The Marquess of Zetland, Secretary of State for India and Burma. gave a most reassuring statement on the subject of Great Britain's supplies in the event of war, in the House of Lords on Monday. Sir John Simon, Chancellor of the Exchequer, in opening his budget recently admitted that the Government had been purchasing supplies of wheat, sugar and whale oil without consulting Parliament, for the very good reason that had it been known that.the British Government was in the market, would have gone against it. Lord Zetla stated that similar reserves of other e: raw materials had also been secured. though he would not specify exactly what had been done. The experiences of the last war have not been forgotten nor have they been neglected, and plans have been laid that, should rapid and drastic action become necessary, the Government will be found ready. That is only to be expected. For example the re-enforcement of the various regulations devised as a result of and during the Great War, which have since been rescinded. and still all in being, necessitate but a stroke of the pen to bring them into force again, and when Lord Zetland says that it 1s merely a matter of pushing the button to set things in motion he is only describing a state of affairs which is as it should be. The re-licence of the Government concerning these matters is wholly to be commended. A great deal of business in connection with the defence of a country and the provision of the necess: reserves against the outbreak of war are ma ters which call for much secrecy, for the less a potential enemy knows about a nation's resources the less able is it to make specific plans with any degree of certainty. Lord Mottistone professed anxiety over the supply of aeroplanes is quite understandable, though even here there are indications to be found that the reinforcement of the British air force, while 1 has not proceeded with the rapidity the Go ernments critics would like to see, has nevertheless, progessed further than the man in the street realizes.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.