Evening star., 1934-08-12

from which America is largely free,
and those who live under its shadow
may be excused for thinking that
even the enormous price Of the civil
war was worth paying to keep 1t at
bay.
No country has more reason to Ia
ment that the Wright Brothers were
ever born than England has, for the
airplane has made us as vulnerable as
if the English Channel had ceased to
exist. 1t has steriliZed our navy, i'm
periled the security of our food sup
ply and made us as integral part OF
the continent as Holland or Switzer-
land.
In a military sense our right little,
tight little island" has become part
of the mainland of Europe. London
is as open to attack as Paris or Berlin,
and the startling progress in the de-
velopment of aviation, coupled with
the failure of the Disarmament Con-
ference to establish any collective Sc
curity for European peace, has driven
the government to decision. which,
however defensible, has shocked the
pacific element Of public opinion.
For, whatever excuse may be put
forward for the vast projected in
crease in our air defenSes, that in
crease can only be construed as an
intimation that this country is pre-
pairing to join in the competitive race
with Europe in air armaments. The
case for this momentous decision
which Acting Premier Baldwin pre-
sented in the House Of Commons is
undoubtedly strong. During the war
the air equipment of this country
continental power. Since the war we
have marked time In the hope that a
disarmament agreement In Europe
would be reached and that the men
ace of the air would be dissipated by
some form Of collective control. That
hope has been disappointed.
And meanwhile the air forces of the
continental powers have swollen be-
superior or even equal to any other
power in the air, great Britain now
ranks sixth. She Is outstripped on
the continent by France and Italy
and is probably only on parity with
Germany. The latter power, more
over. is far ahead of Britain in the
development of civil aviation, and not
the least Of the obstacles to the solu-
ton of the air problem is the fact
that civil aviation is convertible to
military uses.
The government justifles the de-
parture 1t has made on two grounds
the safety of the state and the pres
sure it will enable Britain to bring on
the continental powers to call halt
in the air. The flve-year building
program is provisional. II its an
nouncement has the effect of slowing
down the competition on the CONT
nent and Of giving an impulse to
collective agreement, 1t will be stopped.
If it has not that effect, the program
will be completed.
The chief criticisms leveled at the
government from the labor side are
that the threat, so far from checking
the competition in the air, will stimu-
late it, and that the decision is
largely due to the pressure brought
to bear on the government by the
French government to implement the
undertakings under the Locarno
treaty.
That France is still gravely appre-
hensive of attack from the air by
Germany is undoubtedly true, though
the grounds for that apprehension
are held here to have diminished
with the recent course of events in
Central Europe. Those events have
left Germany more isolated and
friendiess than at any time since the
war and the Austrian tragedy has
not only profoundly discredited Ger
many, but has brought Italy out
openly and deiantly as the protector
of Austrian independence against
the aggressive aims of her great
neighbor.
In these circumstances. it is argued
that. while politically the European
chaos is aggravated, the danger Of
offensive action from Germany is
lessened, and that therefore the ac-
ton Of the government should have
been delayed.
Mr.. Baldwin's own view is that
there is no solution of the air peril
short of a collective agreement to
outlaw aerial warfare, to treat it as
crime against the human race, the
threat of which from any quarter
would be dealt with at once by the
common action Of all the aerial pow
ers. He would denationalize the air
arm, in short, and convert it into a
system Of European police. With
that view most sensible opinion IS
beginning to agree, but whether the
new program of the British govern
ment is the most judiciouS way of
promoting that solution is certainly
open 80 doubt.
(Copyrisht, le34.l