§ THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (LORD MOYNE)My Lords, when Japan yesterday morning made a dastardly attack on the Pacific possessions of the United States it became necessary to summon Parliament to consider the situation. The Prime Minister, with the full support of the British Commonwealth of Nations, a few weeks ago pledged this country that if the United States were involved in war our declaration would follow within the hour. Things have not happened that way. The Japanese High Command followed up the unprovoked aggression of yesterday morning with a declaration that a state of war existed, not only against the United States but also against the British Empire. Parliament therefore has merely to take note of the fact that a state of war now exists, and that messages have been received from the Dominions that they stand at our side in these new developments. In accordance with custom, passports are being asked for by our Embassy 198 in Tokyo and have been delivered to the Japanese Embassy at 1 o'clock to-day, and the Royal Government of the Netherlands are also taking the same steps.
We must, of course, deplore the horror that has been brought to the world by Japan's completing the encirclement of the globe with the flames of war. They do not need to learn anything in ruthless savagery from their Nazi allies. They have shown only too clearly in China that they are fully equal to the beastliness of the Axis. But, much as we deplore that hundreds of millions of peaceful people have been plunged into these horrors, we must be grateful that we are incomparably stronger and readier for this development than we should have been a year ago. It is extraordinary that the Japanese have not realized the tremendous gamble which they are taking. We have now the immeasurable advantage of full co-operation with the United States, who have had months of warning from the growing threat of the Japanese attitude, and war preparations here are now reaching their full volume, while in the United States man-power and production are being rapidly mobilized. We also have the great support of our alliance with the vast military power and courage of the Soviet Union.
I will not attempt to recapitulate the events of the last twenty-four hours, which are recorded in the Press as soon as the communiqués are passed, but your Lordships may be interested to know something of the developments in the Far Eastern territories which report to the Colonial Office. The Governors of the Colonial Dependencies in the Far East and in the India Ocean were requested some time ago, in view of the attitude of Japan, to carry out a review of the measures which would become necessary in case of Japanese aggression, with the object of ensuring that plans were made in advance and could be acted upon promptly and efficiently if the need should arise. The circumstances of these various Dependencies, as regards the threat of immediate hostile action by the Japanese, naturally varied very widely. The Government of Hong Kong, where we now have nearly 2,000,000 people owing to the increase of population from China, reported that all necessary precautions had been concerted with the naval, military and civil defence authorities; vital 199 points were being guarded, and emergency coast-watching organizations were being set in operation. Notice had been published advising all persons not engaged in defence services, who could arrange to leave the Colony, to do so.
In the case of the Straits Settlements, the Governor reported that he had issued Proclamations mobilizing the naval, military, and air volunteer forces throughout the territories and Malaya, that vulnerable "points were being guarded, and that a watch was being kept for hostile aircraft. The local authorities in North Borneo and Sarawak reported that similar action had been taken. Preparatory measures are also in force in the other smaller Colonies. The Governors of all Colonial Dependencies were requested to take powers, if they had not already done so, to control, by licence, the export of all goods to dangerous destinations, and they have discretion to take such measures in regard to the treatment of Japanese nationals as they judge necessary in the interests of security. The Governor of the Straits Settlements has already issued instructions for taking over Japanese fishing boats, etc., and for the general internment of Japanese nationals.
Certain information has already been received as to the action that has already been taken by the enemy since the outbreak of hostilities yesterday morning. There have been two air raids on Hong Kong to-day. During the first of these, bombs were dropped in the Kowloon district causing some casualties. Kowloon, noble Lords will remember, is on the mainland opposite the island. From the second raid, in which enemy aeroplanes unsuccessfully attacked shore batteries, no casualties are reported. An air raid was carried out on Singapore city last night, but was not a heavy one. There were some casualties among the Asiatic civilian population, whose behaviour is described as exemplary, but no damage was done to Government buildings or to war objectives. It is understood that the bombs were all dropped at random among the civil population. A four-engined flying boat is reported to have circled Ocean Island in the Western Pacific and to have dropped some bombs, but no further information is available from that mid-Pacific area. We know that the Japanese are good imitators. They have borrowed 200 the methods of black treachery from Hitler. During a fortnight when their emissaries were negotiating at Washington, they had been preparing these cowardly air attacks from aircraft carriers without any warning upon peaceful populations, and by submarine and torpedo upon shipping. It seems indeed a heavy price to pay for this possible initial advantage that they will thereby have earned the execration of the whole civilized world.
