The Bay of Plenty Times SATURDAY, JUNE 20th, 1942 THE NATIONS NEEDED A SHAKE-UP

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXX, Issue 13672, 20 June 1942, Page 2

The Bay of Plenty Times SATURDAY, JUNE 20th, 1942 THE NATIONS NEEDED A SHAKE-UP

When all the conditions ami circumstances of the period fiom 1926 to 1931; are pieced together, and viewed in their sequence and severity, one cannot help arriving at the conclusion that this war was inevitable as a means of giving the nations of the earth a thorough shake-up, and deflect them from the insane economic course they were pursuing. The blunders committed during that period are seen now to have been amazing. The Versailles Treaty, based on President Wilson’s Fourteen Points was a blunder because its conditions invited revenge on the part of the conquered. The League of Nations, though a magnificent conception in theory was a blunder, for one of the leading nations of the world, that is, the United States, was not in it. The league was formed on the suggestion of President Wilson, but the United States Congress refused to allow the- country to join the league, because the league was opposed to the American policy of non-interference in European affairs. America was then strongly isolationist. The disarmament policy of the League of Nations was a blunder, because the league was impotent to enforce disarmament. Collective security which accompanied the disarmament policy was a blunder, because the league had no command of an adequate armed force to ensure this security. The war debts were a major blunder. The United Elates insisted upon payment, and, at the same time, took every economic measure to make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for the debtors to '-meet their obligations, it was the first time in history that the United States became a creditor country and she did not understand her duties and responsibilities as a creditor. Instead of allowing the debtors to pay in goods and services, the American tariff was raised to prevent this, and the United States.insisted upon payment in gold if dollar credit could not be obtained. This upset the mechanism of the foreign exchanges, causing a strong demand for gold with which to pay the United States. There was so much money in America that a boom was inevitable, just as the slump which followed was inevitable. The repercussions of that slump were world-wide, and every country had to pursue an extremely selfish economic policy. England departed from free trade and adopted a protectionist customs tariff. In the meanwhile Germany suffered a disastrous inflation period, while France devalued the franc, and Britain went off gold. We do not claim to have exhausted the evils of that period, but enough has been said to show that the nations could not continue in the vicious policies they were forced to adopt. Adolf Hitler, the unscrupulous, ruthless savage, seems to have been chosen by the Supreme Power that watches over and guides the affairs of man, to give the nations a shake-up, and he is doing is very thoroughly. It is Hitler who has promulgated the idea of a new world order, and there will be a new world order, not as designed by Hitler, but a new world order developed and sustained by the stricken nations. A new world order based on individual and national freedom and liberty with a solid base of justice. The Atlantic Charter, drawn up by two fair, liberty-loving and Godfearing men, will be the foundation of the new world order. There will be freedom of worship, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, and freedom of trade. This is a policy that the nations would readily and willingly support. The aggressive nations will be disarmed and there will be real collective security. In the new world order we will have a League of Nations founded on mutual goodwill. We have every guarantee that this will be the case, for now we can count upon the United States and Russia as strong helpful factors in this new world order. And we OAve all this to the hideous Hitler who appears to have been chosen as the instrument for doing good through practising evil.