Evening star., 1934-07-08
BRITISH READY TO REARM
AS PACIFISM DWINDLES
Attitude of Peace at Any Price Sup
planted by Thrill and Tradition
of Militarism.

sents the old order. For instance, I
am not aware that King George has
ever attended a session Of the League
of Geneva, but only recently his maj,
esty witnessed the Empire day display
staged by the Royal Air Force ano
according to the evening papers, con-
versed at some length with one of the
pilots about the effect of bombs and
of shells upon the deck armor Of
warshipS.
Effect Of Kings Questions.
1t would, of course, be simply child
ish to attribute any sentiments of
bloodthirstineSs TO King George, who
is doubtless one Of the most humane
Of men. But-can any one doubt the
favorable effect Of this random action
of his upon the campaign now being
waged for larger air force?
This tendency to slip back into pre-
war habits of thought-and, worse
still, into pre-war prejudices and
judgments-is a most insidious one.
ANY subeditor in Fleet street knows
that, whereas IAN example of true
British pluck" is always a good line,
IAN example of the true information
alist spirit" will jar upon the ears of
80 per cent of his readers.
Until couple of years ago it was
still possible for large numbers of
people in England merely to laugh at
what they felt to be the vocabulary
and the pretensions of a passing Or
der. But the wave of economic ma
tionaliSm on which the present So
called national government (Which
really is a conservative government)
f1oated to power was followed by other
waves Of sentimental and emotional
nationalism. The war generation still
laughS-or sometimes swears-at the
recreation of the forms and shibbo-
leths of the old imperialism. And as
recently as last year it was possible
for the members of the oxford Union
TO find majority for the proposition
that this house will under no cir
cumstances fight for its King and
country"
War Babies Grow Up.
But the war babies are growing upl
Scarcely any one under 35 can have
any recollection of the last war as
anything more than an episode Of his
childhood. Today, with newspapers
and politicians continually harping on
the weakness of the British Navy and
Air Force, is it any wonder that Sir
Norman Angel feels moved to suggest
that our national apparatus by which
\ We carry on daily life is in danger
from proposals promoted not by dis
ciplined and intelligent Interpretation
of experience but by panic impulse
as a crowd in theater on fire or pas
sengers in a sinking ship may destroy
themselves by rushes for the door or
boats, when a little moral discipline,
the correction Of the first thought by
the second, would have saved them?"
"Other nations" Sir Norman ex-
plains, "are building airplanes. The
natural impulse, like the natural i'm
pulse of the theater crowd, running to
the doors because others run, is for us
to build still more planes. If only, it.
is argued. we have more planes than
they we shall be safe"
Which brings one the second posi-
| tive factor which at the moment is
sapping the paciflst spirit in England
During the So-called Arms Limitation
Conference at Geneva spokeSmen for
dozens Of nations have argued that
their own particular countries has dis
armed to the limit; that it is up to
somebody else to take the next step.
In the case Of England this is some
thing more than hypocrisy. The British
Army, like the American, is a COM
| paratively small organization of pro-
| fessional soldiers. The British Navy
is limited by the treaties of Washing
ton and London. The air force stands
fifth or sixth In the world in strength.
Others Rearming.
/ 1t is the evident determination of
| Germany to rearm, and Of Japan to
| continue to seek her place in the sun
that have been made the more or less
direct bases for the demands for an
expansion of the British air and sea
forces. Beyond this many English
men, surveying the world of today.
remain relatively weakly armed is
simply to invite aggression.
Finally, there is the undoubted fact
that preparations for war, even if war
never comes, are source of profit to
certain people. A single Illustration
will suffice At this time last year
| Rolls Royce shares were quoted at
about 48 shillings each. Today they
are los shillihgs. The Rolls Royce
Co. makes excellent airplane engines.
Despite all the considerations have
| discussed in this article, there GER
| tatnly exists in Britain today scarcely
any desire for war. Even the people
who are most ardent in the rearma-
ment campaign declare, and doubtless
sincerely, that they desire military
strength for defensive purposes only.
They would probably throw the whole
weight of their influence against any
government which seemed to be lead
ing Britain into a war of aggression.
But they are sponsoring - and the
British people as a whole seem rather
more willing than not to accept-a
program which will put that country
back into the old armaments race
which has never yet had but one
ending.