PERIL IMMINENT

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 August 1939, Page 7

PERIL IMMINENT

MR. CHAMBERLAIN’S SPEECH “BOMBSHELL” FROM MOSCOW [by CABLE —PBESB ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] LONDON, August 24. The. House of Commons met to-day for the special session. In his speech Mr. Chamberlain said: — “The Country is faced with the imminent peril of war. It has been necessary to summon Parliament and to take, such new drastic steps as the gravity of the situation requires. “There; have been German complaints as to Polish atrocities. These have strongly resembled the German charges last year against the Czechs. The Polish statesmen have shown great calm and self-restraint. “Germany is now in a condition of complete readiness for war. “At the beginning of this week the Germans began to move troops to the Polish frontier. It became apparent that a crisis of the first magnitude was approaching, to meet which it has become necessary to seek emergency powers from Parliament. “The British and French military Missions which went to Moscow were received there in the friendliest manner. Their discussions were progressing on a basis of mutual trust, when a bombshell —the conclusion of a pact of non-aggression between Russia and Germany—was flung down. This pact came to us as the most unpleasant surprise. There had been rumours of an impending change in German-Rus-sian relations, but no inkling of that was conveyed hy the Soviet.

“There has been effected an increase in the bank .rate. This is a normal protective measure. To protest our resources in this period of uncertainty. The public can best cooperate by decreasing their demands for foreign exchange, and by not sending any capital out of the country. “In view of Berlin’s attitude, the Government has felt it to be its duty not to leave any possible loophole for a misunderstanding. Therefore our Ambassador, Sir N. Henderson, handed to Herr Hitler a message from me. on behalf of the Ministry, stating again our position.

“War between these two countries would be one of the greatest calamities that could occur.” In Berlin, Mr. Chamberlain continued, Monday night’s announcement was hailed with extraordinary cynicism as a great diplomatic victory, which removed any danger of war, since Britain and France would no longer be likely to fulfil their obligations to Poland.” “We felt it,” declared the Prime Minister, “our first duty to remove any such dangerous impression, hence Tuesday’s Cabinet statement, that our obligations tb Poland remained unaffected. How, indeed, could Britain with honour have gone back upon an undertaking given before the negotiations with Russia opened, not in any way made dependent on the outcome of such negotiations, and so often and so plainly repeated? “These obligations rest upon the agreed statement made to the Commons, to which effect is being given in the treaties which are at present in an advanced stage of negotiation. These treaties, when concluded, will formally define, without in any way altering, adding to, or substractinfg from, the obligations of mutual assistance which already had been accepted. The Cabinet statement was followed by Sir N. Henderson’s visit to Herr Hitler. The object of the communication Sir N. Henderson delivered was to restate the British position, and to . make quite sure that there was no misunderstanding. His Majesty’s Government felt that this was all the more necessary, having regard to the reports it had received of military movements taking place in Germany, and the projected German-Soviet agreement.” NO NEED FOR FORCE. After his declaration, already cited, of the Government’s resolve, if necessary, to employ without delay all the forces at its command, Mr. Chamberlain went on to inform the Chancellor of Britain’s view, that there was nothing in the question between Poland and Germany which could not and should not be resolved without the use of force, if only confidence could be restored.

In this connection, Mr. Chamberlain recalled his oft-stated conviction that war between Britain and Germany —admitted on all sides to be the greatest calamity which could occur —was not desired, either by the British or the German peoples. The Prime Minister also recalled how Britain had expressed her willingness to assist in creating conditions in which negotiations between Germany and Poland on the questions outstanding between them could take place. He added that such negotiations could obviously deal also with complaints made on either side about the treatment of minorities. Coming to Herr Hitler’s reply, he stated that it included “what amounts to a restatement of the Nazi thesis, that, in Eastern Europe,. Germany should have a free hand. If we, or any other country having a less direct interest in this part of Europe, chooses to interfere, the blame for the ensuing conflict will be ours. This thesis entirely misapprehends the British position. We do not seek to- proclaim a special position for ourselves in Eastern Europe,” Mr. Chamberlain continued, “so we do not think of asking Germany to sacrifice her national interests. But we cannot agree that national interests can only be secured by the slie'dding of blood, or by the destruction of the independence of other States.”

TRIBUTE TO POLAND. Earlier, the Prime Minister, having described the worsening of the situation in the past few weeks, and the violent German Press campaign, in which it was declared that Danzig could not be the subject of any conference or compromise, but must join the Reich at once unconditionally, in which Danzig was linked with the Corridor, and in which allegations were made of the ill-treatment, oi Germans living in Poland, strongly resembling those made in respect to the Sudeten Germans last year, paid a, tribute to the attitude maintained by Poland. “It must, I think, be agreed that in face of this campaign, the declarations made by Polish statesmen have shown great calm and self-re-straint. The Polish leaders, while

