BREACH OF FAITH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 May 1939, Page 7

BREACH OF FAITH

ALLEGED BY MR WINSTON CHURCHILL ABANDONMENT OF BALFOUR PLEDGE. VOTE ON PALESTINE MOTION EXPLAINED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON. May 24. Explaining why he voted ‘against the Government, Mr Winston Churchill said he was unable to stand by and see solemn engagements shelved for reasons of administrative convenience or a quiet life. Mr Chamberlain himself, said Mr Churchill, had endorsed the Balfour declaration in 1918. Shutting and barring the door of the national home for the Jews five years hence was an abandonment of the Balfour pledge. “Long before five years have passed there will be a Britain which knows how to keep its word or we will find ourselves relieved of many other, overseas responsibilities,” added Mr Churchill.

MANDATE TERMS THE GOVERNMENT VIEW. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, May 23. During the debate in the House of Commons, the objectives of the Palestine Mandate were defined by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr R. A. Butler. He said the Mandate had three objectives: (1) To set up a Jewish national home; (2) to safeguard civilian and religious rights; and (3) to develop self-governning institutions. The balance of the Mandate had been upset by certain factors, including immigration. A balance must be kept, between the various obligations of the Mandate and the overriding obligation was to have regard to the development of the country as a whole In the Government’s view it would not be necessary for the House to await the decision of the Mandates Commission because there was nothing in the White Paper inconsistent with the Mandate.