Armament Reductions
Substantial reductions of the Army, Navy and Air Estimates of this country while a Disarmament Con- ference is in session are of good omen, though it cannot be pretended that the motive behind them is anything but the imperative need for rigid economy. The discus= sions in the House of Commons were conducted on sober lines, and in the Army debate the Government spokesman was sufficiently sympathetic to a general disarmament resolution moved from the Labour benches to justify Mr. Lansbury in withdrawing it without a vote. The Cabinet has been entirely wise in retarding new naval construction, and restricting that and every other form of expenditure, pending the outcome of the Geneva deliberations, par- ticularly since the recent Franco-Italian rapprochement suggests that those two countries may at last compose their naval differences and fit themselves into the frame- work of the London Naval Treaty. The evolution of political relations, moreover,' has some bearing on the amount of the insurance premium we feel it necessary to pay against war (or rather against the danger of defeat in war) in the shape of armament expenditure. We have cut the United States definitely out of the list of our potential enemies. We may gradually put other Powers in the same categOry. It is clearly a moment for
marking time. * a a a
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