Conflagration Would Be Inevitable

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 111, 13 May 1939, Page 5

Conflagration Would Be Inevitable

If Force Were Used to Take Danzig MR. CHAMBERLAIN’S WARNING (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, May 11. A declaration that there was only one danger of war in Europe and that was if the impression should get about that Britain and France were not in earnest and could not be relied upon to carry out their pledges, was a notable feature of a speech to women Conservatives in the Albert Hall by Mr. Chamberlain. The Premier said that no greater and no more deadly mistake could be made abroad than to be misled by such an impression, and in reference to Danzig he added emphatically that if an attempt were made to change the situation there by force in such a way as to threaten Polish independence, that would inevitably start a general conflagration in which Britain would be involved. In another allusion to the international situation Mr. Chamberlain said that the British people had settled down in a mood of firm and fixed resolve, confident in their strength, clear in their consciences that their Government had done and was doing all that men could do to preserve peace, and convinced of the right and unselfishness of their aims. lie added that Britain was as ready as ever to listen to the views of others, but was determined not to submit to dictation. It had never been Britain’s wish to isolate or encircle Germany nor to stand in the way of her natural and legitimate trade expansion. Neither in armaments nor in economic* did Britain desire to enter into unbridled competition with Germany. Britain would not refuse to discuss with Germany measures for an increase in trade or for the improvement of economic conditions, provided only that Britain could have unmistakable signs from Germany of a desire to restore confidence, which had been so severely shaken. Mr. Chamberlain repudiated a suggestion that the basis of the Anglo-Germau Naval Treaty had been removed, as Herr Hitler had attempted to claim, by a change in the British attitude towards Germany. Speaking of the great burden of armaments which lay upon the world, the Premier observed that if only the world would get respite from international tension and from anxiety regarding war they could look confidently forward to a great expansion of trade and prosperity from which not one but every people in the world would benefit.