ARMAMENTS

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 62, 15 March 1938, Page 7

ARMAMENTS

BRITAIN'S PLANS POLICY STATEMENT PRIME MINISTER CHEERED

(British Official Wireless.—Kec. 12 noon.) RUGBY, March 14. The House of Commons was crowded in every part when the Prime Minister, Mr. Chamberlain, who, on entering, was greeted with a roar of sympathetic cheers, rose to make his statement on Austria. The statement was heard for the most part in attentive silence, but cheers greeted the passage in which Mr. Chamberlain rebutted the German Government's contention *:hat the British Government was not within its rights in interesting itself in the independence of Austria.

Mr. Chamberlain began his statement by a recapitulation of the events of the last few days. He made the point that the result of the Berchtesgaden meeting had been stated by Herr Hitler to be an extension of the framework of the agreement of July, 1936, which provided for the recognition of Austrian independence by Germany. "Whatever, therefore, were the results of the Berchtesgaden meeting, it is clear that the agreement reached was still on the basis of the independence of Austria," he said. "The Foreign Secretary, Lord Halifax, saw Herr von Ribbentrop, the German Foreign Minister, on March 10, and addressed to him a grave warning on the Austrian situation and upon what appeared to be the policy of the German Government regarding it. Coercion Backed by Force. "The Ambassador in Berlin, Mr. Nevile Henderson, registered a protest in strong terms with the German Government against such use of coercion backed by force against an independent State in order to create a situation incompatible with its national independence. "I made earnest representations in the same sense to Herr yon Ribbentrop. with whom Lord Halifax also had two further interviews," continued the Premier. Mr. Chamberlain came then to the German reply, in which -TTL° n D°" euratn ' head °f the secret Cabinet Council, stated: The British Government is not within its rights in claiming the role of protector of the independence of Austria. In the course of diplomatic conversations regarding the Austrian question the German Government never left the "British Government in doubt that the forrn of relations between the Reich and Austria can only be regarded as an internal affair of the German people which is of no concern to a third Power. For this reason the German Government must reject as inadmissible thft protest lodged by Britain, even though it is only conditional."

The Note further denied that forcible pressure had been brought to bear on Dr. Schuschnigg, and declared that the account or the ultimatums on which the British protest was conditionally based was pure imagination."

Mr. Chamberlain went on to say that Britain and Austria were both members of the League of Nations and both were signatories, as was also Germany, of treaties which provided that the independence of Austria was inalienable. He emphasised that the Government had been in closest touch with the French Government throughout these events. He gave a complete refutation of rumours that the British Government had given consent jf not encouragement, to the idea of the absorption of Austria by

Cheers were renewed when Mr. Chamberlain sternly condemned the methods adopted throughout Friday's events. They had. he said, administered a profound shock to all who wer» interested ,n the preservation of European peace. It followed that what had passed could not fail to have prejudiced the hope of the British Government of removing international misunderstanding between nations and promoting international

Review of Armament Programme. The grave consequences of the events on which Mr. Chamberlain had spoken were underlined in his concluding references Th. ,Z ? T V he 9 OVernment ' S ornament programme. I hey must consider, he sa.d, the new situation with cool judgment, but he was confident they would be supported in asking that nobody whatever his preconceived opinion might be. should regard himself as excluded from any extension of national effort if it was called for We have always made it clear that defence programmes were flexible and would have to be reviewed in the light of developments in the international situation." he said. "It would be idle to deny that recent events might constitute a change or the kind we had in mind. Accordingly, we have decided to make a fresh review, and in due course we shall announce what further steps we think it necessary to take." The Prime Minister was cheered from all parts of the House when he sat down. Mr. Winston Churchill said the mastery of Vienna gave Germany military and economic control of South-Eastern Europe. She could cut off exports from Czechoslovakia, deny her access to her natural markets and sources of raw materials and strangle her economic life. "The three Little Entente Powers singly," he said. are second-rankers, but together they constitute a great power. Rumania has oil and Yugoslavia has minerals and raw materials and both have large armies, while the Czechoslovakian Army is thrice as large as Britain's. We cannot afford to alienate possible allies. If England and France marshalled a number of States in a grand alliance she may even yet arrest war."