ITALIAN RULE IN ETHIOPIA

Southland Times, Issue 23499, 4 May 1938, Page 5

ITALIAN RULE IN ETHIOPIA

ACT OF RECOGNITION DENIED QUESTION ON AGENDA FOR LEAGUE MEETING (British Official Wireless) (Received May 3, 5.25 p.m.) RUGBY, May 2. “I should like to remind the House that other States, members of the League of Nations, whose loyalty to the League cannot be questioned, have taken a different view of the recognition of the position in Ethiopia from that held by Britain,” said the Prime Minister (Mr Neville Chamberlain) in the House of Commons today in moving that approval be given to the AngloItalian Agreement. Mr Chamberlain was referring to the question of the recognition of the Italian conquest of Ethiopia. “They have taken the view that the collective obligations in this matter were discharged on July 4, 1936, when the Assembly passed a resolution abolishing sanctions and their view was, therefore, that the States were consequently free to take whatever action seemed best for them in the light of their own situations and what they considered to be their obligations,” said the Prime Minister. “That is a perfectly comprehensible view, and a number of powerful and convincing arguments can be brought in support of it. Britain does not desire to criticize any States that have taken that view, but, in common with many other States, she has held that this is not a question which concerns Britain alone, but one which requires consideration by the appropriate organ of the League. The result of this difference of opinion is that some of those who took part in collective action have already recognized the Italian position in Ethiopia, while others have taken action which implies, or seems to imply, recognition and others, again, have taken, no action, at all. “It is a confused and anomalous position—a position which requires clearing,” said Mr Chamberlain. “Britain has taken the first step towards clarification by asking the Secretary-Gen-eral of the League (M. Joseph Avenol) to place an item dealing with this question on the agenda for the forthcoming meeting of the Council, which Britain considers an appropriate offer. This action does not mean that we condone or approve of the method by which Italy obtained control of Abyssinia and it does not mean that we are going to ask the League to modify any resolution or decision it took during the period of the conflict.

RIGHTS OF EACH STATE “The League expressed its judgment on the whole affair in the plainest possible terms,” said Mr Chamberlain. “There will be no going back on that. .We do not intend to ask any other State to take any action which it might deem incompatible with its obligations. Neither the action we have taken nor any action we ask the Council to take in itself constitutes recognition. The act of recognition remains within the sovereign rights of each individual State. In other words, as far as this country is concerned, the time and circumstances of recognition remain in our own discretion. I have always maintained that the only circumstance in which recognition could morally be justified would be if it was shown to be an essential feature of general appeasement. That is the position of the Government today. “We could not feel we were taking an essential step to general appeasement unless at the same time we could see a Spanish settlement within reach. That is the reason why we made a Spanish settlement a pre-requisite of this instrument.” The Leader of the Labour Opposition (Major C. R. Attlee) intervened to ask Mr Chamberlain what he meant by a Spanish settlement.' “I would prefer not to give a definition,” replied Mr Chamberlain. “Later on we shall get nearer the time when we can. I think we should be wrong in attempting at this stage to define the circumstances under which we should say a settlement has been arrived at.”

When Major Attlee pressed the Prime Minister on the question, the latter retorted: “I leave myself to the judgment of the House. I cannot tell the House when this protocol and the annexes will come into force, but no doubt the situation will clear itself up as time goes on.”