NO SURRENDER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 March 1939, Page 8

NO SURRENDER

MR CHAMBERLAIN SPEAKS AT BIRMINGHAM LIMITS TO BRITISH PATIENCE. CONDEMNATION OF NAZI POLICY. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 12.25 p.m.) RUGBY, March 17. Amid Wildly enthusiastic applause, the Prime Minister, .Mr. Neville Chamberlain, speaking at Birmingham declared that, lover of peace qs hp was, he wou|d n°t sacrifice for it the liberty iyylpph Britain had enjoyed for centuries and would never surrender. That he should feel called upon to make that'declaration, he said, was a measure of the extent to which the events of the last few days had shattered confidence. No .greater mistake could be made, he repeated, than tq suppose that because it war to be senseless and cruel, the British nation had lost its fibre or would not resist to the utmost of its power the challenge to its liberty. For that declaration, he was convinced, he had “not merely the support, sympathy and confidence of my fellow countrymen and women, but I shall have also the approval of the whole'British Empire and all other nations who value peace indeed but who value freedom even more.”

Earlier, after defending his actions at the -Munich conference, Mr Chamberlain said that today he shared the British people’s disappointment and inthat the hopes raised then had been so wantonly shattered. How could the events of this, week be reconciled with the assurances Herr Hit-1 ler gave him at Munich. Surely, as a joint signatory, he was entitled, if Hprr Hitler thought the Munich agreement ought to be undone, to the consultation provided for in the Munich declaration. Was'this the end of an old adventure or..the beginning of a new? GRAVE QUESTIONS ANTICIPATION OF UNITED STANp PROCESS THAT HAS BEGUN. ■ (Received This Day. 1.15 p.m.) LONDON. March 17. Mr Chamberlain said the events of this week were’in complete disregard of the principles laid down by the German Government itself. They seemed to fall in a different category from the methods adopted in the Rhineland. Austria and Sudetenland and must cause us all to ask ourselves: “Is this the end of an old adventure or the beginning of a new. Is this, the last attack upon a small State or will it be followed by others? Is this step in the direction of an attempt to dominate the world by force?” “These." he said, “are a grave series of questions. I am not going to answer them tonight, but I am sure they will require grave and serious consideration, not only by Germany’s neighbours, but by others, perhaps even beyond the.confines of Europe. Already there are indications that the process has begun and it is obvious that it is likely now to be speeded up. We ourselves will naturally turn first to our partners in the British Commonwealth (Cheers) and France (Cheers) to whom we are so closely bound. Ido not doubt that others, knowing we are not disinterested in what goes on in SouthEastern Europe, will wish to have our counsel and advice. In our own country we must all review the position with that sense of responsibility which its gravity demands. Nothing must be excluded from that review which bears on national safety. Every aspect of national life must be looked at again from that angle.” CZECH GENERAL WOUNDED WHILE ESCAPING. WIFE AND CHAUFFEUR DETAINED. (Received This Day. 10.45 a.m.) BRATISLAVA, March 17. General Homolka. ex-commander of the Seventh Czech Army, attempted to escape to Moravia. His car was held up and shots were exchanged. The general was wounded and escaped in a forest. His wife and chauffeur were detained.