THE SOVIET PLAN FOR DISARMAMENT
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sm,—May I suggest that your comment on the Soviet plan for disarmament in the News of the Week was not a helpful one ? At the outset let me say I believe that plan to be impracticable, for two main reasons. Firstly the nations are all too timid to accept the scheme ; secondly, disarmament will throw vast numbers of people out of work who, it is true, will be reabsorbed in other spheres as the money saved stimulates productive enterprise. It is a question of re- adjustment which would be better brought about gradually rather than in a short space of time, causing too sudden and great a dislocation.
But however much we disagree with the Soviet plan, there is a case for complete disarmament. The urgency of the problem and our failure to have solved it after seven years of discussion should make us extremely tolerant and forbearing towards any suggestions. But instead, you call it "stupendous nonsense . . . punctuated with violent abuse of the League." I would suggest that it was not abuse but rather strong criticism which, though not wholly fair, contained a certain element of truth—and truth sometimes hurts. One truth was that "the whole history of post-War international relations has been one of unintermittent systematic increase of armed forces in the capitalist States and of a vast increase in the general burden of militarism." And again, "up to the present not only has the matter of disarmament not advanced a single step, but no date for the conference has even been fixed." This after seven years. You say that the first step towards dis- armament is Security. But if nations would visualize complete disarmament, not in terms of themselves but of every other nation in the world, surely they would obtain no small measure of security. What brigands and bandits are there to-day which require even one hundredth part of the armed forces of Europe for their control ? A small international or national force on tribal frontiers would suffice to police them, but would not effect the question of complete disarmament.
No, Sir, we should not jest or mock such a proposal. In many ways complete disarmament of all the nations would be far easier and give greater security than mere clippings
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