1937-03-23 — Page 18

THE HONGKONG Telegraph, Tuesday, March 28, 1937.

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LAST WAR!

HE Government's pro- posals for financing our part in the armaments race have been faith- fully dealt with in the columns of the newspapers and by the Parliamentary Labour Party

I do not propose to discuss the unsoundness of paying for perishable or consumable weapons like warships, aero- planes and tanks by borrowing money, except to say that before the loan is paid off most of the weapons will be obsolete or will have been scrapped.

But the taxpayers, which means the whole community, have a right to know. Arst, Stubbs Road why this immense expenditure is necessary, and, secondly, how it is proposed to use the money.

FUNERAL NOTICE,

In answer, wo have the White Paper issued on the night of Feb-

the

KO LEONG-HOE, the funeral pro-ruary 10. All it tells us is that the

cession will leave his residence 5, Morcion Terrace, Causeway Bay, at 10 am. on Wednesday, March 24th and will arrive at Yat Pit Ting, Kennedy Town, at 1.00 pm. where friends may pay their last respects.

The

Hongkong Telegraph.

TUESDAY, March 23, 1937.

CONGRESS AND THE CONSTITUTION

In the sense that the extrem- ists of the Indian Congress Party have not secured their own way-definite wrecking of the new Constitution-the-deci- sion of the Party Committee to accept office in the new Legisla tures is reassuring. At the same time it is difficult not to feel a degree of impatience at the proviso which has been laid down. This is to the effect that office will only be taken as the

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Legislature is satisfied that the Governor will not use his special powers of interference or set nside the advice of his Ministers regarding constitutional activi ties. The inference from this saving clause is that whilst Ministers belonging to the Con- gress Party may not deliberately seek to create any deadlocks, they may persist in tactics which will

between a split

Ministers-and Governors and then throw the blame on to the former for any crisis that may arise. It must be obvious to the that no Congress lenders Governor can give an assurance, in advance, of what he may do in hypothetical circumstances; all that he could be expected to

cause

Admiralty 13 to increase Navy, the War Office to increase and strengthen the Army, and the Air Ministry is to expand the Air Force. All the cobblers are to be allowed unlimited leather.

What is missing is some coher- ent, co-ordinated plan of Imperial Defence. Simply to expand and increase and modernise the exist- ing fighting services is not enough.

F

OR one thing is certain: That It is quite imposal- ble for any State, how- ever wealthy, to bo overwhelm- ingly strong in all armaments and in all possible,theatres of war,

The Germans made this very mistake during the first fourteen years of last century. Because the Kaiser was jealous of the British Navy ho insisted, against the ad- vice of his own generals, in attempting to build up a fleet strong enough to fight the British

Fleet.

He was not able to do so, for, despite the losses of the submarine campaign and the depredations of cruisers which escaped our black- ade, we managed to maintain a working command of the sea and to continue economic pressure on the Central Powers right up till the end of the World War.

For all the effect it had on the ultimate result, the Germans would have been better off without a Navy at all. The money and. effort devoted to the German Navy, it added to the money and effort devoted the German Army, would have made possible a quick victory on land before the end of 1914.

The Germans had had their les son, for in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the French Navy was overwhelmingly strong, the Ger- man Navy was negligible, and yet the Prussian armies won a swift and decisiva victory on land.

A

CCORDING to the Gov- ernment's plans, so far. as they have any plans,

If this is the plan in theory, it". can be shown at duce that it is impossible in practice. We are not so rich in money, resources, or man power that we can be overwhelm- ingly strong in all the three arms.

The British: Fleet, feet air arm and great aircraft-carrying ships included, could be victorious in every sea, We could maintain our trade routes intact. We could cut off the overseas supplies of any enemies.

And yet if we were not strong

enough in the air at home wo could be overthrown' and defeated by a stronger air power within striking distance of our shores.

do would be to consider justly they aro attempting to bulld any advice which his Ministers up an overwhelmingly strong Navs, might tender, and to endeavour a large Army which can be ex- to

work

Constitution panded, if necessary, into a great the

dictates Continental Expeditionary Force, in accordance with

and, at the same time, an in- of fair play all round.~~ The

mensely powerful Air Force. the which special powers Governors possess would obvi- ously not be used, except in unusual circumstances; and there cannot at this stage be any bar- gaining with those who, whilst willing to take office, are, ap- parently only prepared to do so as long as they can have their own way. That is not the spirit in which to give a fair trial to what is without question the big gest and most generous experi- ment in India's own interest yet offered to the country. Meanwhile, the All-India Con- gress Convention has passed a resolution calling on the British Government to withdraw the

ITH, an overwhelmingly Constitution, an act which would

strong Navy, the rest of appear to reflect a disinclination

the Empire could be pre- on the part of Congress to make served for freedom and demo- a gerivino effort to test the eracy; but the metropolitan contro value of the now experiment by of the Empire, these islands, actual experience. Congress could be defeated; and it is the leaders may believe that the inhabitants of these falands who Constitution will not work, but are providing the greater part of the the money, the men a

and the the least they can do is to give it material. per an honest trial. Acceptance of

Again, if we were decisively office in a spirit which suggests fented in the air, we would be un- no very keen anxiety, for success able to send a, single division of of the new plan can serve no sokilere oversees to fight on the

ally useful purpose. I is to To-day's Thought of responsibility engendered by MAN never fails so low that wek he can see nothing higher 89umption of ministerial duties will cause present fears of non-

PARKEH co-operation to be dissipated.

