The debate on the Army Estimates in the Commons on
Friday, March 3rd, was chiefly noteworthy for a speech by Mr. Balfour, in which he showed most impressively that the increase in Army and Navy expenditure is not, as is often alleged, due to our having created a new Empire in Africa, North, East, and West, but is due rather to the need for keeping pace with the armaments of the other Great Powers. We cannot safely fall behind in naval preparations when the rest of the world is arming itself, and we must have an effective Army to act as the police and Imperial Guard of the Empire, for that is the raison d'être of our Army. We have great oversea possessions, and these we must guard by land and sea. But if the guarding is to be effective, it must be proportionate to the power of attack possessed by other Powers. If to-morrow all the leaders on both sides swore never to add another acre to the Empire, we should still be unable to reduce either our Navy or our Army. The only thing which could really lessen our burden would be the reduction of foreign armaments; but what real prospect is there of that?
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