Lords Sitting of 3 April 1939

Preamble
The House met at half past three of the clock, The LORD CHANCELLOR on the Woolsack.
ARMY AND AIR FORCE (ANNUAL) BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1a; and to be printed.
REORGANISATION OF OFFICES (SCOTLAND) BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1a; and to be printed.
LOCAL GOVERNMENT SUPERANNUATION BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1a; and to be printed.
SEA FISHERIES PROVISIONAL ORDER (TOLLESBURY AND WEST MERSEA) BILL.
Brought from the Commons; read 1a; to be printed, and referred to the Examiners.
CENSUS OF PRODUCTION BILL. [H.L.]
Returned from the Commons, agreed to.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA (HIGH COURT JUDGES) (AMENDMENT) ORDER, 1939.
The proceedings of the 16th of February last, relating to the presentation of the Order and referring the Order to the India and Burma Orders Committee: Ordered to be vacated.

THE INTERNATIONAL SITUATION.
3.36 p.m.
LORD SNELL: My Lords, I beg to ask the noble Viscount the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he has any statement to make upon foreign affairs.
THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS (VISCOUNT HALIFAX): My Lords, on March 31 the Prime Minister, in another place, made a statement concerting the attitude which His Majesty's Government would adopt in face of any action which clearly threatened Polish independence, and which the Polish Government accordingly considered it vital to resist with their national forces. The Prime Minister, as your Lordships will have observed, was authorised by the French Government to declare that in this matter their position was identical with that of His Majesty's Government. I am glad to say that our contact with the French Government throughout these anxious times has been very close. Our two Governments have found themselves at one on all points, and His Majesty's Government have constantly been able to count upon the ready and whole-hearted co-operation of the French Government.
My right honourable friend's statement has received wide publicity, and I will not, unless that is your Lordships' desire, read it again now. But I may, perhaps, be permitted to make some observations on the circumstances in which that statement came to be made, and on its scope and purpose. After the speech of Herr Hitler on January 30 last, it seemed possible to hope that nothing would occur to shake confidence in Europe, and that we might have embarked upon a period during which a sense of security might gradually have been established. His Majesty's Government were anxious to co-operate to that end, and felt that they might be able to make some useful contribution in the economic sphere. With that in mind the President of the Board of Trade and the Secretary of the Department of Overseas Trade had accepted an invitation to visit Berlin, in order to assist certain trade discussions that were due to take place in Germany between representatives of British and German industry. There supervened the German military occupation of Bohemia and Moravia, the circumstances of which will be within your Lordships' recollection.
It is not necessary for me to stress the apprehensions to which this action gave rise. The events of last year, in spite of the anxiety that they aroused, could, nevertheless, be explained as part of the project, of which Herr Hitler had made
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no secret, of incorporating in the Reich contiguous German populations. The incorporation in the Reich of nearly 8,000,000 Czechs was, however, a clear departure from the racial principle which Herr Hitler himself had hitherto proclaimed. Nor was it, in consequence, unnatural that in the light of such departure other countries bordering on Germany should feel that their independence might equally be in jeopardy.
It seemed, accordingly, to His Majesty's Government, that it was important to take steps to re-establish some measure of confidence in Europe, and His Majesty's Government have therefore been in communication with certain other Governments, with a view to considering by what means the obligations of international engagements might be reinforced and further recourse to force, or threat of force, for effecting international settlements prevented. For it is plain that no confidence can exist where there is no assurance that undertakings and understandings will be scrupulously adhered to, and that where international disputes arise honest effort will be made to resolve them by the way of free discussion. These consultations are still proceeding, and I am not now in a position to make any final statement in regard to them. I might, however, say at once that His Majesty's Government are fully alive to the importance of the attitude of the Soviet Government, and attach value to good relations with them. We are bound, however, to have regard to the fact that the relations of some States with Russia are complicated by particular conditions, though I can assure your Lordships that, so far as His Majesty's Government are concerned, these difficulties do not exist. Your Lordships will be aware that Colonel Beck, the Foreign Minister of Poland, is arriving in this country to-day and I look forward to the opportunity of frank discussion with him of many problems which are of common interest to our two countries.
It was while His Majesty's Government were examining this situation and considering how best they might play their part in the promotion of the peaceful and orderly conduct of international affairs, that certain circumstances seemed to suggest the possibility of dangerous developments in the relations between Germany and Poland. It was not, however, possible for His Majesty's Government to

