"DETERIORATED."

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 181, 1 August 1936, Page 9

"DETERIORATED."

EaiOfccan Situation Surveyed By Minister.

DANGER OF BLOCS. K.itish Official Wireless. (Received 2 p.m.)' \ RUGBY, July 31. The House' of Commons debated foreign affairs on a motion for the adjournment for the summer recess. The Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Viscount Cranborne, replying to the discussion, said that recognition of the Italian annexation of Abyssinia was primarily a matter for the League of Nations itself, but so far as His Majesty's Government was concerned he could tell the House it had no present intention of recognising the annexation of Abyssinia.

Referring to a member who declared that war was inevitable, Viscount Cranborne saicl: "I do not think war is inevitable, and I hope there are many members who do not think it inevitable. What is true is that the general situation during recent months has perceptibly deteriorated. There have been signs that the nations are drawing apart, and there is a danger of blocs forming which might become suspicious of each other and arm against each other. That would be a situation fraught with the utmost danger."

It would be too much to claim that the recent conversations had averted that danger, but they had checked or helped to check the tendency in that direction. An invitation had* been sent to Italy and Germany to take part in further conversations. If that invitation were accepted, as they all hoped it would be, a real step forward would have been taken.