BRITAIN’S POLICY

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25801, 23 March 1945, Page 6

BRITAIN’S POLICY

RESTS ON FIRM PRINCIPLES RELATIONS WITH OTHER POWERS RUGBY, Mar. 21. The conditions on which peace could be kept after the defeat of Germany and Japan, and of the relations of the great Powers with each other and with the smaller States, were dealt with by the Foreign Secretary, Mr Anthony Eden, in a speech in Glasgow. He pointed out that any new attempt to subjugate Europe would again bring about a combination of free men to defend its liberties, and he emphasised that there would be no security if the Allies acted independently after their immediate joint purpose had been achieved. It was not British policy to allow unity among the Great Powers to become the means to bully the smaller. Mr Eden said British foreign policy, like the British Constitution, though flexible, rested on firm principles. In the first place although the Government carried out this policy there was constant consultation with Parliament. Secondly; there was the practice of constant consultation with the dominions. Our methods were reviewed at a conference of dominion Prime Ministers last spring, and we would do all we could to continue to expand and improve them. The third distinction which marked Britain out from most other lands was her insular position, which determined her policy. Cardinal Principle “It has always been the cardinal principle of our foreign policy to keep open the highways of the sea,” he said. “'There were periods when we could claim to command all the seven seas. That time is long past. In the twentieth century we have been able to ensure control of the seas and the power to import the necessary supplies only because we could rely on friendly States acting with us, or at any rate not against us, in some vital areas of the world. Now that the air has introduced a new factor to naval strategy it is still more impossible for any one Power to maintain control of the seas as we once did.”' “ There is another principle of which we must take account,” said Mr Eden. “Every State tries to prevent other States from combining to menace its safety. That is why we have always striven to prevent Europe from falling under the domination of one Power. We are determined that Europe shall only be united by the free will of its separate States. When that happy day comes we shall hope to be in partnership with it. “ But we have never sought to create coalitions against the great European Powers unless they pursued a policy of aggression. It is for the freedom of Europe—the way of all nations—that we are fighting, because we are determined to beat down the monstrous tyranny of the Nazi in Europe, and in the Far East the hideous overlordship of the Japanese. Surely we may hope that the overthrow of these two tyrannies and the miseries they have brought upon their own peoples, as well as their victims, will prevent a renewal of any such attempt. But if ever such a threat comes again, I am certain the same result will follow, and free men all over the world will combine again to protect their liberties. Practical Institutions ‘Rather than secure their country’s safety through the dissensions of others, British statemen have generally been among the foremost to try to set up practical institutions by which the Great Powers, instead of jealously watching each other, should meet to settle differences by discussion and compromise. That polky was never more necessary than now. We. have to preserve in peace that unity of purpose and action among the Great Powers which they have achieved in the war. It is idle to think you can have security by agreeing to join together to put down aggressors whilst each Power acts in all other respects independently of the others. If peace is to endure, there must be harmony of policy and constant recognition of the fact that there is a common interest above and beyond, but not in the long view antagonistic to, the policy of each individual Power. We must beware, also, of collective insecurity, where each peaceful Power looks to the other and makes little attempt to do its share. Responsibility and power must be related if international institutions are to survive the test of experience. But if this be true, it is also true that it is the duly of all the Great Powers to use their exceptional strength with restraint. -

“We are about to embark on a new experiment in international practice. We hope to lay the foundations of this at San Francisco. This endeavour may well prove to be the world’s last chance. How far we shall succeed will depend in large measure upon those who have power recognising that they must exercise it in accordance with the principles to which they have subscribed. “ Well would it have been for Germany when she became one of the most powerful nations of the world, if she had remembered the words of her own great thinker. Goethe: ‘The master first reveals himself in limitation, and only law can give us liberty.’ ”