Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1934. BRITAIN AND PEACE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 28, 13 November 1934, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1934. BRITAIN AND PEACE.

The attitude toward! armaments adopted by Britain, as outlined by the Prime Minister at the Lord Mayor's banquet, will be approved by the great majority of the people. Mr MacDonald, after emphasising the continued objective of the Government for the preservation of peace, said that if they were met by aggression they should at least' be able to defend themselves. They had purposely taken the risk of showing the world an example in disarmament, though the equipment of other powers would have justified their expansion. Experience proved that in the world's present state disarmament by example was an ineffective way of strengthening peace and might, in some circumstances, tempt an aggressor to attack. As regards the immediate outlook, there is no cause for panic: no immediate risk of another great war exists. Where it is most ardently wished is no readiness for it. Side by side with the peril of an outbreak similar to that of 1914 are restraints not then in being —national memories of ill and lack of means to fight, together with international circumstances most clearly embodied in the League. But if that be so to-day there is no certainty of its being so in some near to-morrow. An ugly and reckless spirit is manifested too definitely and too extensively to be overlooked. They live in a fool's paradise that believe • British ideals of peace and order to be shared generally elsewhere. The doctrine of force that had so much to do with the outbreak of the Great War is exercising a new attraction. In both Communism and Fascism it is a dominating idea. Governments have adopted and inculcated it. Peoples imbibing it are becoming intoxicated, inflamed by it. As a result, other peoples are becoming uneasy, and this reaction adds to the risk of conflict. In his speech on Friday Mr MacDonaid said: "The Government cherishes Britain s reputation for being the most dependable and most consistent peacemaker. These services will be continued as long as the Government lasts, because it is convinced that a common-sense peace policy is practical " But while this is a most conciliatory attitude, it does not inter that the Government has overlooked the fact that to provide against the menace has become a duty. lha duty rightly engages the earnest thought and action of the Government And it is calculated to have a moral effect abroad. For the nation most resolutely bent on achieving peace in Europe to busy itself with such preparations of defence will impress the gravity of the international outlook, and perhaps impel a salutary rethinking in other quarters.