The motive of that policy had not a preconceived idea in favour of one side or the other in the Spanish Civil War, It had the will to preserve the greatest of British interests—peace.
All through, Mr. Chamberlain declared, the object of the non-intervention policy had been to avoid what the Government had believed to be the inevitable result of intervention, namely, the spread of the con-fiot beyond the borders of Spain until it became a European con-flag ration, Once war-like action started, whether against General Franco or against some other objective, who could tell that operations would end there, the Prime Minister went on.
He asked whether it was claimed that the country should go to war, or take actions which might conceive ably involve it in war, in order to give protection to people who had Zone, for purposes of making profits. into this risky trade, in spite of warnings given by the Government.
Many Precedents Cited Opposition Twitted The American bombardment of Greytown, now known as San Juan del Norte, in Nicaragua on July 13, 1854, and shelling of Copenhagen by the British fleet in 1807, the latter" an "attack made on the capital of another country without either a declaration of war or any warning whatever," were cited. In the Greytown bombardment {he United States rejected a French demand for compensation, "In the light of the precedents of international law regarding the status of the third Power nationals residing in either one of the countries in conflict, even in cases where there exists no more than a war in effect," the statement declared, "nationals of the third Powers residing in either one of the countries in conflict have their status stipulated by the rules and regulations governing belligerency like any other private individuals of the country wherein they reside.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.