BRITISH PEACE AIMS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 2 December 1939, Page 3

BRITISH PEACE AIMS

DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS NO CLOSE DEFINITION MEANTIME MR MALCOLM MACDONALD’S VIEW. POINTED REPLY TO GERMAN FOREIGN MINISTER. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, November 30. Replying to the debate on war aim in the House of Commons, the Colonial Secretary, Mr MacDonald, said he did not agree that the Government should more closely define its peace aims. There was a responsibility to other Governments, and the close cooperation with the French and Dominion Governments demanded that any peace aims should be made only after consultations which, if they were to be fruitful, must be confidential in the first instance. Co-operation would not be served by the British Government laying down the law about peace aims. Referring to the suggestions by the Leader of the Opposition. Mr Attlee, as to post-war colonial policy, Mr MacDonald said here again was a question to which Britain alone could not give the answer. When it had come to peace-making the economic or political colonial policy to be pursued must be the result of example. NEED OF CONSULTATION. The French Government was a great colonial Power and had the right to a say in the matter. Certain other people had a right to be heard on this important topic, including the peoples of the colonies themselves. Mr MacDonald then quoted the German Foreign Minister. Herr von Ribbentrop, as saying in Danzig that there was no part of the world where the British flag was not waving against the will of the people is question. “What a travesty of the truth," said Mr MacDonald. "All the Dominions have their own free Parliaments and a few months ago claimed successfully the right to decide, each for itself, whether it would share in any war in which Britain might become involved. In the early September days each one freely and of its own will declared war on Germany.” A VOLUNTARY RALLY. Dealing with colonies which did not enjoy the same political freedom but were governed largely from Westminster, Mr MacDonald said: “When it became certain at the end of August that we would be at war in a few days 1 made no suggestion to the Governors of the colonies that they should arrange for messages of support to come from the colonies. I took no initiative in the matter. Voluntarily the people of the colonies came to their decision. They took action within a very few hours of the declaration of war. Within a few hours messages began to pour in, and these messages came from every single colony, every single protectorate, and every single mandated territory coming under British administration.” DESIGNING A NEW EUROPE. Speaking earlier in the debate, Dr Hugh Dalton (Labour) emphasised the importance of Anglo-French co-opera-tion. It was no exaggeration to say. he declared, that the survival of civilisation in Europe depended on close and continuous co-operation between these two countries. Welcoming the close economic cooperation recently achieved, he ex)pressed the hope that it might be only the first step in a still wider scheme in which other countries might participate. Urging early consideration, in consultation between the French Government and the Dominions, of the character of the Allies’ peace aims, so that if the war was shorter than was expected they should not be caught unprepared for the building of a peace which would endure, Dr Dalton endorsed the Prime Minister's reference to the necessity for po vindictive terms. They should let the German peoples know that after the war they desired a .free and civilised Germany, taking her place as a good neighbour in a free and civilised Europe. The conflict might lead sooner than some expected to the liquidation of the Nazi system and its bloody instrument, the Gestapo. He advocated, as part of the framework .of peace, the designing of a new Europe, with some provision for the abatement of national sovereignty. UNITY OF THE ALLIES. The Foreign Under-Secretary, Mr R. A. Butler, said that during ’the last war Lord Grey had defined the aims of British diplomacy in wartime as. first, the preservation of Allied solidarity; and. secondly, the maintenance of relations with neutral countries. In the present conflict Britain and France had not only maintained Allied solidarity, but had made Allied unity. Britain had also maintained with success her relations with neutrals. Her obligations in this respect were greater in this war than in the last, because there were more neutrals. The British Government understood their difficulties and desired 10 spare them, consistently with the primary objective of exercising belligerent rights and winning the war. It understood the hardships neutral countries were suffering, and in ’interpreting the new reprisals Order-in-Council would attempt to spare them as much as possible. RELATIONS WITH NEUTRALS. Having mentioned that the application of the new measures against enemy exports would be conducted by the Enemy Exports Committee under the chairmanship of Lord Justice du Parcq. Mr Butler refered to the evidence of the extent to which neutrals understood the British position and appreciated the radical difference

between Britain’s policy and that of the Germans of illegally sinking neutral ships at sight. In a detailed review of the country’s relations with other States, Mr Butler said Britain was more closely allied with France both in thought and action than ever before. To the Polish Government they could look for valuable consideration and support. Mr Butler referred also to a statement issued by the Polish Premier and Czech representatives after the conversations in London regarding close collaboration between those two victims of German aggression. The British Government realised the importance of those conversations and regarded them as a happy augury for the future. He welcomed the arrival in London of the Secretary-General of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, accompanied by representatives of the Turkish Finance and Commerce Ministries and the central bank to discuss political and economic questions following upon the closer relations that had been 'brought about between Britain and Turkey. He hoped the conversations would result in removing obstacles which at present might appear to prevent An-glo-Turkish trade reaching the level it might and ought. BALKAN PROBLEMS. He also assured Dr Dalton that the needs of the countries in south-eastern Europe were ever present in the mind of his Majesty's Government. In particular. any opportunity to develop trade with Greece would be taken, and and the matter was under active consideration. His Majesty’s Government welcomed the recent decision of the Turkish and Bulgarian Governments to reduce the number of troops in the frontier regions. That had diminished the tension, and he hoped it would lead to a renewal of confidence between those two countries. After expressing gratification at the Portuguese Premier's reaffirmation before the National Assembly of Portuguese loyalty to the old alliance. Mr Butler said that the relations with Italy were friendly. War time conditions made for inevitable difficulties which the British Government would do its best to see interfered with legitimate Italian interests as little as possible. He hoped the joint economic committee recently set up would result in an improvement of AngloItalian trade to the mutual advantage of both countries. A British commercial delegation recently left for Spain, and he hoped that as a result of the negotiations taking place in Spain, the task of improving Britain's relations and trade with that country would be successful. The message of King Farouk at the opening of the Egyptian Parliamentary session illustrated the common aims of Egypt and Britain in the effort of this war. Mentioning the Egyptian loss of substantial markets for her raw cotton in Germany. Czechoslovakia and Poland. Mi 1 Butler described the proposal for the buying up of the crop to a given maximum if and where the price fell below a given level.