“SOUNDS NICE”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 17 December 1942, Page 3

“SOUNDS NICE”

BUT HELD IMPRACTICABLE ESTABLISHMENT OF ALLIED WAR COUNCIL. STATEMENT BY MR ATTLEE. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, December 15. The Dominions Secretary, Mr Attlee, in the course of an address to the Royal Empire Society, referred to requests for the setting up of a supreme Imperial War Cabinet. He said that sometines in the House of Commons a questioner would go further and ask for the establishment of a supreme War Council of all the Allies. “It sounds nice and logical, but unfortunately it is completely impracticable,” he said. “Imagine representatives of all Allied nations sitting round a table and deciding the day-to-day problems of the war or even just major problems. Imagine the difficulty of reaching a decision and the clash of opinion of the great retinue of officials who would be in attendance. “In war, decision and rapid decision are necessary. You cannot conduct a wqr by means of a mass meeting. There is a further objection that it is impossible for the responsible leaders of their people to be continuously absent from their own countries, nor can they give plenary powers to someone to represent them in a supreme council.” Mi 1 Attlee recalled that in 1917 and 1918 there wei;e meetings of the Imperial War Cabinet, but these were much more like meetings of the Imperial conferences that had taken place from time to time in the last 20 yea,rs. The British Government would be glad to hold such a conference, but up to now it had not been possible to secure the attendance of all the Prime Ministers of the Dominions at the same time.