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form any sure or precise forecast of events, and as the Prime Minister stated in another place on Friday last, in the absence of official confirmation of the reports, on which these anxieties were partly based, His Majesty's Government were not to be taken as accepting them as true. His Majesty's Government nevertheless decided that no time should be lost in taking action to stabilise the situation, and accordingly, in advance of the conclusion of a more comprehensive understanding, they thought it right to make quite plain what, in the interim, their position would be in the event of Poland finding herself confronted with the danger which they had some reason to apprehend. Those, My Lords, are the circumstances in which His Majesty's Government felt constrained to make that declaration of policy.
I may perhaps be permitted to make this further comment. The action of His Majesty's Government is represented in certain quarters as designed to "encircle" Germany. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is the case that a strong Germany is set in the midst of Europe and if her neighbours feel apprehensions as to her intentions, and tend to take common action in self-defence, that result flows from instinctive reactions and is certainly not the creation of any outside suggestion. And if it be claimed in Germany that these fears spring only from misunderstanding of the German Government's intentions, and from excessive readiness in whatever quarter to believe the worst of German policy, I must observe that, while in all quarters immediate relief would be brought by the conviction that this was indeed so, the neighbouring States can at present hardly be expected to ignore altogether the object lessons of the past. Our pledge to Poland marks a new and momentous departure in British policy. We have undertaken this commitment, not in any spirit of hostility to any country but in the hope and belief that, by doing so, we might strengthen the cause of European stability and peace.
3.44 p.m.
LORD SNELL: My Lords, you will wish me to thank the noble Viscount for his courtesy in making the statement that we have just heard. I do not know what the wishes of your Lordships will be in
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regard to it. One part of my duties here is to try to initiate discussions on matters of importance and of general interest, and I should be quite willing, if your Lordships wanted, to initiate a discussion on the present occasion. My own view, however, and that of my noble friends also, is that no special advantage would come from a debate on this occasion, and we also very much desire to consider the convenience of the noble Viscount, who, as your Lordships are aware, has urgent duties elsewhere. I therefore propose to wait until we have the advice and opinion of the noble Marquess (Lord Crewe) and his friends above the Gangway, and if I am supported by him and have your Lordships' approval, I do not propose to put down any Motion on the Order Paper at present, although I think we ought to reserve the right to initiate a discussion directly after the Easter Recess, should circumstances require it. But precisely because discussion may not be advisable at the present time, I should say that His Majesty's Government have our support in the statement which we have heard, and that we welcome the change of policy which it implies.
3.46 p.m.
THE MARQUESS OF CREWE: My Lords, I have very few words to add to what has fallen from the noble Lord who leads the Opposition. I entirely agree with him in the view that there will be no real gain in initiating at this moment a full discussion on the circumstances which the noble Viscount, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, has described. I can only say, speaking for my friends, that we have received that statement with great satisfaction, and I would just add this, that I think we may take it that the statement made by the Prime Minister in another place does not represent a single act but may be taken as the forging of a solid link in a chain of policy, that policy being to bring about, if possible, the belief in all the Powers of Europe, great and small, that any political differences, whether founded on territorial claims, territorial adjustments, or on any other subject, ought to be settled by negotiation, and in some cases if necessary by arbitration, rather than by the crude method of considering which is the stronger party and which can enforce its will. With these observations I would merely express once more my complete agreement with

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what has fallen from the noble Lord, Lord Snell.
3.49 p.m.
LORD ARNOLD: My Lords, I trust your Lordships will permit me in two sentences to express my surprise that the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Party in your Lordships' House have apparently both decided that there is to be no debate in your Lordships' House before Easter on the very momentous statement made by the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a statement incorporating what was said by
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the Prime Minister last Friday, and announcing, as he himself said, a revolution in British foreign policy. I will only say this, that I believe history will record that this commitment to Poland is one of the most unwise and dangerous decisions ever made by a British Government, and I cannot help thinking it is a matter for profound regret that there is to be no discussion of these grave matters until well after Easter, when fresh issues may have arisen.
House adjourned at ten minutes before four o'clock.