Evening star., 1938-07-10
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.
7 Tow long will the British Govern
n ment continue to accept the slaps
in the face skillfully administered
by Benito Mussolini? Is Britain
really 30 far behind in her preparedness"
that she Is compelled TO bow her head and
say thank you when her ships are sent to
the bottom by German-Italian airmen
and her citizens are killed?
These are questions which the State De-
partment is asking its representatives
abroad and their explanations are Of mo-
mentous importance to our diplomats. The
whole policy Of respect Of treaties and the
support Of the democratic idea Is predicated
on q parallelism with strong Britain.
The recent "Sandys" incident has thrown
= revealing light on the British situation;
and naval attaches. The Indignation Of
the British war department against the
indiscretions of Churchills son-in-law was
not due so much to the possible leakage Of
military secrets as to the fact that Mr..
Sandys might have made public the whole
story Of how far behind Great Britain
IS IN her rearmament program. The
Landon government Is feeding its own
people and the foreign countries with
good deal OF dope On paper the billions
being spent should represent strong mill
tary preparation. In fact, production Is
Tagging; recruiting is slow; new armament
is far behind that Of this country and Of
Germany and italy.
Appeal First in History.
Although nobody commented officially on
the last ciano-Lord Perth interview, Cham
berlain's move created painful impression
in the Washington ofdcial family For
the first time in the history of Britain's
Empire q premier had to appeal to the
head of another state e-Mussolini-to help
him stay in ofice. The British government,
instead Of warning Italy against the sink
ing Of ships flying the British hag-in
many cases manned exclusively by British
seamen-begged II Duce to order a slowing
down Of air bombardments under the PEN
atty Of losing friend in the British
cabinet"
AS the Roman in the days Of old held
himself free from indignity when he could
say. I am a Roman citizen so also the
British subject in whatever land he may
be. shall feel confident that the watchful
eye and the strong arm Of England will
protect him against injustice and wrong" F"
This was not said by Chamberlain, but by
his distinguished predecessor at 10 Down.
ing street-Lord Palmerston-in the middle
Of the last century Palmerston's state
catching gadget. He enunciated a doc
trine on which the whole fabric of modern
history has been built
The British Empires foundations were
based on the Palmerstonian doctrine. And
until the rise of the totalitarian states
Great Britain maintained this doctrine
forcefully and sometimes ruthlessly. Be.
cause British merchants suffered injustice
when the Chinese refused to accept their
poisonous drugs into Canton in the last CEN
tury the British fought the opium wars
and acquired Hong Kong. Because Lord
Rothschild suffered wrongs" at the hands
Of the Khedive of Egypt, who refused to pay
interest on an usurious loan. Britain occu-
pied that country for more than half a CEN
tury. Because the British residents in
Transvaal were denied the vote Britain
fought the Boer War and wiped out two
prosperous and worthy free republics.
Technical Point of View.
"The lion has become old and powerless; /;
his cubs won't help him any longer" So
say many military experts who look at this
remarkable lack of reaction" strictly from
the technical point of view.
Britain is playing a waiting game; a
shrewd game. until she is good and ready.
But look out when the lion begins to roar
again. He will throw Berlin and Rome into
an uproar" Thus speak the optimistic
diplomats, who cannot reconcile themselves
to the idea that two ''upstarts," Mussolini
and Hitler, could silence the ruler of the
seven seas. These diplomats maintain that
Chamberlain's policy will soon be vindi-
Gated.
For more than q decade Britain was
swamped by powerful wave OF pacifism.
The mere suggestion Of getting ready for
war would have swept any premier out Of
od1ce. Military preparedness was replaced
by conferences. Why talk about war, said
the pacifists, when democracy is on top?
When Mussolini and Hitler reimplement-
ed the theory that might is right" and pro-
ceeded to organize the most powerful war
machinery in the world, their efforts were
scof1ed at. Democracies, it was said in the
Anglo-Saxon countries, must lead the world
BY their shining example. They must re-
fuse to be stampeded into an armament
race by hotheads like Mussolni and Hitler
Britain fell far behind the two relationships
in both military and diplomatic prepara-
tions. One by one the countries in Central
and Southeastern Europe which for years
had looked to Paris and London for politi-
cal and economic assistance fell under the
hammer Of the NaN-Fascist might. They
had to buy territorial security by accepting
German or italian economic domination.
Billions for Rearmament.
Since 1896 Britain has abandoned the
peace-in-our-time policy. While oficially
still the champion of democracy she i
spending billions On rearmament. But the
process Is slow; her potential enemies are
at least three jumps ahead Of her. The
economic and financial obstacles which the
Anglo-Saxon mind considered tnsuperable
for the continuation Of this unprecedented
arms race were non-existent In the