Arms' Week

In two weeks the General Commission of the Disarmament Conference is scheduled to totter into its grave at Geneva. Last week, on the eve of the obsequies, the following moves for and against armaments made news:

In Paris ever-hopeful "Uncle Arthur Henderson, president of the Conference, went round to see Foreign Minister Louis Barthou. Optimistically he pulled from his pocket a new project to outlaw bombing from the air. But there were exceptions: 1) For police purposes, bombing from the air in outlying frontier regions like northwest India and Morocco will be allowed. 2) It will be fair to drop bombs on submarines.

France has a large and expensive fleet of submarines and squadrons of bombers that can reach Berlin or Rome in less than four hours. Minister Barthou was not impressed.

From a plane at Croydon stepped blond, monocled General Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi Commissioner for Disarmament Questions, to talk with Foreign Secretary Sir John Simon. General von Ribbentrop served as a lieutenant of Hussars during the War, speaks English and French perfectly, has spent four years in the U. S. and Canada and is married to the daughter of the German Champagne Maker Henkell. General von Ribbentrop had a three-power air limitation scheme to lay before the British Government. Nothing came of it.

Britain was not only preparing vastly to increase her air force, but just to mak it sporting she lately sold 80 Armstrong Siddeley airplane engines to Germany. Rumors spread quickly that General von Ribbentrop was also in London to try t arrange purchase of 150 more British engines for commercial purposes, of course, since Britain has a special law preventing the sale of war supplies to any foreign power except under special government license Very curt was the British Government last week to the French Embassy's suggestion that such powerful air plane engines as the Armstrong Siddeleys might easily be used in bombers.

Worried liberals in the House of Commons tried to find out something about British plane sales to Germany. Up rose Robert Bernays, Member for Bristol:

"I would like to know whether, since the Disarmament Conference met in 1932, any licenses for the export of arms to Denmark and Holland have been issued, and if so, what kinds of arms and in what quantities."

"A statement," said flustered President Walter Runciman of the Board of Trade, "will be issued in due time."

"Let me put it this way," continued Mr. Bernays, "what proportion of these shipments has gone from Denmark and Holland into Germany?"

"But " said Mr. Runciman, "that : another question. We must have notice of that."

Next day Mrs. Ronald Copeland from Stoke-on-Trent tried again, this time with Sir John Simon:

"Has the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs any further information regarding an order for 2,500 airplanes recently placed in the United States by Germany?

"No," said Sir John, "no information at all."

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