Mr. Rai MacDonald, the former Prime Minister, defended the action of the Labour Government. in holding up the Singapore scheme on the ground that a period of examination was absolutely necessary, not merely from the point of view of national safety but from that of the tax-payer. 'The result of that "gesture" was the Geneva Protocol. He asked what the objective of a base at Singapore w 1 that America and Japan both were friendly. Experts' theoretical views ought not to dominate their mind, He didn't see the slightest reason why there should not be a substantial reduction in the Naval imates similar to last year, characterized the Governm decision in relation to Singapore as very deplorable, for it might upset, the whole equanimity of the Enat.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.