ACCEPTANCE OF BURDENS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 11 January 1940, Page 5

ACCEPTANCE OF BURDENS

A distinguished gathering at the Mansion House greeted Mr Chamberlain’s words with cheers which • bespoke their own readiness to shoulder the burdens of which the Prime Minister' spoke frankly in the later passages of his speech. In the part of his speech directed to events abroad, in which he denounced the unprincipled attack on Finland, Mr Chamberlain summed up his view of the organisation of forces in the following words: —

“When I look beyond boundaries of this country I cannot fail to observe how easily and rapidly these evil things of which I have spoken before spread unless they are checked. “Germany used brute force upon unhappy Poland and today we can see how she is treating the Poles and Czechs; exploiting the Poles and Czechs; exploiting their resources, carrying off their food, starving and shooting their people, tearing them and uprooting them from their homes in order to make way for Germans who, in their turn, have been forced to leave the lands where they and their families had been settled for generations.” MENACE TO CIVILISATION “The methods that are pursued by the Government of Herr Hitler,” Mr Chamberlain declared, "are a standing threat to the independence of every small State in Europe. They are a constant menace to the moral standards on which the whole of Western civilisation was founded. "Nowhere have they aroused greater detestation than throughout the continents of North and South America. In his recent message to the Pope President Roosevelt declared that only by a friendly association of the seekers of light and seekers of peace everywhere could the forces of. evil be overcome. "I profoundly agree with that. I would add that if the forces of right are to prevail we must not hesitate to risk our blood or our treasure for so great an end.” Mr Chamberlain concluded: —“Once again historic buildings and ancient streets in Britain are seeing the faces of the King’s subjects from many parts of the world who come of their own free will far from their homes and

families to take part, on our side in the great struggle. Their presence and their conviction of the necessity of ending Gorman aggression, which alone has induced them to make such a sacrifice, has brought a welcome addition to the Allied fighting strength and the valuable moral support of their unanimous approval of our cause."