NEWS OF THE WEEK
IF Herr Hitler's postponed speech to the Reichstag is delivered next Tuesday, as at present intended, it will come just twenty-four hours before the defence debate, which will necessarily be more political than technical, in the House of Commons. There may be advantages or disadvantages in that. If Herr Hitler is conciliatory, in particular if he responds favourably t6 the various pro- posals embodied in the report of the London Conference of February, the sooner an appropriate reply is made to him the better. If on the other hand his tone is aggressive or aggressively defensive in regard to the resolution of the League of Nations Council on German rearmament; then an interval for reflection before either Ministers or private• members here make speeches on the subject might be desirable. The situation is eriticalnot as regards actual war but as regards the danger of a new armaments race. It is pretty certain that Mr. Baldwin will announce a large expansion of our air force, and there is little prospect that Germany will merely sit still while we build up to her level. Renewed discussions on armaments limitation have become more imperative than ever, and the proposed Air Pact offers a useful basis for them. France can hardly decline to discuss that if Germany remains willing to sign non-aggression pacts with Eastern European Powers which have also contracted mutual assistance arrangements with other members of the League of Nations.
