The Struggle For Peace

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" Speaking for the British Government we regard ourselves
as morally responsible for seeing that the promises are carried
out fairly and fully, and we are prepared to undertake that
they shall be so carried out with all reasonable promptitude,
provided that the German Government will agree to the
settlement of terms and conditions of transfer by discussion
and not by force.
" I trust that the Chancellor will not reject this proposal,
which is made in the same spirit of friendliness as that in
which I was received in Germany and which, if it is accepted,
will satisfy the German desire for the union of Sudeten
Germans with the Reich without the shedding of blood in
any part of Europe."
NATIONAL BROADCAST
But though further exchanges took place between Berlin and
London^ Tuesday and Wednesday morning brought no ray
of hope. In Britain the Fleet -was mobilised^ gas-masks dis-
tributed and trenches dug in the Park^ "while the people set them-
selves 'with resolution but with infinite sadness to the terrible
task before them. On Tuesday night the Prime Minister
broadcast to the nation.
" To-morrow Parliament is going to meet, and I shall
be making a full statement of the events which have led up
to the present anxious and critical situation.
" An earlier statement would not have been possible when
I was flying backwards and forwards across Europe, and the
position was changing from hour to hour. But to-day there
is a lull for a brief time, and I want to say a few words to you,
men and women of Britain and the Empire, and perhaps to
others as well.
e* First of all I must say something to those who have
written to my wife or myself in these last weeks to tell us of
their gratitude for my efforts and to assure us of their prayers
for my success. Most of these letters have come from women
—mothers or sisters of our own countrymen. But there
are countless others besides—from France, from Belgium,
from Italy, even from Germany, and it has been heart-
breaking to read of the growing anxiety they reveal and their