§ 4.20 p.m.
§ VISCOUNT ADDISONMy Lords, I am sorry for the delay that has occurred (unfortunately it could not be avoided) in my making to the House the statement which the Prime Minister made in another place a short time ago on the subject of his visit to President Truman. This is the statement:
"With your permission, Mr. Speaker, I wish to make a statement. I arrived back from my visit to Washington, New York and Ottawa this morning. I understand that the House desires to have a full debate on Thursday, and it will not therefore be appropriate for me to make a long statement to-day. Further the House will have seen the comprehensive communiqué issued after my talks with President Truman in Washington. I should wish my statement this afternoon to be read in con-junction with that document.
I should like to take this opportunity of expressing my warm gratitude to President Truman for agreeing so readily to see me at very short notice; for devoting so much time to our conversations; and for the very cordial re-ception which he and all his colleagues gave me. As I was greeted on arrival by the President, I felt glad that our meeting was one more in the series of meetings held between the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain. I also felt how important it was to maintain this continuity, for I believe that such meetings serve not only our mutual interests but the interests of the whole world.
The atmosphere of our meetings was both frank and friendly. I was given a very full account of the military situation at our first meeting by General Bradley, and this was supplemented later by General Collins, who had just returned from Korea. I have good 883 hopes that the forces of the United Nations will maintain themselves in Korea. We covered a wide range of topics, political, military and economic, and I believe we made progress on all of them. I had no hesitation in stating the position of His Majesty's Government on all these matters with the utmost frankness. I was greatly assisted throughout the talks by the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and the officials who accompanied me. They had meetings with the United States representatives on particular aspects of the problems under consideration. It was not our purpose, and indeed it would not have been appropriate for us, to try to enter into specific agreements. Our object was to reach the greatest possible degree of identity of view in our approach, and this we achieved in very large measure. The particular matters which were the object of some concern in this House in the debate at the end of November were fully covered.
On Korea and the Far East we were agreed on the immediate course which our representatives at the United Nations should follow. We were agreed that aggression must be halted, but we were equally certain that every effort should be made to prevent the extension of the conflict. Our long-range objective is to reach a stable position in the Far East. The House will realise that this is essentially a matter for the United Nations. Action is proceeding there on which I should prefer not to comment at present. We had a frank discussion on the matter concerned with the campaign in Korea. It is clear that the general directives of the United Nations have been followed, and we gave consideration to the procedure by which the United Nations Commander received his instructions.
The House will have noticed that there is one point of difference recorded in the communiqué—the difference between the attitude of our two Governments to recognition of China and Chinese representation in the United Nations. We did not expect that this difference could be resolved in talks lasting only a few days; and we did not attempt to avoid this issue in our talks, nor to gloss it over in the communique. But this point of difference 884 only serves to emphasise the underlying unity of our objectives in world affairs as a whole.
The United States Government share our view that, despite the gravity of the issue facing us in the Far East, we have to keep in mind the urgency of building up the strength of the whole free world. In particular, the defence of the West remains the first task of all the members of the Atlantic community. Here the way is now open for the very early appointment of a Supreme Commander of the European integrated force, and I am convinced that in present circumstances no other single step can do more to accelerate progress in strengthening Western defence. But the President and I recognised that co-ordinating planning in the military field would fail in its purpose if it were not matched equally by co-operation in economic affairs. We discussed in particular the difficulties which have arisen in the supply of raw materials, and we had a valuable exchange of views as to the methods by which such difficulties might be dealt with in the common interest.
As far as the use of the atomic weapon is concerned, I can tell the House that I was completely satisfied by my talk on this question with the President. I would ask the House to accept my assurance that there is no difference of opinion between us on this vital matter. I would add that I believe my talks with the President will prove to be of service in all these fields, not only to our two countries but also to the countries with whom we are associated in the Commonwealth and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. In all these matters our overriding purpose has been to prevent war, and we stand ready at any time to seek a real settlement of our differences with others, if they are also ready to enter into genuine discussions.
In Washington I kept in close touch with the diplomatic representatives of other Commonwealth Governments, and in New York I had the pleasure of a full discussion with the heads of the Commonwealth delegations to the United Nations. At the invitation of Mr. St. Laurent, I subsequently visited Ottawa, where I had discussions with him and his colleagues. I found that 885 we were in close agreement with them on all the matters which were under consideration. We reviewed the results of my talks in Washington, and gave particular attention to the economic aspects of the present situation, including the difficulties in the supply of raw materials. These talks were extremely friendly and harmonious and also, I think, most helpful to both of us."
§ 4.29 p.m.
§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURYMy Lords, I should like to thank the Leader of the House for the statement he has made. No doubt there are some questions upon which we shall require further elucidation, but I understand that an opportunity will be given for that when we debate this subject, which I hope may be possible the day after to-morrow, if that is convenient to the Leader of the House. In the meantime, I will say no more.
§ VISCOUNT ADDISONI think the course mentioned by the noble Marquess will be convenient to the whole House. If that is so, I hope your Lordships will be willing to depart from our usual practice of meeting at 4 o'clock on a Thursday, and will be willing to assemble at 2.30 p.m. The form of the initial Motion can be arranged in the usual way.
§ VISCOUNT SAMUELMy Lords, before the House passes from this subject, I feel sure that it will desire that there should be transmitted to the Prime Minister some general expression of its opinion that we owe him our deepest gratitude for the service which he has rendered to the nation, to the Common-wealth and to the world.