PARLEYS WITH RUSSIA

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4806, 5 July 1939, Page 6

PARLEYS WITH RUSSIA

NO NEED FOR IMPATIENCE. “I do not share the impatience expressed in some quarters at the slow progress in concluding what is called a ‘Russian alliance’ (says Mr. J. A. Spender in the “Yorkshire Observer”). The ‘axis’ Powers have apparently found it impossible to convert their ‘pacts’ into an ‘alliance,’ and we need not be surprised if we find it difficult to do the same thing on our side. “What the Western Powers are aiming at is an arrangement which would ensui’e material Russian aid to any threatened State, while leaving the nature and extent of this to be decided according to circumstances in the event of war. Why Russia should object to this (if she does object) has not been explained to us. One would have supposed that she would prefer to limit her liabilities in just this wayo.

“Let us at least exhaust the possibilities of this immediate and more practical method before going farther afield. The commitments we have entered into necessarily tie our hands to a certain extent. We cannot plunge ahead as if we were master of the whole situation and had no need to consider the susceptibilities of other people. “The Governments to which we have pledged our support want a guarantee of prompt and effective assistance in the event of war, but are, at the same time, extremely sensitive about their independence and sovereignty. They would like to decide what sort of aid they would invite, and when they would invite it. They would like to be quite sure that those who came to their assistance would retire when their work was done.”