'The publication of the fourth White Paper since 1935 on the subject of British rearma~ ment, and the speech made by the Prime' Minister, Mr, Neville Chamberlain, in the} House of Commons on the same subject should leave no doubt in the minds of other governments of the determination of Great] Britain, not only to continue to develop her! defences, but to persist in her endeavours to bring about a general appeasement of the existing worldwide tension. It is no figment of imagination when he describes as "cnormous and almost terrifying," the power which the nation is now building up, nor is he unduly optimistic when he believes it will] have a sobering and steadying effect upon world opinion. It has been felt by men the type of the Prime Minister that the policy' of Great Britain during the past twenty! years, animated as it undoubtedly was with the best of intentions in the service of world peace, failed largely because of the fact that} in her enthusiasm for the limitation of arma~ ments Great Britain had disarmed to such an' extent that she had lost much of the' authority of her voice when dealing with in~ ternational questions, 'There was undoubted-_ ly in some of the chancelleries of Europe, and possibly elsewhere, a steadily growing' opinion that it was possible to disregard' Great Britain with impunity, It is to that} that many of the developments which have occurred all over the world can be traced, the British lion was regarded by some as a decrepit, mangy old beast with an enfeebled roar and an incomplete set of teeth. The! animal it was felt by some could be com.' pletely ignored except on occasions when was felt that a little tail-twisting would add' to the gaiety of nations, With astonishing. rapidity all that is being changed. It is a costly proceeding and immense sums of money are being, and will continue to be! spent until the completion of the programme' in 1941, but, if the event proves the cor-reetness of the Prime Minister's view that in Great Britain's preparedness is to be found the best guarantee of world peace, it will be money well spent, though there will always remain the regret that it could not} have been spent on better and more productive objects.
Thiat regret must be tempered by the knowledge that that sum now believed to be considerably in excess of the originally when it was first proposed. There was then,' seen, Howard would be working patiently at true, no suggestion that the British his typewriter as if all that was happening attitude towards the League would undergo were no more than a passing thunderstorm. any material chan; now that there has It was a display of those qualities of leader-been some modification Labour is opposed what is now planned.
But such paradoxes are the natural outcome of the continual clash between ideals and reality, and it is fortunate that the Opposition in the House of Commons is of such dimensions as to offer no threat to the continuance of the present coalition in power. By majorities of over two hundred [the Labour amendment was defeated and the Government's resolution carried.
"Those figures undoubtedly represent the actual state' of mind in the country at large, though probably the division was taken under' party whips.
They are an indication that there is very little real danger now of an. election being forced, as it was thought at tone time, following Mr. Eden's resignation, would be brought about, and that Mr. Chamberlain can proceed with his policy for the general appeasement of Europe confident of more than sufficient support in Parliament for his purposes. They are indicative of more. They show the world at large that the aforetime timidities in British foreign policy are passing away, that Great Britain is be-! coming increasingly able to follow a positive policy. Therein lies the promise of ultimately Effective contributions to the peace of the: world, The time has not yet come for the idealistic lamb ta seek to lie down with the very realistic lion, though it is perfectly apparent that, so long as the lamb is equipped with means of self defence, it will be able command a degree of respect which normally It would not obtain.
Another paradox, per~ haps; but then, the world is full of them nowadays.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.