27 SEPTEMBER 1930, Page 2

Disarmament Mr. Scullin, the Australian Prime Minister, who has paid

a brief visit to Geneva, addressed the Reduction of Armaments Committee of the League last Saturday. He said that his Government strongly supported the principle of giving financial help to States which were the victims of aggression, but on two conditions. One condi- tion was that the Treaty must not come into force until armaments had actually been reduced, and the other was that the liability of each guarantor should be strictly confined to the amount assigned to it. He described dis- armament as the " greatest object " of the League and he shared the opinion that much faster progress ought to be made. It was useless, he contended, to speak of security first. Thus he dismissed summarily the French doctrine. Disarmament was the " first step " to the abolition of war. * * * *