Lord Halifax Stresses Rearmament Progress And Will of Britons to Maintain Liberties London, Feb. 4.
STRESSING Britain's achievements in re-armament in a speech Hull esterday, Viscount Halifax, the Foreign Secretary, declared that "on sea and land, and in the ai as a result of the last two or three years' intensive drive, country is a long way on the road towards resuming its ancient strength.
If trouble came, and there was a temptation in any quarter to think that this country would not give a good account of itself, those holding that opinion would make a very bad mistake.
"We should suffer, of course, for modern wi is a cruel thirly and we have the right to do everything in our power to avoid But, while the last thing that the British people want to do is to pick quarrels with anybody, they nevertheless are so made that if a quarrel were ever forced upon them, I should have no shadow of doubt ther os to what their answer would be, or what the ultimate outcome would be."
Lord Halifax went on to say that velations between the State and the Individual, which for them had been firmly established on the basis Ukerly and respect for human personality, were elsewhere replaced by Philosophies opposed to many things Englishmen regarded as fundamental.
was this clash of philosophies. in addition to the legacy of a feeling of disturbances Jett behind by the Great War, which was today responsible for the present atmosphere, in which intolerance was often regarded sign of strength, and tolerance ign of weakness. vasy to Give Up Trying "lis In this atmosphere," the For~ dun Secretary proceeded, "that we in this country, the Government and the people, are called upon to ty and bulla a real pence con understand the temptation some times to throw up the sponge, and abandon efforts that seem to bring. no, reward, would have been very easy for mr, Chamberlain (the Prime Minister) to have stopped trying 10 restore con fidence in Burope—many would have stopped.
"Air. Chamberlain has been violent ly assailed for his perseverance, but man T know is Tess tempted than "Chamberlain to cherish. unreal Hlusiong, and neither he nor any members of the Government is in the {eest likely to underestimate the difieulties and dangers of the present srnational situation.
"It has been of great exedit to the Prime Minister that he has not yleld= fed under criticism in this country you fee very little of It abrond—to ive up his efforts for real pence, Peace Effort Worth Making And even if all these efforts were to fall, and this country found itself obliged to face war, T should have hho fort of "doubt that we had been 100 per cent, right to make the effort we have been, and are making to show Burope amore excellent way.
"For in such an event the whole British people, irrespective of party und everything else, would be united fas one man; their honest desire for peace would have been shown beyond any possibility of doubt, They themselves would have an _jnvineible spiritual conviction of right, and the effect would be incalculable.
After stating that he was not one of those who Fegarded war inevitable, Lord Halifax referred to Italian assurances regarding. the maintenance the status quo. in the Mediter= aucan, and that after the Spanish war was over, Holy would have nothing to ask from Spain by way of "At bottom, all our people are solidly only pro-British, and are pre-_ pared for whatever is necessary, 0 secure what they judge to be vital
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.