PEACE OR WAR?

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 52, 30 August 1939, Page 11

PEACE OR WAR?

ISSUE STILL UNDECIDED

BRITAIN'S COMPLETE READINESS FOR EMERGENCY

(British Offlclal Wireless.)

(Received August 30, 10.30 a.m.)

RUGBY, August 29. The following is the text of Mr. Chamberlain's statement in the House of Commons :•= —

"Since the House met on Thursday there has been little change in the main features of the situation. The catastrophe, as I said then, is not yet on us, but I cannot say that the danger of it has yet in any way receded. In these circumstances it might perhaps have seemed that it was unnecessary to ask the House to meet again before the date which had been fixed, but in times like this we have felt it right that the House should be kept as far as possible continuously informed of all developments of the situation as they took place. That will continue to be the principle which will guide us in further meetings of the House.

"There is one thing I would like to say at this moment with regard to the Press. I think it is necessary once more to urge the Press to exercise the utmost restraint at a time when it is quite possible for a few thoughtless words in a paper which perhaps is not of particular importance to wreck the whole of the efforts which are being made by the Government to obtain a satisfactory solution. I have heard that an account purporting to be a verbatim description of the communication of the British Government to Herr Hitler was telegraphed to another country last night or this morning. Such account can only be an invention from beginning to end. It is, I think, very unfortunate that journalists in the exercise of their profession should take such responsibilities upon themselves, responsibilities which affect not only themselves, but the inhabitants of all countries in the world.

NO CHANGE OF BRITISH POLICY

"I hope it will not be necessary this afternoon to have any long debate. I will attempt to give the House an account of the events of the last few days, but of course there has been no change in the policy of the Government, and therefore there would not appear to be any necessity for any lengthy discussion. "On the day after the House adjourned we received information in the course of the morning that the German Chancellor had asked the British Ambassador in Berlin to call upon him at 1.30 p.m. that day, and in the course of the afternoon we were told by telephone that Sir Nevile Henderson had had an interview which lasted about an hour and a half with Herr Hitler, that he was sending us an account of the interview, and that Herr Hitler had suggested to him that it would be a good thing if he were to fly over to this country next morning in order to give us a verbal and more extended account of the conversation. We received the record of the interview from the Ambassador that evening, but it was not completely deciphered "On Satnrday, Sir Nevile Henderson arrived by plane from Berlin shortly before lunch, and we understood from him that in Berlin it was not considered to be necessary that he should go back the same day, as the German Government was very anxious that we should give careful study to the communication he had to make to us. until after midnight, and I did not myself see the whole of it until next mowiing. _«_*-•

