The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1925. SIGNED AND SEALED.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 285, 2 December 1925, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1925. SIGNED AND SEALED.

For the cause that lacks assistanes, For the xorong that needs resistance, For the fu.tv.re in the distance, And the good that use can do.

The Security Pact, which is likely to render the obscure little town of Locarno famous in history for all time, was signed yesterday at the Foreign Office in London; and the dignity and solemnity of the proceedings appear to have been entirely in accord with the importance of the occasion. According to the cabled description of the ceremony, all who participated seem to have been immensely impressed by the heavy responsibilities that the countries they represented were assuming and by the momentous nature of this compact. For not only is. the Locarno Treaty by far the most comprehensive attempt yet made by international diplomacy to bind up Europe's wounds an,! to heal the malndies consequent upon the war; it is also the. first international agreement to which Germany has been a party sincfe the war of her own free will and consent. I: has often been said that the chief object of a diplomat's existence, when dealing with international, disputes, is to discover a "modus vivendi"—a compromise which, while it does not attempt to satisfy all the conflicting claims, at least offers a practicable chance of conciliating enmities or preventing war. It is easy to criticise tbe Locarno Pact, but as a "modus vivendi" it is a great achievement, and it reflects infinite credit on the courage and resourcefulness with which the statesmen of Europe have faced an almost incredibly difficult situation.

We have already devoted a good deal of attention to the principal provisions of the treaty,-and there is no need to enlarg-e upon them further just now. But it is hardly possible to exaggerate the .importance of the political and diplomatic "rapprochement" signalised and emphasised in this treaty between Germany, on the one hand, and France and Belgium on the other. Herr Stresemann, speaking for Germany, and M. Briand, for France, laid great stress upon this aspect of the Pact and its possibilities; and it can hardly be doubted that these professions of mutual goodwill were at least for the moment genuine and sincere. As an interesting sidelight on the situation, we may note the decision of Belgium to discontinue the trial of German war-criminals—a step which, whatever the practical reasons for it, must appeal to the Germans as a proof of the willingness of the Belgian people to forget, if not to forgive, the worst horrors of the war. Of course, it must be remembered that, as is the case with all agreements everywhere, the value of the Locarno Pact must depend upon the sincerity of the contracting parties and their earnest desire to carry its terms on to effect, not only in the letter, but in the spirit. For the future, everything depends upon the intentions of the Powers and the attitude that they actually take up toward each other. Because Germany is the real cause of the international problem, therefore everything depends on the German people and their ability, as well as their desire, to disarm suspicion, and to follow out their own destiny without prejudicing the interests or encroaching on the rights, or arousing needlessly the antagonism, of others.

But even granting that Germany —not only the Republican Government but the nation—is earnestly desirous of maintaining peace and promoting the general welfare of Europe and the civilised world by observing carefully the terms of the Pact, we cannot afford to regard the security of the Powers as yet finally assured. The Locarno Fact is only the first step in the direction of the distant goal of international amity and peace. As Mr. Chamberlain has already said, the next step must he a general Disarmament Conference which will attempt to carry the nations beyond the point where they halted at "Washington three years ago. But even disarmament cannot be expected to ensue on a large scale, and within any measurable time, unless the world generally is convinced that the Powers are all endeavouring honestly to carry out the terms of the Pact, and until some practicable scheme ha 3 been evolved for invoking and carrying into effect the decisions of the League of Nations. And here we come once more face to face with Germany as the central figure on the world's stage. Germany is now virtually a member of the League of Nations: .and the name of Germany stands first in th e list of Powers that through . their delegates have signed the Locarno Pact. To-day even more clearly and decisively than in 1000 or in 1914 the world's peace and the world's future depend most largely on the will and the purposes of the German people.