DETERMINATION TO ESTABLISH SECURITY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 February 1940, Page 5

DETERMINATION TO ESTABLISH SECURITY

Righting of Wrongs Inflicted by Germany

SPEECH BY MR CHAMBERLAIN

HOPE OF FUTURE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

(British Official Wireless.)

RUGBY, February 24. Concluding' in a speecii at Birmingham.today the series of addresses given by the War Cabinet in recent weeks, on the progress of the war, the Prime Minister, Mr Chamberlain, fully defined Britain’s war aims.

After epitomising the Gerr of this nation and domination o said, that Britain was fighting ; tion, but that “we do not desire “We are fighting to secure t shall henceforth live in security of aggression against their hide their people, but we do not wan do we covet anyone else’s terrii “We are fighting 1o right th on people who once were free, individual conscience and for fighting against persecution wli are fighting to abolish the spirit < tion of armaments ‘which are p;

man war aims as “destruction if the world,” Mr Chamberlain against German world domina- ? the destruction, of any people, that the small nations of Europe free from the constant threat pendence and extermination of it domination for ourselves, nor lory,” he said.

io wrongs Germany has inflicted We are fighting for freedom of freedom in religion. We are lierever it may be found. We of militarism and the accumulalauperising all Europe.

IN CONCRETE TERMS

“How in. concrete terms are these aims to be secured?” Mr Chamberlain asked. “First, the independence of the Poles and Czechs must be secured. “Under the present German Government there can be no security for the future. The elements who are ready to co-operate in rebuilding Europe are ruthlessly proscribed by a nation whose rulers have repeatedly shown that they cannot be trusted to keep their word either to foreign Governments or to their own people. It :s therefore for Germany to take the next step and show us that she has once and for all abandoned the thesis that might is right.

“We and France are determined io do what, we can to ensure security by a. continuance of that complete identity of purpose and policy which now unites us and which, after the war, will form the foundation on which the international relations between our two countries are built. Only so can we establish the authority and stability which we are convinced is necessary for the well-being and security of Europe as a whole during the period of reconstruction and the fresh endeavour to which we look forward after the war is over. “But France and Britain cannot and would not wish alone to settle the new Europe. Others must come in and help us, above all to bring about disarmament, which could only be attained after a re-establishment Of confidence between nations. “In this Germany could do more than other nations for she more than any other has done most to destroy it. “When she is ready to give reliable proofs of her goodwill she-will not find others lacking in the will to help her to overcome the economic difficulties that will accompany the transition from war to peace. FIGHT FOR FREEDOM “But let me continue by repeating that the next step does not lie with us. We are resolved that freedom shall prevail, and it is because tyranny aria intimidation have saught to prevail over freedom that we have entered the war. Until we are satisfied that freedom is safe we shall continue to fight to the utmost of our strength arid of the strength of the whole Empire.”

After reviewing briefly the series of German aggressions and broken promises which led up to the outbreak of the war, Mr Chamberlain said, “Alas, a bad example soon spreads. So easy did these conquests appear that the apprentice thought he could safely make a similar attempt on Finland. But, though the Russian apprentice has nothing to learn from his master in brutality, he has not yet mastered his craft nor acquired his force, and all the world today is watching with profound admiration the heroic struggle of little Finland against her gigantic but unwieldy adversary. “The German aim today,” said the Prime Minister, referring to the Nazi treatment of Poland and Czechoslovakia, “is not merely conquest, but the extermination of the peoples who resist their aggression, and it is those who are distinguished for their culture and high character who are picked out to be the first victims.”

Mr Chamberlain expressed great appreciation of the unity clearly manifested in the relations between the Allies and the close relationship which the Allies had established with Turkey. BRITISH HOME FRONT Turning to the Home front, the Prime- Minister said. “I am amazed at the vastness of the effort which the country is making and at the spirit of unity and resolution with which it is being conducted.” He paid special tribute to the women who are serving in the variety of services vitally connected with the national war efforts.

In the course of his speech Mr Chamberlain disclosed that since the beginning of the war some 50,000,000 tons of shipping had entered or cleared from British ports. The convoy system had been so successful that from 9000 British, Allied and neutral vessels which had sailed in convoys only two-tenths of 1 per cent had been lost. Turning to another aspect of the sea war, the Prime Minister said, “So little do the Nazis reckon of neutral interests that neutral ships are no longer safe from their attack, even when they are only sailing between neutral ports. "Merchant vessels are sunk without warning, cargoes destroyed and helpless crews turned adrift to drown or perish of exposure, and the neutral country must not complain, though, if to save from a concentration camp. 300 men who were illegally made prisoners, Britain commits a mere technical breach of neutrality, taking no neutral

life and touching no neutral property, the Nazis exhaust themselves in hysterical exclamations of indignation.” After reviewing the widespread, generous and enthusiastic support which the Dominions and the Colonial Empire are affording the Mother Country, Mr Chamberlain said, “We must be profoundly impressed with the moral greatness of a cause which has inspired so intense a conviction of its rightness.”

He disclosed the facts that the Government expected to spend some hundreds of millions sterling in Canada in the first year of the war and had arranged Io take the whole of the Australian and New Zealand surplus wool clippings for the duration of the war and a year after, as well as further wool purchases from South Africa, which meant that Britain was purchasing half the normal wool exports of the whole world. These were but a few examples of the formidable resources of the Dominions.