793.94/11767: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 22—12:25 p.m.]
800. Two considerations characterized yesterday’s somewhat redundant debate on foreign affairs, namely:
- 1.
- What Churchill47 termed “the very great measure not merely of underlying but openly expressed unity in the speeches in all parts of the House of Commons”.
- 2.
- The almost unanimous awareness of the key position occupied by the United States and the equally unanimous desire to obtain American cooperation which means American support.
The significant points on the European and Mediterranean situations were reported in my numbers 796, December 21, 6 p.m., and 797, December 21, 7 p.m.48 However, it seems desirable to quote below pertinent excerpts from the statements of the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary on the Far East. Chamberlain said:
“What we are now doing is to await proof of the determination and the ability of the Japanese Government to prevent a recurrence of these incidents. From the beginning we have constantly offered our services with a view to trying to find some means of bringing this conflict to an end. We are still anxious to serve the cause of peace by any honorable means that are open to us but it must not be thought that our desire for peace and our patience under repeated provocations means that we are either indifferent to our international obligations or that we are forgetful of our duty to protect British interests. It is now for the Japanese Government to show that they in their turn are not unmindful of the rights and interests of foreigners and that their assurances and apologies mean something more than words”.
Eden said:
“Does the opposition really think that the League of Nations today with only two great naval powers in it, ourselves and France, have got that overwhelming force? It must be perfectly clear to every one that overwhelming force does not exist. Every nation at Geneva from the beginning of this dispute knows perfectly well that the very thought of action of any kind in the Far East must depend on the cooperation of the nations besides those who are actually members of the League at this time”.
In reply to an interruption mentioning the instance of Abyssinia, Eden said
“If the Government or a collection of governments have made a mistake, is that a reason for advocating that they should repeat in exactly the same form?”
He went on to say:
“Our chief preoccupation at this juncture is the situation in the Far East. We are faced with manifold problems of great complexity and gravity. The very gravity of them makes it difficult for me to speak as freely as I would like tonight. We have in the Far East great interests which are certainly not incompatible with those of other nations there and which we shall do our utmost to defend …49 in the present conditions, there are three principles which I think must guide us in the Far East: the first, that we must do all that we honorably can to secure the restoration of peace; the second, that we must do our full share with others in the fulfillment of our international obligations; and the third, that we must protect our own interests and of course British territory. There is a very important aspect of this [Page 832] Far Eastern situation which is perhaps the only one today that one can view with satisfaction. It is the fact that we are constantly and daily in close consultation with the Government of the United States. Over and over again we have taken either parallel or similar action and that in itself is an indication of the closeness of such collaboration.”
Because of the diffuse character of the debate today’s editorials are mainly descriptive.