The Wanganui Chonicle. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1925. THE RULING SENTIMENT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19475, 15 December 1925, Page 6

The Wanganui Chonicle. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1925. THE RULING SENTIMENT

M. Tehitcherin, of all people, lias been talking disarmament to a representative of the London “Observer.” Russia, he says, has renounced all ideas of conquest, and maintains an army and navy merely for purposes of defence. That is exactly the attitude of Britain and other Powers, but whether it is true of Russia is open to question. According to an official British return issued last year, the Russian army numbered one million men. Poland had a quarter of a million men under arms, and other States bordering on Russia all had to keep up large establishments because they could not trust the Soviet. Even Mr. Ramsay MacDonald has said that the Soviet Government is the most anti-pacific in Europe. Yet M. Tehitcherin talks of disarmament. Is this anything more than the usual attempt of the Soviet to attract sympathy?

Russia probably expects to gain something by exploiting the sentiment that, has grown in favour of disarmament since the Locarno Pact, was signed. It is natural sentiment, for the nations are overburdened with armaments, and the move towards security in Europe encourages them to feel that there is some prospect of easing the burden. The Geneva Protocol was bound up with disarmament; if it had been ratified it could only have taken effect after the Powers had adopted a plan of disarmament and put it into operation. The Locarno Pact presupposes a later effort to promote disarmament, but it, does not by any means remove the great obstacles that stand in the way of complete agreement.

The Washington Conference limited the number and size of battleships and the size of cruisers, but left it open to the nations to spend their money freely on ships of certain classes and on aircraft. Evidence has not been wanting that some of the nations are ready to make the most of their opportunuities in those directions, though. Britain has done her best to discountenance anything in the nature of a revival of competition. She has proved her good faith, cutting down her Navy to the bone, as some of the experts have said, and she has a smaller army to-day than she had in 1914.

Though Britain lias made a genuine effort to promote disarmament, she has a wider field of responsibility than she had before the war because she has undertaken the care of so much mandated territory. Her world-wide responsibilities, her supremacy in sea transport and her dependence upon sea-borne goods are reasons why she should maintain adequate defences; yet she has been willing to give a lead towards the solution of a great problem. In spite of the Locarno Pact it remains a problem, but the nations probably are beginning to see their way to tackle it. Under the good influence of the League of Nations and with the sympathy of the United States, the five Powers may make progress. It will be interesting to see how Russia faces the problem.