BRITISH APPROVAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 8 May 1939, Page 5

BRITISH APPROVAL

SPEECH CAUSES LIVELY SATISFACTION MEETING OF SUB-COMMITTEE OF CABINET. DISCUSSIONS WITH RUSSIA. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY. May 6. Official quarters in London state that the report of Colonel Beck’s speech has been received in London with lively satisfaction. It is felt that Colonel Beck made the position of Poland clear and that he has done so in firm but yet studiously moderate terms.While he made it clear that Poland will not sacrifice interests which she believes would be vital to her independence, yet at the same time he closed no doors, and is ready to solve outstanding issues by the method of negotiation. The foreign policy sub-committee of the Cabinet met last night and reviewed current international affairs, including, it is assumed, the terms of Colonel Beck’s speech and the’ latest stage of the discussions with the Soviet and other Powers regarding eastern European security questions. Mr Chamberlain announced in the House of Commons in the morning that a communication from the French Government on this subject had been received in London on Thursday, and that it was hoped to be able to send a further expression of the British Government’s views to Moscow in the very near future. The Soviet Ambassador in London. M. Maisky, called at the Foreign Office yesterday and had an interview with Lord Halifax. Reports reaching London on the announcement of the conclusion of the security agreement between Britain and Turkey are described in authoritative quarters as premature. Conversations are still proceeding between the two Governments. Herr von Dircksen, German Ambassador to Britain, returned to London today from Berlin. VALUABLE SPEECH MR EDEN'S COMMENDATION. LONDON, May 6. “Our first need now is for a return to good faith between nations,’ said

Mr Anthony Eden in a speech today. “Without it international society, like human society, can only drift into ever-widening confusion.” It seemed to him, he added, that the emphasis laid on this need was the most valuable contribution which Colonel Beck made in his remarkable speech, which might well serve as a model to statesmen, both for its firm-

ness and its moderation. It was not a question of.morality, but of the plainest practical politics.