Washington, Feb. 21
To a Government itself sorely perplexed by its foreign policy, the split in the British Government comes as a serious development, which, it is feared, can only weaken the democratic front in Europe.
The endeavours of the British Prime Minister, Mr, Neville Chamberlain, to reach an understanding with italy and Germany, have had a bad press generally in America, Mr. Chamberlain has been represented as being ready to retreat in the face of Fascist threats, and to buy temporary security for Britain at the expense of the Spanish Republicans and the conquered Ethiopians.
The proposed recognition of Italian sovereignty in Ethiopia has particularly mortified the Americans because it strikes at the fundamental American doctrine of non-recognition of territories forcibly acquired.
It the conquest of Ethiopia is recognized, it is asked, how can recognition be withheld from Manchoukuo and, if Manchoukuo, why of North China? It is widely felt that the course of recognizing conquests can end only in embarrassment and differences between Great Britain, the United States and France.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.