* * * * I am aware that any rich
country, possessed of sufficient mineral and industrial resources, will within the next year or so be able to " perfect " the atomic bomb. I am also aware that a small country with a congested population dependent upon overseas supplies will become extremely vulnerable to atomic attack. But I remain un- wavering in my belief that Sir Eyre Crowe was right in contending that British foreign policy should seek to identify itself with the " primary and vital interests " of the majority of mankind ; and that if we are unable to enforce his principles we should at least not con- done their opposites. We possess today immense moral influence and unpredictable physical force ; it may be that our physical power is far less than it was in 1907 ; it may be, on the other hand, that we shall surmount our present disadvantages as we surmounted the invention of gun-powder ; of one thing only can we be certain— that if we abandon our principles we shall lose our influence as well.
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