A. meeting convened by the Committee for the Reduction of
Expenditure on Armaments was held at the Cannon Street Hotel yesterday week. Mr. F. W. Hirst, who presided, com- pared Mr. Churchill to Dryden's Zimri, "a man so various that he seemed to be Not one but all mankind's epitome," in view of his inconsistent demands and inability to abide by his own ratios and standards. Mr. D. A. Thomas moved a reso- lution urging on the Government to make a searching examination into all departments of public expenditure with a view to reduction, in order that the Sinking Fund might be maintained without any addition to the taxes ; and a second resolution, moved by Sir John Brunner, affirmed the desir- ability of effecting large savings in expenditure on armaments, in view of the improved relations with all other Powers and the reduction in the naval programme of Germany. In the course of his speech Sir John Brunner said he was far more afraid of the armament firms than he was of Germany. The meeting was a good deal interrupted by the unsympathetic comments of a dissentient minority, but the resolutions were both carried by large majorities.
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