"Accordingly, we devoted the whole of Saturday and Sunday morning to very careful, exhaustive, and thorough consideration of the document which was brought us by Sir Nevile Henderson and of the reply that we proposed to send back, and our final answer was taken by Sir Nevile Henderson yesterday afternoon, when he flew back to Berlin and delivered it to the Chancellor last night. DESIRE FOR LASTING UNDERSTANDING. "I should be glad if I could disclose to the House the fullest information as to the contents of the communications exchanged with Herr Hitler, but members will understand that in a situation of such extreme delicacy and when issues so grave hang precariously in the balance it is not in the public interest to publish confidential communications or comment on them in detail at this stage. I am, however, able to indicate in quite general terms some of the main points with which they deal. "Herr Hitler was concerned to impress upon Britain his wish for an Anglo-German understanding of a complete and lasting character. Oh the other hand, he left Britain in no doubt of his views as to the urgency of settling the German-Polish question. Britain has also frequently expressed her desire to see the realisation of such an AngloGerman understanding, and as soon as circumstances permit she would naturally welcome an opportunity of discussing with Germany the several issues, a settlement of which would have to find a place in any permanent agreement, but everything turns upon the manner in which the immediate differences between Germany and Poland can be handled and the nature of the proposals which might be made for any settlement. "We have made it plain that our obligations to Poland, cast into formal shape by the agreement which was signed on August 25, will be carried out. "The House will remember that the Government has said more than once publicly that the German-Polish differences should be capable of solution by peaceful means. Meanwhile, the first prerequisite if there is to be any general useful discussion is that the tension created by frontier clashes and by reports of incidents on both sides of the border should be diminished. Britaih accordingly hopes that both Governments will use their best endeavours to prevent the recurrence of such incidents, the circulation of exaggerated . reports, and all other activities that result in dangerous inflammation of opinion. HOPE FOR WIDE AGREEMENT. } "Britain would hope that if an equitable settlement of the PolishGerman differences could be reached by free negotiation, this might in turn lead on to wider agreement which would accrue to the lasting benefit of Europe and the world at large. "At this moment the position is that we are waiting for Herr Hitler's reply to our communication. On the nature of that reply depends whether further time can be given for exploration of the situation and for the operation of the many forces which are Avorking for peace. A waiting period of that kind is often very trying, but nothing, I think, can be more remarkable than the calm which characterises the attitude of the whole of the British people. "It seems to me that there are two reasons and two explanations of that attitude. The first is that none of us have any doubt of where our duty lies. There is no difference of opinion among us. There is no weakening of our determination. The second explanation is our confidence that we are ready for any eventuality. BRITAIN'S DISPOSITIONS. "The House might like to hear one or two particulars of the preparations we have made. Obviously there are many things I cannot very well say here, because they would not be confined to those I see before me. My statement must therefore be in very general terms. Some of the measures we have had to take, such as those in connection with requisitioning, necessarily must cause some degree of inconvenience to the public. lam confident that the people of the country generally recognise that the nation's needs must now be paramount and that they will submit willingly and even cheerfully to any inconvenience and hardship that may be involved. At any rate, we have not had to begin here by issuing rationing cards. "To deal first with the active defence of the country, the air defence of Great Britain has been placed in a state of instant readiness, the ground anti-aircraft defences have been deployed and they are manned by Territorial anti-aircraft units. Regular squadrons of the Royal Air Force have been brought up to war strength by the addition of necessary reservists, including a portion of the volunteer reserve. The fighter and general reconnaissance squadrons of the Auxiliary Air Force have been called up and are standing ready, and the balloon barrage is in position. The observer corps are at their posts, and, indeed, the whole warning system is ready night and day to be brought into instant operation. The coast defences are ready and manned by coast defence units of the Territorial Army. Arrangements have also been made for the protection by the national defence companies and by the militia and the T.I.V. units of the Territorial Army of a very large number of important points whose safety is essential for a national war effort. NAVAL PREPAREDNESS. *'As to the Navy, the House will remember that in July last it was announced that the Reserve Fleet would be called up at the beginning of August in order to take part in combined Fleet mid air exercises. For that purpose a number of reservists were called up under the provisions of the Reserves and Auxiliary Forces Act. (As a result, the Navy was in an advanced state of preparedness when the present crisis arose, and the whole of our fighting fleet is now ready at a moment's notice to take up the dispositions necessary in war. "A number of other measures have been taken during the past week to increase the state of our naval preparedness. I need not go into all the details, but naval officers in charge of the various commercial ports have been appointed and have taken up their duties and the naval ports and bases have been put into an. advanced state of preparedness. "As honourable members will be aware, the Admiralty has also assumed control of merchant shipping, acting under the powers conferred by the Emergency Powers Act, and written instructions have been already issued to merchant shipping on various routes. "A considerable number of movements have been carried out of units of the armed land forces, both at home and overseas. These movements are part of prearranged plans to provide that, in order to ensure a greater state of readiness, a number of units should if possible move to their war stations before the outbreak of war." CIVIL DEFENCE MEASURES. "The Civil Defence Regional Organisation has been placed on a war footing, and the regional commissioners and their staffs are at their war stations. The main responsibility for the organisation of the civil defence measures generally rests with the local authorities. Instructions have been sent to the local authorities to complete all preparatory steps so that action can be taken at the shortest notice. "Plans for the evacuation of schoolchildren, mothers with young children, expectant mothers, and blind persons from certain congested areas—plans which have evolved an immense amount of detailed thinking—are ready. Those who have to carry out these plans have been recalled for duty. School teachers in the evacuation areas have been kept in easy reach of school assembly points since < Saturday, and a -rehearsal of the arrangements for the evacuating of ; school children was carried out yesterday. Nearly a week ago the local authorities were warned to make arrangements for the extinc- : tion of public lighting and to prepare necessary aids to move- 1 ment when lighting has been extinguished. Arrangements have heen completed for the calling up at very short notice of the personnel of 1 the air raid precautions service, and duty officers are available ] throughout the twenty-four hours at key posts. j "The last: item I would mention is that necessary preliminary steps have been taken to prepare hospitals for the reception of } casualties. * "I have given a number of instances of steps which have been c taken. Over and above the measures which have already been put into i operation, a complete and continuous survey is being carried out over the whole range of our defence preparations, and preparatory £ measures are being taken in order to ensure that further precaution- c ary measures, if and when they should be found necessary, can be s given effect to as rapidly as possible. Tlie instances I have given to i the House are merely illustrations of the general state of readiness, of which the House and the country are aware. I think they justify and partly account for the general absence of fear or, indeed, of any s violent emotion. The British people are said sometimes to be slow * to make up their minds, but having made them up they do not t readily let go. • 1 "The issue of peace or war is still undecided, and we still will hope 7 and still will work for peace, but we will abate no jot of our resolution o to hold fast to the line which we have laid down for ourselves." |

Such ot the cable news on this page as is so headed has appeared in "The Times" and is cabled to Australia and New Zealand by special permission. It should be understood that the opinions are not those of "The Times" unless expressly stated to be so.

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