WORLD HAS RATTLED

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 236, 5 October 1937, Page 7

WORLD HAS RATTLED

BACK TO BARBARISM.

BREAKMCK SPEED.

I Presidential Address At

Labour Congress.

BRITISH POLICY ATTACKED

United Press Association.—Copyright.

(Received 9.30 a.m.) LONDON, October 4.

"The world for the past six years has rattled back to barbarism at break-neek speed. Peace everywhere is at the mercy of small incidents and the momentary moods of megalomaniacs," declared Dr. Hugh Dalton, in his presidential address at the Labour party conference at Bournemouth.

"Unless Britain speedily reasserts her influence abominable massacre of civilian populations and systematic destruction of whole cities may soon be repeated on an even greater scale in other countries. The British Government, by successive surrenders, has incurred a terrible responsibility and must be swept out of office.

"The whole spirit of direction in foreign policy must be changed. Tremendous dangers overshadow us and nothing will be gained by playing the ostrich.

"Peace to-day is not merely in peril; it is being brutally broken. In this grim situation Britain must be power-

fully armed, otherwise a Labour party coming into power to-morrow would be in danger of humiliations and intimidations.

"Any act of intervention is not to be contemplated. Arms, however, must be linked with a foreign policy which would breathe new life into the League of Nations and recreate respect for international law.

"They must be a contribution to the organised system of collective security and must be linked also with an offer to all nations to take stock of world's wealth and share its abundance," conditional on peaceful procedures for settling of international disputes and progressive reduction of armaments."

The conference unanimously carried a resolution prepared by the executive and tabled by Mr. C. R. Attlee vieying Japanese massacres with horror and detestation, welcoming the demand for an early meeting of Parliament to discuss the Far East situation, and calling on the Government to prohibit loans or the sale of war material to Japan. Britain is also urged to co-operate with the League and the United States to exercise economic pressure on Japan.

Mr. Attlee said it would bo a terrible precedent if the Japanese attempt to break the will of the Chinese by frightfulness was allowed to continue without protest. Labour hoped the Empire would boycott Japanese goods. Japan was in a vulnerable economic position, and he believed pressure would be successful.