Made by J. Ramsay Macdonald, Member of Socialist Labor Party, in House
of Commons, Aug. 4.
I would have preferred to remain silent this afternoon, but
circumstances do not permit of it. I shall model what I have to say
upon the two speeches to which we have just listened. The right
honorable gentleman has delivered a speech the echoes of which will go
down in history. However much we may resist the conclusions to which we
have come, we have not been able to resist the moving character of his
appeal ["Hear, hear!"]
I think, however, he is wrong, and I think the Government for which he
speaks is wrong. I think the verdict of history will be that they are
wrong.
The effect of the right honorable gentleman's speech in this House will
not be its final effect. There may or may not be opportunities for us to
go into details, but I want to say to the House, and without
provocation, that if the right honorable gentleman had come here today
and told us that our country was in danger, then I do not care what
party he appealed to or to what class, we would be behind him. We would
vote him what money he wants, and we would go further, for we would
offer him ourselves--if the country was in danger. [Cries of "But it
is!"] He has not persuaded me that it is, and he has not persuaded
honorable friends with me that it is.
I am perfectly certain that when the light honorable gentleman's speech
gets into cold print tomorrow he will not persuade a large section of
the country. If the nation's honor were in danger we would be with them.
There has been no crime committed by statesmen of this character without
those statesmen appealing to the nation's honor.
We went into the Crimean war because of our honor; we rushed into the
South African war because of our honor, and the right honorable
gentleman is appealing to us today because of our honor.
If the right honorable gentleman would come to us and say that a small
European nationality like Belgium is in danger [cries of "It is
invaded!"] and would assure us that he is going to confine the conflict
to that quarter, then we will support him. But what is the use of
talking about going to the aid of Belgium when you are really going
into a European war which will not leave the map of Europe as it was
before.
The right honorable gentleman said nothing about Russia. We want to know
about that and try and find out what is going to happen after this is
all over. We are not going to go blindly into this conflict without
having at least some rough idea of what is going to happen afterward.
At all events, so far as France is concerned, we can say solemnly and
definitely that no such friendship as is described by the right
honorable gentleman between one nation and another can ever justify one
of those nations going into war on behalf of the other.
If France is really in danger, if as the result of all this we are going
to have the power, civilization and genius of France removed in European
history, let the right honorable gentleman say so. It is an absolutely
impossible conception.
So far as we are concerned, whatever attacks may be made upon us,
whatever may be said about us, we will take the action that he will take
by saying that this country ought to have remained neutral [Labor
cheers] because in the deepest parts of our hearts we believe that that
was right and that that alone was consistent with the honor of the
country and the traditions of the party that are now in office.
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