Evening star., 1933-09-03

ment, for example. has gone to the
length of preparing contracts with
armament firms, t6 the number of some
thousands. And the French act of Feb
ruary, 1923, for the general organization
of the country In war time, is so COM
plete and thorough that 1t would bring
tears Of pious Joy to the eyes of any
armament director.
However, the general principle, rather
convincing proof that governments and
armament firms are, If not actually mar
ried, at least living together. Under
stand that principle and you understand
the whole thing. It may be put in
very few words.
Since all ornaments rapidly grow out
Of date, and
Since no government can afford to be
i'll equipped, and
Since, on the other hand, a constant
scrapping of guns, airplanes, ETC., would
be beyond the budgetary capacity of any
government-
It is therefore to the interest of any
government that its own armament firms
be kept as large, as alive and as up-to-
date as possible, and
Armament firms can only do so by de-
veloping large and regular peace time
export trade.
NOW do you see what this implies? In
case you do not, let US say, do you
~1xy0
tainIy does not imply that any govern
ment in its senses will attempt to dis
suade any armament firm from export
ing arms to any country whatever. The
more they export the better the gov
ernment concerned is pleased, because
it means that their own firms are keep
ing their plants up to date, employing
skilled workmen, and generally keeping
up the high standard Of their organiza-
tions, to which the government will have
to turn when the hour comes. Thus we
have the astonishing paradox OF gov
ernments welcoming the fact that the
whole world is being plastered with guns,
etc, which have been exported from
their own countries. They are appar-
emily oblivious of the fact that these
guns may one day explode in their own
imbecile faces.
1t is not unduly rhetorical to say that
every time the English or the American
or the French government signs a Ii
cense for the export of arms to a foreign
country it is smashing, with its ugly
fist, the young bodies of its own finest
citizens In case this sounds bitter, let
me quote a speech which Mr.. Hugh
Dalton made in the House of Commons
not long ago. He was speaking on the
naval estimates and was explaining how
many Australian and British troops had
been moved down by British guns in
Dardanelles In a moving passage he
cried:
British armament firms have been
supplying the Turkish artillery with
shells which were fired into the Aus
tralian, New Zealand and British troops
as they were scrambling up Anzac Cove
and Cape Helles. Did it matter to the
directors of these armament firms, so
long as they did business and expanded
the defense expenditures of Turkey that
their weapons mashed up into bloody
pulp all the morning glory that was the
flower of Anzac, the youth of Australia
and New Zealand, yes, and the youth
of our own country?"
Apparently it did not matter then,
and it Cioec not matter now. Neither to
the armament firms nor to the govern
ments. For the license is virtually
matter of form. A matter of form! 1t
is a delicate way of describing the export
of death.
Moreover, there appears to be no pos