It is evident that after the Norwegian episode, in the
light of the revelations which may come to us from Yugoslavia, extreme vigilance must and will be exercised. I hope, how- ever, that no popular outcry, no Press campaign, no agitation on the part of patriotic politicians, will induce us to treat with stupid cruelty the unhappy refugees in our midst. There are thousands of men and women in Great Britain today who have lost, not merely their homes and their possessions, but their faith in human nature. Gradually, in the last few years, they have begun to recover their con- fidence in others and their self-respect. Many of them are fired with a hatred of the National Socialist system more burning and deeper than any we possess ourselves. This war will bring to the world much necessary suffering ; I hope that we (a race of gentle men and women) will not be stampeded into imposing suffering which is not necessary.
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