§ 2. Captain CUNNINGHAM - REIDasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether, in view of the fact that various States, members of the League of Nations, have during the past eight years increased their expenditure upon armaments by amounts up to 100 per cent., he is satisfied that members of the League are in fact interchanging full and frank information as to the scale of their armaments, their military, naval and air programmes, etc., as they undertook to do under Article 8 of the Covenant of the League?
§ Sir J. SIMONAs my hon. and gallant Friend is no doubt aware, the carrying out of the intentions of the last paragraph of Article 8 of the Covenant was provided for by a resolution of the Council of the League of Nations on the 7th July, 1923, whereby it was decided to publish annually an Armaments Year Book. The 1760 information contained therein is derived both from communications made by Governments to the Secretariat of the League in connexion with the Disarmament Conference, and from the official publications of the various countries. The issue for this year has not yet been received, but I have no reason to suppose that the necessary information has not been forthcoming.