ARMS INQUIRY

Taranaki Daily News, 26 November 1934, Page 5

ARMS INQUIRY

DECISION OF BRITAIN WORK OF PRIVATE FIRMS GOVERNMENT MONOPOLY? ADEQUACY OF LICENSING AMERICA’S CO-OPERATION British Wireless. Rugby, Nov. 23. The British Government has decided that an inquiry shall be held into the question of the manufacture of armaments. The inquiry will cover the following questions:— (1). Is a State monopoly practicable or desirable ? . (2). Is the existing system of licensing and control adequate and effective ? (3). Supposing the inquiry establishes that a State monopoly be desirable would the State monopoly eliminate the possibilities of abuse to which the private manufacture of arms is admittedly open? If a State monopoly is not practicable what steps are necessary to deal with the abuses arising from private manufacture? , The proposed inquiry was announcea in the House of Commons by Sir John Simon, Foreign Secretary, during the debate on the Address to the Throne. Its precise terms of reference have not yet been decided. Its main purpose is expected to be to investigate the subject of effective national control—the monopoly advocated in-some quarters is held by others to be open to grave objections—and to ascertain whether the system of licensing control existing in Britain works satisfactorily. SUGGESTION TO CONFERENCE. Sir John Simon, in making the announcement, recalled that last May he proposed that the Disarmament Conference should try to embody in separate protocols the topics taken out of the general draft convention, not as a substitute for disarmament, but as a way of making progress. Mr. Arthur Henderson had now echoed that view and among the selected topics was the traffic in arms. Britain had signed and ratified the Arms Traffic Convention of 1925, which others had neglected, said Sir John, but now that the co-operation of the United States was assured the prospects of a general agreement were better than ever before. In any case the 1925 convention dealt with the export, but not with the manufacture, of arms and was therefore not altogether fair to non-manufacturing countries because all their importations would be recorded, but not the accumulations of the manufacturing States. Something more comprehensive was required. . The three points which must be included in any agreement were:— (1). Control of the internal trade in arms, including prohibition of subsidies and export credits, and the possibility of organising a general embargo on the supply of arms. C2). Control of the national manufacture of arms through such systems as export licences. (3). Reasonable publicity.