STAKING ALL

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20141, 10 January 1940, Page 8

STAKING ALL

BLOOD-TREASURE WORLD SECURITY RIGHTS OF ALL STATES CHECK TO AGGRESSION SACRIFICE IF NEEDED CALL BY CHAMBERLAIN (Klee. Ted. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Ollicial Wireless.) j Reed. 1.30 p.m. RUGBY. Jan. 9. j In his speech in the City to-day inaugurating a great nation-wide campaign in which members of the War Cabinet are addressing people and directly will renew the assentation of the objects for which the Allies have taken, up arms and steel, the resolution of tlie public for the sacrifices which lie ahead, the Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, referred to his own dedication to the victory. After a brief allusion to his own efforts to avert war —brief but eloquent, to the sympathetic audience, of so much of the diplomatic history of | the past three years—Mr. Chamberlain declared in ringing tones: "Since j that day when war was declared my sole thoughts and all my actions have been directed to one purpose only, namely to do all I could, in the closest conjunction with our dauntless French Allies, to bring this war to a successful conclusion. “To that end I have subordinated everything else —all thought of rest or relaxation —all partial affections, to use words of the daily prayer in the House of Commons —all personal feelings and considerations whatsoever. From that purpose, so long as I hold my present office and until the war comes to an end, I will not be dcj fleeted, nor will I shrink my inevitj able responsibilities in what I feel to Ibe the right, no matter how difficult jor even disagreeable they may be.’’ Greeted With Cheers ! The distinguished gathering at the ! Mansion House greeted these words j with cheers which bespoke their own | readiness to shoulder the burdens of which the Prime Minister spoke frankly in the later passages of his speech. j Mr. Chamberlain then proceeded to i review the war situation. In the j part of his speech directed to events j abroad, in which he denounced the unprincipled attack, on Finland, Mr. Chamberlain summed up his view of the organisation forces in the following words: “When I look beyond the boundaries of this country, I cannot fail to observe how easily and rapidly these evil things of which I have spoken before spread unless they are checked. “Germany used brute force upon unhappy Poland and to-day we can see how she is treating the Poles and the Czechs, exploiting their resources, carrying off their food, starving and shooting their people, tearing them and uprooting them from their homes in order to make way for Germans, who, in their turn, have been forced lo leave the lands where they and their families had been settled for generations.” Extending Co-operation But given an Allied victory, he saw hopeful possibilities in the outcome of the Anglo-French co-operation, which already had been the subject of observations by the French. Premier, M. Daladier. “It might even develop into something even wider and deeper because there is nothing which would do more to. facilitate the task of peaceful reconstruction which has got to be undertaken at some time,” Said Mr. Chamberlain. “There is nothing which would contribute more towards the permanence of its results than an extension of the Anglo-French collaboration in finance and economics to other nations in Europe and, indeed, perhaps to the j whole world.” Mr. Chamberlain dealt in great detail with the sacrifices which would fall upon all classes as the war effort increased in intensity. No people were more patriotic than the British, or more ready to sacrifice themselves for their principles, he said. Malicious Invention After denying in the strongest terms what he described as a vindictive and malicious invention, namely the suggestion that the Allies sought the annihilation of the German people, Mr. Chamberlain continued: “On the other hand, the German people must realise that the responsibility for the prolongation of this war and of the suffering it may bring in the coming years is theirs as well as that of the tyrants who stand over them. ! “They must realise that the desire of the Allies for an essentially humane, just, Christian settlement cannot be satisfied by assurances which experience has proved to be worthless. The methods that are pursued by the Government of Herr Hitler arc a standing threat to the independence of every small State in Europe, “They are a constant menace to the moral standards on which the whole of Western civilisation is founded. “Nowhere have they aroused greater detestation than throughout the continents of North and South America. In his recent message to the Pope President Roosevelt declared that only by friendly association of seekers of light and seekers of peace everywhere could the forces of evil be overcome. I profoundly agree with Ihat. 4 would add that, if the forces of right are to prevail, we must not hesitate to risk our blood or our treasure for so great an end.”