PATH OF BRITAIN

Evening Star, Issue 22880, 11 February 1938, Page 6

PATH OF BRITAIN

FASCIST CHALLENGE A LLOYD GEORGE SPEECH SURRENDER OR FIGHT Mr Lloyd George, speaking at Caxtou Hall, London, on December 2, said the League of Nations “ lias been stricken with palsy, its right side paralysed, its right arm withered, its voice feeble, indistinct, gibbering. It lies huddled in its great Palace of Peace at Geneva, no longer consulted, no longer even .alluded to ’’ (reports tne ‘ Manchester Guardian ’). He was addressing a meeting of the London .and Home Counties Area Councils of the Council of Action, and the audience included M.P.s of all parties. Four large-scale maps of India, China, Europe, and the world were placed on easels, and with the aid of a pointer Mr Lloyd George illustrated details in his speech.

Dealing with the “ very grave international situation,” he said that it had steadily deteriorated during the last few years. “ Quite frankly, it has deteriorated seriously since the present Government came_ into office. I have never known a situation so serious—certainly not since the Great War came to an end. . , “ The serious deterioration which has taken place during the last few years,” he went on, “is attributable very largely to the sinister and powerful and resolute way in which foreign affairs have been handled by mighty militarist States which are open and avowed enemies of freedom and democratic government; and, on the other hand, to the feeble, hesitant, and pusillanimous way in which they have been mishandled by States which still adhere to the .principle of a free democracy. WITHOUT THE LEAGUE. “ There are talks now about an effort to be made for general appeasement. The League is not mentioned. It has not been brought in so as not to give offence. (Laughter.) And if anyone heard the radio last night giving a summary of what appeared in the Italian Press, you will find! it was said that the Italian Press was rejoicing at the snub administered to the League of Nations.” . Continuing, Mr Lloyd George said; “ Lord Halifax went to Germany to visit the stags of General Goering. I do not mind it—innocent, amusing, but rather ridiculous—so long as the intentions were honest. But why make all that)fuss? If you want to make peace with Germany—and I would make peace with Germany and l any other country on honourable terms—why not say so openly ? It is not a thing to be ashamed of. We are now to make a great effort for world appeasement without the League. _ I am not against making peace , with Germany—l have been pleading for it for years’—so long as it is a peace with honour. “ They ought to have made it on disarmament when Bruening offered to settle the whole question of disarmament on the .basis of an army of 200,000 for Germany, provided other nations came down to tneir forces.” He (Mr Lloyd George) would have closed with Hitler when he offered to settle on_ a basis of 300,000 provided others disarmed at the same rate. He had urged the House of Commons fo consider the question of giving Germany a mandate over some of the colonies that were taken away. He suggested that there were certain countries which had great colonial possessions—France, Britain, Portugal, Holland, and Belgium—and that they really could not leave a great country like Germany without having a trusteeship over some of those tropical countries. THE COST OF DELAY. “I was for it then,” added Mr Lloyd George. “ I am for it now. But only as a basis for general reconciliation upon all points and upon terms which are honourable to all parties. _ • “ The autocratic Powers are infinitely more powerful than they were then. The democratic Powers are very much weaker than they were then. We have lost by the delay more than anyone can compute. History will tell the tale. It is no use misunderstanding the challenge which has developed in the last two or three years—an absolutely new alignment of three of the greatest military Powers on earth, aggressive Powers, Powers with great ambitions, great designs which involve depredation upon their neighbours, getting together, vowed to stand by each other, avowed enemies of liberty. ’ “ It is a new and formidable factor. If you are going to make peace with them you must consider carefully what your terms are going to be. Are you going to follow the path of surrender

or are you going to stand up for free-1 dom in the world? “ Do you notice how General Franco has now joined that pact? It gives it a meaning. Franco has recognised what Japan is doing; Japan has recognised what Franco is doing. He is already in alliance with the other two dictators. If he wins—and Germany and Italy are doing their best to give him victory and we are doing our best to make it impossible for others to 1 fight for freedom in Spain—if he wins you will have four great dictatorial Powers—German#, Italy, Japan, and Spain. Another dictator threw in his lot with them yesterday—the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia. Dictatorship is winning. Democracy is resisting, and the leaders of democracy are retreating and retreating and retreating instead of standing up.” ENEMIES ON. THE MARCH, Mr Lloyd George said it was no use treating these conversations with Ger-' many and these secret letters to Italy as if thpy were merely a question pt what was going to happen to Czechoslo- : vakia or what particular African jungle they transferred to Germany. It had gone far beyond that. Liberty, democ- ; racy, and international rights through- j out the world were at stake. Their, enemies were on the march and growing in strength, audacity, and reckless power. That was the dominant issue-in. world forces to-day, and if they were going to start a process of appeasement they must do it on a basis of the full, recognition of the fact and of consider- ■ ing the best way to put it right,. Referring to the French Ministers 1 ! visit to London, Mr Lloyd George asked; “What is the aim of these talks? Peace? What is the price?. What is the answer? There is not one of them knows; there is not one of them’ has thought it out. Let the people think it out for them before they finally sign something that will give away the, international right and freedom of the' world.” ! Mr Neville Chamberlain when he began this policy had said that its object was to remove fears and suspicions. But whose fears and suspicions? What fears and suspicions?, Ital,y and Germany and Japan could l not imagine that we were going to have a war of aggression against them, thatl we were going' to land arms there.. France surely had no intention of that" sort. What were the fears? What didl they suspect? Abyssinia was not going to invade anybody. “In the international jungle it is just like the natural jungle in one respect. There are two kinds of animals fin both—there are those who prey on their fellow-creatures and there are those poor j creatures who are preyed upon.” Was part of the mission of peace to scatter “ the terror of preying creatures whose only fear i» that their prey will escape them ”? THE PART OF BRITAIN. “The whole fate of the world depends on what we are .going to do,” added Mr Lloyd George. “We have still some authority in the world and we are still a mighty Empire. We have still the greatest fleet in Europe.” In Berlin the demand was for colonies, but they did not intend to give anything for them. All they said was that these colonies belong to them as a right. He was all for concessions on our part, but there must be concessions in the interests of peace on both sides. The peace must be a just peace that would endure and would enable nations to lead their own lives and discharge their own duties without anxiety and apprehension that so me; monster would bear down on, them. - - .... ; .

Mr Lloyd George described the.trade routes, of Britain-do the East. These ways, he said, would be closed in the event of a great war. “ We are putting ourselves in a position which is a dangerous one, and may be a disastrous one if you have to fight again as you did in 1914 for international right in Europe,” said Mr Lloyd George, “ but the factors which were then in our favour are now; against us as the result of our careless, cowardly policy during ,r the last , few, years. ‘ “ Supposing a Liberal Government or a Labour Government had allowed' that sort of thing the whole of the Conservatives’ Press woulc( be ringing with fury and anger about the betrayal of British interests. There would be riots in the House of Commons, and there would be such indignation, throughout the country that the Government could not stand. It is not merely betraying the democracy of the world, it* is betraying Britain and her interests, to put it at its lowest. Germany, Italy, and Japan know perfectly well that once they had accomplished their task in Spain and bottled up the Mediterranean Britain will be ra jeopardy and will not dare to fight. “I make an appeal to the people of the democratic countries of. the earth,’ concluded Mr Lloyd George, “ to stand up and protect freedom from the dagger of its assassins.”