A HOPEFUL PEACE MOVE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 134, 9 June 1933, Page 6

A HOPEFUL PEACE MOVE.

Prospects of peace in Europe have been considerably enhanced by the initialling of the Pour-Power Pact. "Everything', however, will depend on the spirit in which it is observed. There are already many pacts for the preservation of peace and the settlement of all disputes by conciliation and arbitration. Under the Kellogg Pact the signatory Powers agreed,to renounce war as an instrument of national policy. This could be evaded by attacking a territory without any formal declaration of war. To get over this difficulty a new convention has been drawn up and embodied in the Four-Power Pact, under which the signatories agree not to use force in the settlement of any disputes. The Covenant of the League does not exclude war or force as a final resort; it only insists that arbitration and conciliation should first be tried. The Five-Power .Pact and the Nine-Power Pact have reference to the Far East.

The importance of the Four-Power Pact lies in the fact that a better atmosphere is created in which disputes may be settled. The test of its value will come when the settlement of these disputes comes up for decision. The crucial question will be the revision of the peace treaties. The Pact envisages such revision in accordance with the Covenant. It also avoids the danger of the Powers splitting into separate camps. At one time it seemed <as if Italy and Germany might combine to oppose France. Now it has been agreed to follow as far as possible a common line of conduct. Germany has waived her objection to the successive stages by which her claim to equality of rights is to be given effect to, and this ought to assist the Disarmament Conference. The Pact itself will not necessarily ensure peace, but the spirit that dictated it is a hopeful augury that the same spirit will be carried into the negotiations that are to follow for the revision of such clauses in the peace treaties as may cause conflict in Europe.