The Waikato Times FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20,1935. SIR SAMUEL HOARE RESIGNS

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 18764, 20 December 1935, Page 6

The Waikato Times FRIDAY, DECEMBER 20,1935. SIR SAMUEL HOARE RESIGNS

The resignation of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs shows how intense is the opposition in Great Britain to the propose terms for the settlement of the Abyssinian dispute. Apparently it Samuel Hoare has had to take this step in order to save the Government from defeat, yet it is only a matter of a few weeks since that Administration was returned to office with a large majority. It is not often that the British people are deeply stirred, but they could not agree to the nation even appearing to endorse a plan that would give an aggressor large territorial gains at the expense of the State attacked. There have come the usual fire-eating declarations from Italy, but they are not likely to influence world opinion. The desiie of the British people clearly is to support the collective basis of settlement in international disputes and the great work done by Viscount Cecil and others is having its reward. The group which likes to claim the term “ realist ” may contend that a settlement along the lines indicated by the Hoare-Laval plan must he adopted sooner or later, but the instinct of the British people is to keep to the path chosen and, working in co-operation with other States, make armed adventures by Fascists or any other dictatorial element costly and barren. That course may involve risks but it is now seen that nations must be prepared to incur risks in the cause of peace, and that in itself is a great advance in world opinion. It is a matter for regret that the crisis has involved the resignation of an able Minister. Sir Samuel Hoare has, ever since the war, been a close student of European problems. The hooks written by diplomatists and others mention his visits to the. various centres in a private capacity in order to examine the problems, racial, economic and political, on the spot. His work while at the India Office was outstanding and earned the promotion to the Foreign Office that followed. Sir Samuel commenced his work with one of the most signal triumphs achieved by any British Minister since the war, giving the nations the lead for which they were longing. It is certain that Mr Baldwin would not have accepted the resignation of this able lieutenant if it had been possible to find any other way out of the difficulty. It is not unusual for British Ministers to resign on matters of principle. Viscount Cecil did so, and so did Sir Herbert Samuel, hut the withdrawal of Sir Samuel Hoare from the Ministry is the direct result of antagonistic public opinion to the plan at least nominally supported by him. Good may come out of the incident if the nations are convinced that Great Britain will stand steadfastly for the collective system, and not attempt to make the League of Nations merely an instrument for implementing the policy of the Great Powers.