“It seems to me only too clear that in any of the controversies where it became obvious that we were not prepared to use force we have never .succeeded,” said Viscount Cecil, speaking in the House of Lords. “The idea that you can appeal to the sweet reasonableness of a country that is an aggressor and say to that country, ‘This is what we beg you to do, but in no circumstances shall we try to enforce our view,’ is only to invite disaster. I regret the constant assertion that tho only tiling that this country cares about is to he kept out of war. That is constantly being asserted h.v Ministers and others. 1 think it is a most dangerous thing to say. In the first place, 1 think it is a direct encouragement to disorderly Powers, if I may put it so, to become more and more aggressive and to treat any remonstrances and the remonstrances of others with very scant respect. It is bound to have that effect, and also an even more important effect: that of increasing the danger of war. I am not a Jingo. Heaven knows. I loathe war with every fibre of my being. I believe that the noblest and the most fruitful effort for British statesmanship is to establish peace and to establish it on a permanent and firm foundation. But I am quite sure it will not he established on that firm foundation if we think we can get it without making any exertion and even without running any risk. You cannot get things that are really worth having by any procedure of that kind.”
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Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1937, Page 4
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274Untitled Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1937, Page 4
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