WORLD CRISIS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22353, 26 February 1936, Page 13

WORLD CRISIS

BRITISH POLICY

STRENGTH AN ESSENTIAL ITALY AND ABYSSINIA WARFARE DEPLORED efforts to terminate T)y Telegraph—Prees Association—Copyright , (Received February 25. 5.5 p.m.) LONDON. Feb. 24 To-day's debate on foreign affairs in the House of Commons, when Mr. Anthony Eden made his first considerable speech since becoming Foreign Secretary, is expected to provide the Government with a fair opportunity of testing the of the House on various issues which are now before the country. "Whatever courso events may take, the one essential element is , t h a t Britain must be strong." This was the keynote of Mr. Eden's speech, which dominated the debate. Mr. Eden sat between Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Mac Donald, and spoke from notes which he used merely as a guide to tivient thought, and for principal Llaratu™, as when he said: "The chances of averting the catastrophe of the recurrence of a world war are / glender unless Britain is strong and determined enough to play her part." Mr. Eden made a wide survey of the international outlook. His speech feU into three parts. The first dealt with the Italo-Ethiopian question. In the second part Mr. Eden offered observations on certain subjects not directly - related to this dispute, and the speech closed with a review of the international situation as a whole. Reducing Aggressor's Purchasing Power It was clear that financial sanctions and a refusal to accept Italian exports by member States of the League could not be made immediately effective. Their object was gradually to reduce the purchasing powers of the aggressor State. The normal exports of Italy to nations of the League amounted to 70 per cent of'her export trade, and the power of the aggressor to purchase abroad must be seriously diminished in consequence of such sanctions. It was surely clear. from the efforts which had been made in Italy that the significance of these sanctions was fully realised there. The League was now considering oil sanctions. "To my mind oil is a sanction like any other, and must be judged by the same criterion, whether its imposition will help to stop the war." Mr. Eden continued: "It is in that - spirit that Governments must examine it and come to their decision. The British Government has done what it could to expedite a meeting of the committee, and the sooner a decision is reached by the committee the better. "The fact that the League is not omnipotent should not make us weaken in our support of it. Though it cannot achieve everything, it can achieve much. There are still those who regard the League as dangerous, but nobody who knows anything of foreign affairs x would regard it to-day as negligible. Earnest Desire for Peace "I think it is important that we Bhould make it clear what kind of objective the League should, in our judgment, have in mind while it persists with sanctions," said Mr. Eden. "I hope the report of the Committee of Five will be neither forgotten nor set aside. In the view of the British Government the proper place for the resumption of any peace discussion is at Geneva, where the atmosphere is .always favourable to members of the League who wish to avail themselves of ■ machinery which is there at their disposal. > "When I return to Geneva to resume the discussion of further sanctions I wish to say with the full approval of this House clearly and unequivocally that the British Government and this country, while taking their full part with others in the imposition of sanctions, desire- first and foremost to see peace established on a just basis between Italy and Abyssinia. " If both sides, even now, were to accept the good offices of the League, of which they are full members, I am sure there would be no hesitation among - their fellow-members in agreeing that the machinery of the Committee of Five . is still available." Rearmament For Security Mr. Eden said it was no tribute to the collective wisdom of the world that 18 years after the close of the " war to end. war" they were confronted with problems similar to those before 1914. " It seems that the war generation has the task of preventing a recurrence, on an even greater scale, of the suffering it has endured," he said. " The task can be accomplished only with the iull. co-operation of Britain." Labour cries of " Tho old, old story." Mr. Eden: It is clear that the road 4o disarmament lies — Labour cries: " With more arms." Mr. Eden: The House must face the •issue. I personally regret the increase in the expenditure on armaments, but rearmament to strengthen collective security is the cheapest form of rearmament, and is cheaper than rearmament' within the pre-war system of alliances and cheaper than rearmament in isolation. Europe has to choose between co-operation and disintegration. Britain's most pressing task is to bring a measure of confidence to Europe. It is to that task that we are applying ourselves in detail. Revision ol Covenant Not Favoured Mr. Eden then emphasised that the Government had not withdrawn from Sir Samuel Hoare's proposals in regard to colonial raw materials, and was will- - ■ ing to examine the subject. Ho thought an examination could be usefully held at Geneva. •: T The Government was of the opinion that the moment was not favourable for a revision of the League Covenant and did not intend to make proposals in this direction. Britain was firmly attached to collective security, conditional upon a system powerful enough to detor any would-be aggressor whether fronv within or without. Secondly, Britain was strong enough in policy and arms to play her full part in such a ccldective security.