PRESSURE ON ITALY

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

PRESSURE ON ITALY

OIL EMBARGO P£AN ADVOCATES IN COMMONS DECISIVE NATURE STRESSED By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright LONDON, Feb. 24 The eagerly-awaited foreign affairs debate in the House of Commons was opened by Mr. H. B. LeesSmith (Labour Keighley). The House was crowded. The French, German, Italian and Russian Ambassadors listened intently from the Diplomatic Gallery. Mr. Lees-Smith said the Labour Opposition held that Mr. Eden ought to go to Geneva to propose, in the Committee of Eighteen, the imposition of an oil embargo against Italy and leave any nation that objected to take its responsibility. Let Mr. Eden also appeal to the decent feelings of the United States and to Signor Mussolini, not only as a dictator who was watching what action Britain took. At this moment the oil embargo had become a test of the sincerity of Britain and the League. Oil was the only sanction which would have a direct effect on military operations, Mr. Lees-Smith added. It might be the most decisive embargo of all. Referring to the attitude of the United States, he argued that as long as the League seemed determined to take a strong line, the opinion of the United States remained favourable, but as soon as Britain began to waver the United States cooled off. Labour Advocate of More Sanctions "If we want to regain the support of the United States we must take the initiative," said Mr. Lees-Smith. "Signor Mussolini has succeeded in holding up the oil embargo for nearly four months, and has been able in the interval to accumulate immense stocks. The tragedy is that the United States now is a dubious factor whereas it was leading us four months ago." That fact was the most terrible result of the vacillating ineptitude with which this issue had been handled. There were other sanctions applicable, for instance, the closing of ports to Italian ships. Sanctionist nations still used Italian passenger ships. Invisible exports might also be curtailed. Britain was exporting for the use of the Italian armies water from Aden, cotton from Egypt, camels from the Sudan, and fodder from British Somaliland. Mr. Lees-Smith concluded by asking what was the use of collective security worked by the League which was supplying oil to work the military machine of the aggressor State? Government Bluffed by Mussolini Sir Archibald Sinclair, Liberal Leader, who followed Mr. Eden, stated that the Foreign Secretary's speech would be generally approved. He was of the opinion that the Government had allowed itself to be bluffed out of the oil sanction by Signor Mussolini, whe must be convinced that the League meant to stamp out war as a crime against civilisation. Sir Archibald urged that coal, iron and steel sanctions be also imposed. If tlie present sanctions were the limit of the Government's policy they should not embark upon them. Mr. L. S. Amery said he believed the Government could have carried the Hoare-Laval peace plan through the House of Commons. He claimed that Mr. Eden's speech implied rejection of the demand for the punishment of Italy and that the Government was still anxious to find a settlement based on the merits of the case. The League now was little more than an alliance between Britain, France and Russia, with an obsequious and ineffective clique of minor Powers. "We should retrace our steps before we are too late," said Mr. Amery. "We are drifting into a position in which the League will be confronted by a combination of great Powers —Germany, Italy and Japan—and any lesser State which might join them in the hope of revenge or loot. If that new balance of power brought us to another Armageddon it would not be upon France but upon the British Dominions that the struggle would fall." Two Dictators Assailed Mr. J. C. Wedgwood (Labour —New-castle-under-Lyme) said: "If we fail with Mussolini, how can we hope to succeed with Hitler?" Mr. H. J. Parker (Labour —Romford) said: "We should do our utmost to see that those great dangers to peace—Mussolini and Hitler —are removed from power as soon as possible. The League must not compromise with criminals." Sir Arnold Wilson (Conservative — Hitchin), amid interruptions from Labour members, described tho Abyssinian Government as brutal and cruel. Thousands of lives would have been saved, he said, if the Hoare-Laval peace plan had not been rejected with contumely. Major C, R. Attlee, Labour leader, said: "The only definite statement in Mr. Eden's speech was that the Government had not yet made up its mind as to an oil sanction. The real cause of the delay was the reluctance of two leading States to impose an oil sanction, because they had been playing with alliances. Italy's Parlous Condition Mr. J. McGovern (Left Wing, Labour—Shettleston), in attacking the Opposition, asked whether they would don a uniform or be conscientious objectors in the event of war breaking out. He described Mr. Eden as a "foolscap and typewriter politician." Viscount Cranborne, Under-Secretary for League of Nations Affairs, in winding up the debate, said it had been satisfactory from the point of view of the Government. It had revealed that there was no cleavage on the main lines of foreign policy, with the exception of the speeches of Mr. Amery and Sir Arnold Wilson. Reports from Italy showed that sanctions were greatly affecting many export trades. ' The Government had already ceased to publish tho report of its gold reserves, which was symptomatic. It had'even gone to the extent of collecting wedding rings, which was a sad position for a great nation. British rearmament was necessary not only from the angle of national defence, but from the point of view of the League and foreign policy.