§ LORD ADDISONMy Lords, in these days we have been accustomed, almost, to the dramatic and unexpected, but one wonders if in the time to come, when the crowded events of the days in which we live are assembled, there will appear to have been any more surprising than this. It is, so far as one can calculate, "a dramatic and cold-blooded gamble of an unprecedented character. It is a challenge which, of course, is immediately accepted. One can imagine nothing, however, in its character and in the way the incident was staged, which would do more to cement Anglo-American co-operation upon which so much depends. One feels also, somehow, looking at it from the outside, that it must in its effect—almost in its immediate effect—consolidate opinion in America itself almost as no other event could have done. It clears the air. On the whole, many of us rather have a feeling of relief that it has happened as it has. It appears to have been inevitable. It certainly has been deliberately prepared for, as the noble Lord reminded us, and it is quite in keeping with the traditions which Japan is imitating, that the blow should have been delivered at the same time as the Japanese emissaries were engaged in discussions with the Government of the United States.
There is this, too, which is in our minds, that in her heroic struggle for the last four years China has now potent and open friends, and we may well pray that their powerful assistance will intensify her power and enable her, with us, in due time to get rid of the oppressor. We shall, of course, having suffered so much ourselves, feel for all who have suffered, and we should like to express our sympathy with the civil inhabitants of the United States and other territories who found themselves unexpectedly attacked in this way. Somehow, I feel—and I 201 think a good many of us must feel in our hearts, not knowing how events will develop—that this dramatic challenge to the British Empire and to the United States, to Canada, and indirectly to the Soviet Union, may well bring about a combination of freedom-loving people which, when the oppressors are defeated in the long run, as they surely will be, will be a new, potent, and splendid influence in the interests of permanent peace.
§ VISCOUNT SAMUELMy Lords, all those members of your Lordships' House who sit upon these Benches will, of course, approve and endorse what has now been said by the Leader of the House and the Leader of the Opposition. The whole nation and the whole British Commonwealth will be proud to stand by the side of the Government and people of the United States of America in steadfast and loyal comradeship to the end. The task before us will undoubtedly prove a heavy one. The Japanese Navy, although untried in modern war, for the Russian war of some years ago was no test, is certainly powerful, and may prove to be efficient, and we know that the Japanese nation is animated by a kind of mystic faith in its own destiny and mission, a faith which, because it is linked with ideas of force and domination, is as dangerous as it is pernicious. We may expect, therefore, strong attacks, possibly some setbacks, certainly many casualties, precious lives will be lost and yet more innocent populations are being exposed to the horrors of modern war; but in the end the alliance between the British Commonwealth and the United States will assuredly be victorious.
One of the most striking developments of recent years has been the growth in political solidarity of the whole of the American continent, north, central and south. The Pan-American Union is a new factor in world politics which now is likely to show itself in action. There is sorrow at every fresh extension of the area of war, but this situation has two counter-balancing features which may bring some compensation. The first is that it offers a prospect that the post-war position may be cleared up in the Pacific as well as in Europe. The Atlantic 202 Charter, in its last clause, forecast the disarmament, to use its own terms, of "nations which threaten, or may threaten, aggression outside of their frontiers." At once the question arose whether this would apply also to disarmament of Japan. Now this action by the. Japanese themselves opens the prospect that the task may be completed all the world over, for, if not, there will always be a threatening element in that region of the globe.
The second compensating factor is, as has been mentioned by the noble Lord who has just spoken, that this development will bring relief and rescue to China. The Chinese people have been the victims of a most monstrous outrage. Millions of them have died. The whole nation has passed through four years of appalling suffering. Now there will be brought openly into the field new Allies, and the Government of Chungking and the Chinese nation may look forward with assured hope to the future. Of the elements that are essential for victory in war, men, morale, materials and money, the combination now created has overwhelming resources, for the British Commonwealth and the United States with the support of the Pan-American Union, and Russia and China, comprise themselves two-thirds of the whole of the human race.
§ LORD JESSELMy Lords, may I ask the Leader of the House what action the Dutch Government are taking?
§ LORD MOYNEMy Lords, in reply to my noble friend behind me the Prime Minister has just sent me a note of what he is saying in another place. He is announcing that the Royal Netherlands Government at once marked their solidarity with Great Britain and the United States at 3 a.m. this morning. The Netherlands Minister has informed the Foreign Office that his Government were telling the Japanese Government that, in view of the hostile acts perpetrated by Japanese forces against two Powers with whom the Netherlands has close relations, they consider that as a consequence a state of war now exists between their kingdom and Japan.
§ House adjourned.