TRUTH WANTED

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 59, Issue 280, 8 September 1939, Page 6

TRUTH WANTED

EVEN IF DISTASTEFUL. WILL NOT BE DISHEARTENINC. % EARLIER NEWS IN FUTURE. (United Press Association—Copyright.) (Received This Day, 1.45 p.m.) 'LONDON, September 7 r In the House of Commons, 'Mr A. Greenwood (Acting-Leader of the Opposition) emphasised the necessity of telling the public as much about the situation as possible, and said that had Mr Chamberlain’s statement on the Kiel attack been made on the same day as the raid, it would have heartened the people. If the people were told of a temporary reverse they would not be disheartened. The people should know that nothing was being withheld, and they could be trusted with the truth, no matter how distasteful it might be. Mr Chamberlain replied that the Government was putting into operation a complicated machine which was apt to bo a little creaking at the beginning. He fully appreciated Mr Greenwood’s point, which the War Cabinet had actually discussed that morning. It did not want, however, to give the public information which might be inaccurate. It was not possible always to bo certain of all the facts immediately they had word, but in the light of experience it hoped to do better in this respect in future. Discussing the statement in the House of Lords, by Lord Stanhope, similar to Mr Chamberlain’s, Mr Snell said it was at present possible to get more information from America than in England, which should not be allowed to continue.