News of the Week
HARDLY second in importance to the Manchurian discussions at Geneva, more fully dealt with on : a later page of this issue, is the new turn taken by the Disarmament Conference as a result of the concentration of attention on the British plan of procedure (admirably presented by Mr. Eden) and the French plan with its specific proposals for disarmament and security. But the German demand for equality—conceded by the Five Great Powers last December in the form of an agreement on "equality. in a framework of security "—is likely to dominate everything. Unless measures of disarma- ment going far enough to satisfy Germany for the time being are adopted the Germans will again withdraw, and Italy and other countries will approve their action. In this conmudon acceptance of the British proposal• regarding the abolition of all military .aviation, coupled with the control of. civil -aviation, and of the Hoover proposal for the scrapping of a third of the existing capital ships,. would go far to meet the immediate need. There are no very, definite signs as,–yet of a general willingness to accept the British proposal, and none at all of British willingness to accept the _Hoover cuts: But when the alternative between some substantial disarmament and the breakdown of the Conference has to. be faced finally, as it soon *will, hesitant governments .may yet decide to take the Way of peace.
