KO APPEASEMENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 March 1941, Page 5

KO APPEASEMENT

SITUATION IN THE PACIFIC MR MENZIES CLARIFIES .RECENT SPEECH. RELATIONS WITH JAPAN. The Australian Prime Minister, Mr Menzies, referring to his recent speech in London, denied that he favoured a policy of appeasement in the Pacific, states the 8.8. C. Appeasement, he states, would mean onlj- one thing, retreat. CONFLICT OF VIEWS QUESTIONS IN AUSTRALIA. FULL TEXT OF SPEECH BEING SOUGHT. <_Ey Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright, MELBOURNE, March 5. Members of the Commonwealth War Advisory Council at a meeting tomorrow expect to ask a number of questions about the basis of the speech made in London by the Prime Minister, Mr Menzies.

Mr Forde, deputy-Labour leader and a member of the council, said today that he would be interested to learn from Mr Fadden what caused the conflict of opinion between Mr Menzies, the War Council, and Cabinet, concerning the Pacific. Mr Fadden’s recent warning had been given after careful consideration and advice from responsible quarters.

“I would like to know whether Mr Menzies was advised by the Government of all relevant facts before making his appeasement speech.” said Mr Forde. “It seems strange that the Government leader abroad speaks with one voice and the War Cabinet with another. I believe we should encourage the friendliest relationship between Australia and other Powers. We want peace in the Pacific, but we have too much to lose to follow a policy of laissez faire. The experiences of other countries have shown that appeasement can be carried too far.”

From Sydney it is reported that more than one member of the council finds it hard to understand Mr Menzies’s apparent deprecation of the significance attached to Japan’s part in the Berlin-Rome-Japan Axis. The full text of Mr Menzies’s speech is being sought from London. The Japanese Consul-General in Sydney, Mr Akiyama, was highly pleased with Mr Menzies’s speech, the keynote of which, he said, was a plea for a better understanding and tolerance between Australia and Japan. Mr Akiyama added that there was an earnest desire among Japanese business men for a cordial understanding with Australia and a complete restoration of the spirit of friendliness which had hitherto characterised relations between the two countries.