"And here is this military empire, with its millions, marching right up the borders of that great eastern Empire of ours, and we have no policy, that I can see, of any sort or kina in regard to that tremendous situation in the Far East."
"Can you disarm," Mr. Lloyd George asked, "without getting a settlement in China? I cannot imagine a greater act of folly than a settlement in China like Czechoslovakia. They have cut us off in Hongkong and Shanghai and our trade has been shut off. The Customs will be in their hands in future, and we shall be entirely dependent on their goodwill."
Mr. Lloyd George then criticised the conclusion of the Anglo-Italian pact.
"Sham" Italian Gestures The withdrawals which had taken place, he said, were practically sham, as vital materials had not been removed. Even the pact the Government entered into at Munich, he a: serted, had been disregarded, and fu ther aggressions had been committed, "It is not merely unconditional surrender," he continued, "but the giving of a free hand.
Mr. Lloyd George spoke of the uneasiness of the country about their meetings with great dictators, who were some of the most astute and daring men they ever had encountered.
Rearmament in itself had added a good deal to the disquiet, There was a feeling that they could not altogether trust the Government in its negotiations with the "two ablest and most ruthless rulers in the world."
Discussing disarmament, Mr. Lloyd George recognized the necessity, under present conditions, to make themselves ready and strong. but "general disarmament is going to be a real test in any peace they could make." Herr Hitler had said so. A fundamental mistake in the Government's policy, in his judgment, was the exclusion from the discussions of Russia, whose power Mr. Lloyd George then proceeded to extol.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.