1937-03-23 — Page 6

THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, TUESDAY, MARCH 28, 1987.

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T

Preparing for the

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, acro- planes and tanks by borrowing money, except to say that before the loan 19 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, first, Stubbs Road why this immense expenditure necessary, and, secondly, how it is proposed to use the money,

FUNERAL NOTICE.

KO LEONG HOE, the funeral pro- cession will leave his residence 5. Moreton Terrace, Causeway Bay, at 10 am. on Wednesday, March 24th and will arrive at Yat Pit Ting, Kennedy Town, al 1.00 p.m. where friends may pay their Inst respects.

The.

Hongkong Telegraph.

TUESDAY, MARCH 23, 1037;

| CONGRESS AND. THE CONSTITUTION

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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 Legişla- 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

Legislature-is-satisfied-that-the Governor will not use his special powers of interference or set aside the advice of his Ministers regarding constitutional activi- ties. The inference from this saving cause 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 cause a split between Governors and Ministers--and then throw the blame on to the former for any crisis that may arise. It must be obvious to the Congress leaders that no Governor can give an assurance, in advance, of what he may do circumstances; In hypothetical

powers

19

In answer, we have the White Paper issued on the night of Feb- ruary 16. All it tells us is that the Admiralty is to increase the 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 fa some coler- 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 quité impossi- ble for any State, how- ever wealthy, to be overwhelm- ingly strong in all armaments and in all possible thentres 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 he insisted, against the ad- vico 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 block- ade, we rannaged 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, if added to the money and effort devoted to 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 strang, the Ger- man Navy was negligible, and get the Prussian armies won a swift and decisive victorý on land.

+

A

CCORDING to the Gov- ernment's plans, so far as they have any plans, they are attempting to bulld up an overwhelmingly strong Navy, a large Army which can be ex- panded, if necessary, into a great Continental Expeditionary Force, and, at the same time, an im- mensely powerful Air Force.

If this is the plan in theory, it can be shown at once that it is impossible in practice. We are not so rich in money, resources, or man

ingly strong in 'all the three armis.

The British Ficet, acet air arm

and great aircraft-carrying ships included, could be victorious in every sea. We could maintain our trade routes intact. We could eut off the overseas supplies of any enemies.

Says LORD

STRABOLGI

-WHAT-WAR-MEANS:-One-of-the-main-streets-of-Madrid-afler-on-air-raid:

masonry and twisted iron show the damage done to the shops.

Continent. For the transport.to carry them and the ports of em- barkation could be destroyed by air action before mobiliastian was complete.

examine for a

Then again, moment the geographical problem of Imperial defence.

Let us for this purpose suppose that we are threatened almtıl- taneously by the Fascist and the near-Fascist Powers, Germany and Italy have a working gillanco in Europe. Germany and Japan have an agreement ostensibly against Communism, but it is not known what secret clauses are at- tached to it..

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

The Germans, under the Anglo- German Naval Treaty, are entitled to build a feet representing "a strength of thirty-five per cent. of the combined navies of the British Empire (and parity in eub- marines!)

APAN la-claiming parity in naval strength with Britain and the United. States of America. It is Impossible to shy at the moment what the Japanese building programme wil bo.

nil that he could be expected to do would be to consider justly any advice which his Ministers might tender, and to endeavour to work the Constitution in accordance with dietates The of fair play, all round. special

which the Governors possess would obvi.. ously not be used except In unusual circumstances; and there cannot at this stage be any bar-power that we can be overwhelm- 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 ami 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 Constitution, an not which watald appear to reflect a disinclination. on the part of Congress to make agonulno effort to test the value of the new experiment by actual experience. Congress leaders may believe that the Constitution will not work, but the least they can do is to give it an honest trial. Acceptance of office in a spirit which suggests reated in the air, we would be unThis means we must be strong no very keen anxiety for success" | able to send w’kinglo division, of

And yet if we were not strong enough in the air at home we could be overthrown and defented by a stronger, Air power within striking distance of our shores.

ITH an overwhelmingly atrong Navy the rest of the Empire could be pre served for freedom and demo- cracy; but the metropolitan centre of the Empire, these Islands, could” bé" defeated; and it is the inhabitants of these islands who •

are providing the greator part of the money, the men and the materini.

Again, if we were decisively de-

It is probable that the Americana will nover allow them to catch up to parity on the seas. Presumably the British Admiraltý will take a like attitudo,

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

In addition, according to the

cording First Lord of the Admiralty, Bir Samuel Hoare, we have to be strong enough in the Mediter- ranean to safeguard what he describes as that spinal cord, our lines of commpriidation.

of the now plan can serve no soldiers overseas to fight on the in the Mediterranean not only. really useful purpose. It is toToday's Tho

LANE CRAWFORD, LTD. De hoped, however, that a isenso

THE MEN'S DEPT.

of responsibility, engendered a bizt sasumption of ministerial 'dulles will cause present---cars-of-nõus.

AMANSTIGDer falls!

"than himselfJK

it

in warships but in air force, to. an extent to counter any Italian threat. The bald statement of the outlines of the problemiare sum- clant to show that a mere piling up. For our armametita in li directiODESÍ. Fandid every possible Bren of con-

fict is not sufficient to give us security gat

Hence the real necessity for col- lective security.'.

But in addition to these needs which the naval, military and air forco chiefs have impressed on the Cabinet, there are the equally essential 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.

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- torial Army will be required for 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. and expensive nature than any- thing yet disclosed.

Now if my arguments are cor- rect about the utilisation of the whole of the Territorial force for roal homo defence, what becomes of the War Minister's 'idea of a great expeditionary army. for which the great mechanising pro- grammo is designed?

-The-crumbled-

overseas suppiles, and in so doing our deny the trade routes: to enemies; this is a cruiser and flylog 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 is.

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

As was foretold by the Labour- Party spokesmen in both Houses: of Parliament, Sir Thomas Inskip and his small 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 factorics, but that was the fob of-a-Minister: of Munitions.

In the proper sense of the words. there is neither a Ministry of De- fence, nor a Combined General Gtaff, examining. the problems of Defence as a whole and working ́out plans for their salution.

A

Tthe best there bound to be immense (overlapping and waste.;

At the worst, we are opening our→ selves to defeat through being comparatively weak everywhere: The more I examine the pro- and strong nowhere.. blems with, which we`aro" faced, The weakness of our whole the more convinced I become that system of government, where de- we must abandon the idea of in-enco 15 concerned, is shown tervening on the Continent with a large army. All the War Office ́efforts to-day, apart froni the pro- vision of overséás garrisons, ubould, I suggest, be devoted to real home defence against air attack

T

THINGS being as they ́nre,' we have to have a Navy, of a certain strength. We must undoubtedly. it force la once more to rule the

be strong in the air. world during the next few years,

Rour potential allies on tho Continent, our fellow-members of the League of Nations, want our help; we can best give it in neriál warfare, The old function of the Fleet of preventing Invasion is now; DÍ BÁTÓ

•

clearly by the need for this im-,

ense expenditure of fifteen- hundred-million pounds in the not three or four years.

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

But since, the end of the last Great War we have spent, In round ngures, two thousand mil- lions of pounds of the taxpayora" money on weapons and neots without a co-ordinated plan; and yet we are told that we are in all weak position.

The present proposals before Parliament, and the country, are” 1. Buggust, the greatest possible in- diotment of the politicar-led importados;TARTIN who maintain the present

safeguard BourNational & Governmen