RETURN OF COLONIES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19777, 3 November 1938, Page 4

RETURN OF COLONIES

LORD LOTHIAN'S VIEWS SAFEGUARDS NEEDED ARMS LIMITATION SYDNEY, Ode. 19. Lord Lothian, in a special interview last night, on the eve of his'departure by Empire flying-boat for London, said that, so far as the colonies were concerned, if it was possible to give Herr Hitler a colonial area which did not affect the strategic security of the democracies or of the British Commonwealth system, he would give it to him now and not in response to pressure.

"But .1 would give such a colony only in return for a real, effective, allround limitation ol armaments, - Lord Lothian added.

“If, however, the return of the colonies means the creation of vast new aerial ancl marine bases in Africa and elsewhere , which could be used to disturb the peace and threaten our own defences, I would utterly refuse to yield any colonies,” Lord Lothian said.

“If we are to make that ‘no - effective, we must be strong and united enough to make it. impossible for Hitler to get what he wants by threats or force.” Australia’s Isolation Ends Lord Lothian said that the events of the past two or three years showed that the period of isolation Australia had enjoyed for practically the whole of its 150 years—except for the World War—was drawing to a close. Externally, its history was going to change.

"The gigantic armaments now being created in Europe and in Asia, and the return of power politics,” he said, “are going to bring pressure to bear upon Australia and the British Commonwealth generally, the nature of which few Australians yet understand. “I believe that the security of this country still depends absolutely on the supremacy of the British Fleet and upon its holding the key bases of Gibraltar, the Suez Canal, and Singapore. Empire and 11. S. A. “So long as the British Fleet, supported by the necessary air power, holds the exits from Europe into the Atlantic through the North Sea and the English Channel, so long as it can prevent European forces from passing into the Atlantic past Gibraltar and the Suez Canal, and can stop Far Eastern forces from entering, the Indian Ocean past Singapore, and so long as Ibe United States keeps a superior navy at Hawaii, then the nations of the British Commonwealth and of the Monroe system are safe from attack. Nobody except raiders can reach those nations.

“But if the British Navy becomes inferior, or if hostile powers are allowed to occupy Gibraltar, Suez, or Singapore, Australia’s independence would be sealed. The new, aggressive, and highly-armed sea forces would not attack Australia and New Zealand direct. They would occupy strategic island bases commanding the sea communications of Australia and New Zealand with the rest of the world—nobody could then prevent them—and set in motion the modern gangster methods of ‘hold up’ diplomacy.” macy.” Grasping Realities When asked if he v/as depressed about the future, Lord Lothian replied; “Not in the least if the British democracies wake up in time, grasp tire realities, and make the necessary preparations. They will have all the cards in their hands if they gird themselves to use them, and if the United States plays her part in the central Pacific. "The truth is that the democratic system is on trial. The totalitarian systems place far too much emphasis on discipline, on obedience to authority, on the subordination of the individual to the State. This tends to destroy the initiative and the vigour

of the individual. But for a time they gain great power for organised external action.

“The democracies, on the other hand, place far 100 much emphasis on the easier life, on less work and more leisure, on creating a type of society in which every individual can do what he likes with a minimum of dedicated service to the community. They are therefore, weak, sloppy, and divided in international affairs.

Two Different Systems

“A world-wide struggle between the two systems is now taking place. The fundamental assumption on which democracy rests is that the individual, set free, will give the same kind of service of his own free will as the authoritarian systems compel him to give by force. “Unless the democracies pull themselves together to defend the system of defence I have described—the supremacy o£ the British Navy—by ensuring that there is more power behind it than can be brought to bear against it, they will go down, and free Institutions will disappear for a time, as they have often done before in history for this same reason.” Lord Lothian said that any demand by Hitler for the return of the colonies brought up a strategic question. The reason why Hitler had been able to get practically the whole-hearted support of Germany for his policy had been because Germany had had her legitimate grievances. It was absurd to insist on Germany, 15 years after the Armistice, remaining disarmed, when her neighbours were all armed, and to refuse her the right to defend her own Rhineland frontiers.

“Not a Square Deal”

"Hitler created the Nazi regime largely because the German Republic was unable to secure a square deal,” Lord Lothian added. “For exactly the same reason, it has always been difficult to organise effective resistance from outside to Hitler's claims. A large number of people thought that those claims were not unreasonable, however much they objected to Hitler’s methods of securing them. But Germany’s most essential grievances are now removed ,and, in future, it will be more difficult for him to rally support in Germany for external adventures involving serious risk of war, although the prestige and the power he has created for this system is enormously formidable.

“But it ought also to be easier to convince other peoples that they must stand together if they are to resist the blackmail of force, and that such blackmail can only be resisted by superior strength.”