PEACE IN EUROPE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19694, 28 July 1938, Page 5

PEACE IN EUROPE

AIMS OF BRITAIN

APPEASEMENT EFFORTS

CZECH-GERMAN DISPUTE

CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN

SECURITY AND CONFIDENCE

(British Offlcinl Wireless.)'

Reed. 9 a.m

RUGBY, July 2G

The dispute in Czechoslovakia in respect to Anglo-German relations was further discussed by the Prime Minister, Mr. Neville Chamberlain, in his statement in the House of Commons to-day surveying the international situation.

Mr. Chamberlain said that Britain had impressed on both Germany and Czechoslovakia the desirability of restraint. .The Government had noted with satisfaction the efforts of the Government in Prague. The Government also h;Td been happy to receive from Berlin assurances, recently renewed, of the desire for a peaceful solution. In his recent interview with Dr. von Dircksen, the German Ambassador to Britain, Mr. Chamberlain had not gone beyOnd what the House already knew—the dual policy of urging Czechoslovakia to do all it possibly could, consistent with what it felt to be essential to the integrity and independence of its own State, to come to an agreement with Herr Henlein's Sudeten German Party, and of urging, on the other side, the need for patience. "If we can find some peaceful solution of the German-Sudeten question, I should myself think the way was open again for a further effort for general appeasement —appeasement which cannot be attained until we can be satisfied that no major cause for dispute or difference remains unsettled," continued Mr. Chamberlain. "We have already demonstrated the possibility of a complete agreement between democratic and totalitarian States. I do not see myself why the experiment cannot be repeated.

Offer Made By Hitler

"When Herr Hitler made an ofTer of a naval treaty in which Germany was to be restricted to an agreed level bearing a fixed ratio to the British fleet, he made a notable gesture of the most practical kind in the direction of peace. The value of that gesture, it seems to me, has not been fully appreciated as tending toward general appeasement.

"But there the treaty stands as a demonstration that it is possible for Germany and ourselves to agree upon matters which are vital t 6 both of us. We ought not to find it impossible to continue our efforts toward an understanding which would do so much to bring back confidence to Europe." Other passages of Mr. Chamberlain's speech were devoted to AngloAmerican relations, the situation in the Far East, the position of the League of Nations, and questions bearing on the Anglo-Italian agreements.

In reference to the welcome accorded Their Majesties on the occasion of the State visit to Paris, Mr. Chamberlain said the two democracies were united .by common interests and ideals, and their unity was happier for the fact of general recognition that it was not directed against any other nation or combination of nations.

Anglo-French Unity

That unity had been strengthened w;Ts confirmed by conversations between tlie Foreign Secretary, Viscount Halifax, and the French Ministers in Paris. The House knew there was no mystery about them. There had been no new undertaking and no new commitments on either side. There had been general discussions on all matters of interest to the two countries and general agreement upon them.

Regarding the Rome agreements, Mr. Chamberlain reiterated the reasons for making the removal of the Spanish situation from being a perpetual menace to the peace of Europe a condition of the agreements coming into effect. It was not the fault of either party that the conditions had not been fulfilled.

Italy had kept faith in the: reduction of troops in Libya and the cessation of anti-British propaganda, and in collaboration on the Non-interven-tion Committee. Britain had carried out its engagements by the action taken at the League meeting. Foreigners in Spain

Britain profoundly regretted the delay in bringing the agreements into effect, and would do all she could to facilitate the withdrawal of foreign volunteers from Spain in order that Spa'in might cease to offer threats to the peace of Europe. This observation drew from the Leader of the Opposition, Major C. R. Attlee, a question whether in the Prime Minister's view the withdrawal of foreign volunteers from Spain would constitute a "settlement in Spain." Mr. Chamberlain replied cautiously that he would like to see what happened when the volunteers had been withdrawn, adding that if Britain could feel that Spain had ceased to be a menace to the peace of Europe, Britain would regard that as a settlement of the Spanish question.