Lord Halifax maintained that the Government's policy was not dictated by fear, but inspired by hope. The constant object of British foreign policy must be peace, and the Government was not prepared to allow an opportunity to pass of securing peace by an action for which the present might be the psychological moment.
"We may be disappointed," he said, "but that will not necessarily prove that we were wrong or that those who differed from us were right. What it will prove is that the forces of misunderstanding have been too strong for our efforts. I have no doubt, nevertheless, that an attempt is the right thing to make."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.