Monday, Nov. 04, 1935
The Cheer
A hearty British cheer, which brought the House of Commons to their feet, rang out last week for the League of Nations. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, in launching his $1,000,000,000 British armament program (see col. 3), had just advanced the theory that this will not be "unilateral rearmament." Although the billion dollars' worth of new arms will all be in one nation's hands, it will not be unilateral rearmament, according to Mr. Baldwin, because ''it is [a] strengthening [of] our defensive forces within the framework of the League for the sake of international peace, not for selfish ends." These British forces, although within the framework of the League, may be used by His Majesty's Government alone and at their sole discretion, the Prime Minister indicated later in a radio speech. "Whatever may happen," he said, "the brunt of any trouble must fall on the British Navy--in conjunction with others, if we were fortunate, possibly alone, if we were not."
In the eyes of Members of Parliament last week the League of Nations was thus taking on the aspect of a device providing His Majesty's Government with unlimited excuse for armament and unlimited discretion in using their new weapons as they pleased. In one of the great demonstrations of this decade, the House of Commons rose and gave cheer on cheer for Mr. Winston Churchill, now slated to be the next First Lord of the British Admiralty, when he worked himself up last week to this climax:
"What is the great new fact that has emerged since August? It is this--the League of Nations is alive! It is alive and in action! It is fighting for its life! It is practically fighting for all our lives!
"The reason the League now is a reality is because there has been behind it the British Navy. Our superior sea power has not been transferred to the League; nevertheless, it has lain behind it and invested every debate and decision at Geneva with a gravity and significance which otherwise it could not have possessed. . . ."
In one breath the League was thus resurrected, and in the next Britannia, in consequence, was to dominate the Mediterranean against all comers. In the cheers of the House of Commons for this rebirth of the League of Nations & British Might as twins, millions of the King's subjects joined sincerely and without hypocrisy because honest Stanley Baldwin, while asking a cool billion for weapons, also told them on the radio last week: "I think you know me well enough now to know I am no militarist, and you can safely trust me."
This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.