services. Liberal Criticism Sir Archibald SinSlair, who followed Mr Chamberlain, urged the Government to extend a more general asylum to refugees from the Sudetehland. He, like Mr Attlee, argued, that the House ought to think very carefully before deciding to give a guarantee to Czechoslovakia in the new circumstances which had arisen out of the Munich settlement. Mr Chamberlain's speech left him puzzled and bewildered. "Mr Chamberlain has no right to ask them to have faith in Herr Hitler's signature to the Munich declaration as long as the German arid Italian signatures to the non-inter-vention agreement were not imDlemented. Sir Archibald next asked about the Government's policy on the colonies. Were they going to raisr the question or wait until Herr Hitler raised it? The solution of colonial problems must be founded on the principle of trusteeship, and must be part of a general settlement, the acid test of sincerity in regard to which would be agreed disarmament. In the debate Mr Attlee referred to a report that instructions had been sent by the Treasury to all departments dealing with social services to cut expenditure. Mr Chamberlain immediately gave a categorical denial to this report A statement correcting a misunder standing in regard to a recent speech by himself, which suggested that a cut in social services was intended, was issued last night by Mr Elliot. He said his argument was that inroads uoon the social services would injure the very things the Government was fighting to preserve, and it was to prevent the possibility of such inroads that he urged support of the policy of appeasement. At question time in the House of Commons to-day Mr Elliot denied that the Government was contemplating a cut in social services, and added that so far from thinking of cutting the social services, the Government intended to maintain and, if possible, expand them.

various ways for the good of all. That is what is sometimes called a policy of appeasement. That is a policy to which the British Government intends wholeheartedly to devote itself." Tributes to Lord Stanley At the beginning of question time the Premier and the Opposition leaders paid tributes to Lord Stanley. The Labour motion on the air raid precautions will be debated on Thursday and Parliament will be prorogued on Friday. The next session will be opened next Tuesday.