867N.01/941: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 21—1:55 p.m.]
650. The following statement was made in the House of Commons this afternoon by the Secretary of State for Colonies.
“In the light of the resolutions passed by the Council and the Assembly42 of the League of Nations last month His Majesty’s Government now regard themselves free to undertake the investigations required for the purpose of working out a scheme of tripartite partition in Palestine on the general lines recommended in part 3 of the report of the Royal Commission. It is accordingly proposed to appoint in due course a further special body to submit proposals, after local inquiry in Palestine, for a detailed scheme of tripartite partition. The Council and Assembly of the League will be invited to approve such a scheme …43 I am sure the House will agree that the immediate and primary duty of His Majesty’s Government is to take the most strenuous measures to conquer terrorism, to protect the lives of British officers and to restore the effective authority of the British civil administration throughout Palestine”.