The Daily News MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1933. DISARMAMENT.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1933, Page 6

The Daily News

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1933. DISARMAMENT.

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It is little wonder that Great Britain is becoming anxious at the slow progress of the Disarmament Conference. The conference has been in session for over a year, and the principal results to date have been a crop of plans for the limitation of armaments side by side with greater expenditure upon them by every great Power, with the solitary exception of Great Britain. Speeches, resolutions and pacts in favour of the limitation of preparation for war have been accepted and endorsed by every member of the. League of Nations, but definite reduction in armaments seems as far away as ever. The tension in Eastern Asia has not assisted the advocates of peace, but the possibility of military conflict would seem an excellent spur to those who seek a limitation of its scope and ultimate elimination to get on with the good work. Great Britain has submitted proposals to the conference which are practical in design and would be definite and immediately effective. They include an immediate reduction of air forces, first to that now established by Britain, with a further all-round reduction to follow. Great Britain has further suggested a reduction in the size and weight of military and naval aircraft in all future construction programmes. In regard to army and navy personnel and equipment the British proposals are equally definite. They can claim the merit of having been Supported by large reductions already made by Great Britain in her own forces. In order to

avoid more confusion and futile discussion at the conference Great Britain has made it clear that she cannot favour any disarmament proposals which would involve the Empire in any further European commitments. The contention is that by. example and precept Great Britain has shown how disarmament can be accomplished, she has shared in certain European arrangements in order to make it possible'for other nations to follow her lead, but until actual limitation of armaments begins in other countries England has gone as far as national safety will permit. It was hoped that with the return of the representatives of Germany to the conference its work would be speeds ed up* for the terms upon which Germany returned admitted not only her right to equality in arms with other European nations but that treaty rights demanded that this, equality should be reached not by Germany rearming, but by other nations reducing their military, air and naval preparations’. The economic position in Europe is sufficiently serious to make disarmament a practical issue without raising any question of ethics. Every great Power except Great Britain is facing a deficit in the national accounts, and there is still the difficult and delicate question of a war-debt settlement with the United States to be considered. The anxiety expressed by the British .Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs, Mr. R. A. Eden, can be understood. Great Britain is straining every nerve to bring back financial equilibrium within her own borders and throughout Europe. Unless disarmament is. brought about the economic position will remain obscure and undefined because of the continuous drain upon public funds for armaments, expenditure which Great Britain will be forced in selfpreservation to share unless the mad rush towards militarism can be checked and ultimately brought to a standstill. Anxiety as to the outcome of the Disarmament Conference is by no means confined to Great Britain. It is one of the causes which keeps the United States from a fuller co-operation in European recovery, and the very fact that doubt exists in regard to the real desire for peace keeps alive that distrust between the nations which makes disarmament so difficult.