they seem firm in their determination ic resist an attack upon their independence, have been unprovocative, ihey have always been ready, as 1 am sure they would be ready now, to discuss their differences with the German Government, if they could be sure that those discussions would be carried on without threats of force, and could have confidence that, if an agreement was reached, its terms would be respected afterwards, both in the letter and the spirit.” NAZI-SOVIET PACT. In the passages devoted to the “unpleasant surprise” of the SovietGerman pact, Mr Chamberlain referred to rumours of impending changes in the relations between the Nazi and Soviet Governments, which had been in circulation for some time, and affirmed that no inkling of any change had- been conveyed to either the British or the French Governments by the Soviet. “The House may remember that, on July 31, 1 remarked that we had engaged upon a step that was almost unprecedented m character, when we agreed to send our soldiers, sailors and airmen to Russia, to discuss military plans together, before we had . an assurance that we should be able to reach an agreement on political matters. Moved by M. Molotov’s observation that, if we could come to a successful conclusion of our military discussions, a political agreement should not present any insurmountable difficulty, we sent a mission. It arrived on August 7, and was received in friendly fashion, and discussions were actually in progress, .and’ were proceeding on a basis of mutual trust, when this bombshell was flung down. To say the least, it was highly disturbing to learn, while those conversations were proceeding on that basis, that the Soviet was secretly engaged with Germany in other conversations, ior .purposes which, on the face of it, were inconsistent with the objects ot the Soviet’s foreign policy, as we had understood it. I do not propose this afternoon to pass any final judgment upon the incident. That, I think, would be premature, until we have had an opportunity of consulting France, as to the meaning and consequences or this agreement, the text of which was onlv published this morning.” Towards the conclusion of Ins speech, Mr. Chamberlain, after an appreciative reference to King Leopold's peace appeal, solemnly expressed the hope that “reason and sanity may find a way to reassert themselves.” He turned to the close and cordial relations maintained with France, and referred to the encouragement Britain was deriving fixm the sympathetic understanding displayed by the- Governments in every part of the British Commonwealth. ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES In his final references to the fundamentals of the British foreign policy, Mr. Chamberlain cited as an authoritative manifesto the speech which Lord Halifax delivered at Chatham House on June 29. “We want,” Mr. Chamber--1 lain said, “to see an established inter-

national order, based upon mutual understanding and mutual confidence. We cannot build up such an order unless it conforms with certain principles, which are essential to confidence and trust. Those principles must include the observance of international undertakings and the renunciation of force in the settlement of differences. If, despite all our efforts to find a way to peace—and I have done my best —we find ourselves forced to embark upon a struggle which is bound to be fraught with suffering and misery for all mankind, we shall be fighting for the preservation of those principles, the destruction of which would involve the destruction of all possibility of peace and security in the world.”

In concluding Ins speech, Mr Chamberlain said: Peace or war does not rest with us. I hope that those on whom the responsibiltiy rests will think o£ the millions of human beings whose fate depends on their actions. For ourselves, we have a uniled country behind us in this critical hour. < SUPPORT FOR~GOVERNMENT. LONDON, August 24. Mr. Greenwood said it was hoped that all the clouds might yet be dispelled. The unit cf resistance to aggression was complete, and the issue was being faced with confidence and fortitude. He still hoped that there might be influences in Germany becoming powerful enough to respond to the appeal for reason, and to realise that, if there were legitimate grievances, (hey were not incapable of settlement. Britain would not march with an aggressor and law-breaker. Labour would never acquiesce to further aggression. The peril of wav had not come from us. We were not hostile to the German people, for whom war would be equally disastrous. Victor and vanquished alike would be crushed to ruins. Sir A. Sinclair said it was not a time for controversy or recrimination, when a thrust for world domination was threatening British homes and families, and depriving them of the light, of the blessing of peace. It was time for the closing of our ranks. Mr. Eden said that the situation was as grave and perilous as any in Britain’s history. The chief danger was Germany’s refusal to believe that Britain was in earnest. If the German people did not believe that Britain and France would support Poland, it would be the. gravest error in history. EMERGENCY DEFENCE BILL LONDON. August 24. Sir S. Hoare. in a statement, said: The Government does not propose to issue regulations in the course of a few days, unless the situation is very much worse. There will be no Press censorship or suppression of public opinion, until the country is involved in hostilities. The Emergency Defence Bill will not interfere with labour disputes. The powers the Government has sought will be ten times more extensive than those of 1914, because of air warfare. In the Commons, a resolution empowering the Government to pass all stages of the Emergency Powers Bill on the same day was carried by 457 votes to four. The Emergency Powers Bill has received the Royal Assent. Both Houses adjourned until August 31. Mr. Chamberlain requested Members to remain in readiness for a further call, at the shortest notice, which is most likely. PRIVY COUNCIL MEETING. LONDON. August 24. His Majesty the King arrived at lhe Palace. Without any ceremony, he held a Privy Council at 10 a.m.. and received reports on the situation. Mr. Chamberlain visited the P;‘.lace after the Privy Council, and gave the King a detailed report on developments.

A special meeting of Cabinet is to be held.