CRAWFORD, LTD. be hoped, however, that a sense

THE MEN'S DEPT

W

Says LORD STRABOLGI

WHAT WAR MEANS-One of the main streets of Madrid after an air raid. -masonry and twisted from show the damage done to the shops.

Continent. For the transport to carry them and the ports of om- barkation could be destroyed by al action before mobilisation was complete.

for Then again, examine moment the geographical problem of Imperial defence.

Let us for this purpose suppose that we are threatened simul- taneously by the Fascist and the Germany near-Fascist Powers. and Italy have a working alliance Germany and Japan in Europe. have

agreement ostensibly against Communism, but it is not known what secret clauses are at- tached to it. ›

An

Supposing we found ourselves faced with a threat from these three militarist States.

Alet is not sufficient to give us security.

Hence the real necessity for col- lective security.

But in addition to these needs which the naval, military and air force chiels have impressed on the Cabinet, there are the equally casential requirements of domestic defence against the air menace:

This White Paper deals with this and speaks of two divisions of the Territorial. Army having already been organised for this purpose and of a further expansion in pre- paration.

The Germans, under the Anglo- German Naval Treaty, are entitled to build a fleet representing a strength of thirty-five per cont. of the combined navies of the British-for- Empire (and parity in sub- marincat)

APAN is claiming parity in naval strength with. Britain and the United States of America. It is impossible to say at the moment what tho Japanese building programme will be

It is probable that the Americans will nover allow them to catch up to parity on the seas. Presumably

like attitudo. the British Admirally will take a

Looking ahead a few years, therefore, according to the Gov- crument plans so far. disclosed, we must have a fleet strong enough to hold the Germans in chock in Europe and another feet able to safeguard our Imperial interests in the Pacific at least equal to the Japanese Navy.

communication.

In addition, according to the First Lord of the Admiralty, Sir Samuel Hoare, we have to ho strong enough in the Mediter- ranean to safeguard what he describes as that splual cord, our lines of communist be strong in the Mediterranean not only in warships but in air force, to: an extent to counter any Italian threat. The bald statement of the outlines of the problem are sum- cient to show that a mere pling up. of our armaments in all directions und in every possible area of con-

I

F we are to tackle in earnest the problem of domestic defence against air attack, it is obvious that the whole of the present Terri- will torial Army

bo required this purpose. Also that measures for countering gas at- tack and for dealing with the effect of incendiary high explosive bombs must be of a far more elaborate than any- and expensive nature thing yet disclosed.

Now. If my arguments are cor- rect about the utilisation of the whole of the Territorial force for real home delance, what becomes of the War Minister's idea of a for great expeditionary army which the great mechanising pro- grammo 18. designed?

The more I examine the pro- blems with which we are faced, the more convinced I become that we must abandon the idea of in- tervening on the Continent with a large army. All the War Office efforts to-day, apart from the pro-. vision of overseas garrisons, should, I suggest, be devoted to real home- defence against air attack.

T

THINGS being as they. are, we have to have a Navy, of a certain strength. We must undoubtedly. 1 forco la once more to rule the world during the next few years be strong in the air.

It our potential allies on the Continent, our fellow-members of the League of Nations, want our help, we can best give it in aerial warfare. The old function of the Fleet of preventing invasion is now of secondary importance.

The Fleet can safeguard our

The crumbled

overseas supplies, and in so doing deny, the trade routes to our enemies; this is a cruiser and flying boat job; why five eight-million- pound super-dreadnought battle- ships are being built may be known to the Board of Admiralty, but no- body else understands what their function 15.

The truth is that, despite its talk of modernisation, the Cabinet is still preparing for the Inst war. and not for the next one, should it come.

As was foretold by the Labour Party spokesmen in both Houses ot Parliament, Bir Thomas Inskip and his amall staff have made no progress at all in the co-ordination of strategy. Inskip and his men have helped with regard to muni tion supplies and the provision of material and shadow factories, but that was the job of a Minister of Munitions.

In the proper sense of the words, there is neither a Ministry of De- fence, nor a Combined "General" Staff, examining the problems of Defence as a whole and working out' pinns for their solution. "

A

....

T the best there bound to be immense

overlapping and waste..

At the worst, we are opening our- 'Helves to defeat through being comparatively weak everywhere: and strong nowhere.

The weakness of our whole system of government, where de fence is concerned, le shown clearly by the need for this im- mense expendituro of afteen- the hundred-million pounds in next three or four years.

It is useless to point to the Ger man example, for Germany - wae disarmed and prohibited from pos- sesaing more than meagre defence forces and not allowed an Air Force at all

MEN But since the end of the last Great War wo have spent, In round figures, two thousand mil- lions of pounds of the taxpayers” money on weapons and Dicots, without

A co-ordinated plan;'and yet we are told that we are in a

The presunt proppais Parliament and the country ara, Las suggest, the greatest possible ing dictment of the political leaders who maintain the present so-called. *National Government in offer