THE LIBERAL PARTIES
Slut,—In your last issue Mr. Leonard Stein asserts that " the Liberal Nationals . . . supported rearmament when the Independent Liberals denounced that policy." It is material to recall that the present Prime Minister held a very different opinion. On April 3rd, 1939, following a speech by Sir Archibald Sinclair, Mr. Churchill said : " I must say I think this is a fine hour in the life of the Liberal Party, because, from the moment that they realised that rearma- ment was necessary, they have seemed to seek to bring forward together both the material and moral strength of this country, and I believe that at the moment they represent what is in the heart and soul of the British nation."
The moment to which he referred was in 1935, when the extent of German rearmament first became apparent. Thereafter the Liberal Opposition seized every opportunity open to it to call the attention of Parliament and the country to three vital necessities:
(i) A rapid increase in the production of military aircraft.
(2) Real and effective air-raid precautions, including particularly deep shelters.
(3) The constitution of a Ministry of Supply.
The last step was urged by the Liberal Party in the House of Commons on six separate occasions between 1.936 and 1939. Whet, on November 17th, 1938, the Liberal Opposition for the second time moved an amendment to the address calling for a Ministry of Supply. Mr. Churchill made his famous appeal to his Conservative colleagues when stating: " If only fifty members of the Conservative Party went into the Lobby tonight to vote for this amendment, it would not affect the life of the Government, but it would make them act." Unfortu- nately, Mr. Winston Churchill failed to find fifty members of the Conservative Party with sufficient foresight and courage to follow him. and not one single National Liberal went into the Lobby in support of the Liberal amendment. The Ministry of Supply did not, in fact, come into existence until August, 1939.
The British Empire and our Allies do not lack men, but we have not even yet overtaken the lead the Germans established in material
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