The Dominion TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1928. A NEW ADVOCATE

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 12, 9 October 1928, Page 10

The Dominion TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1928. A NEW ADVOCATE

The Canadian appeal to Great Britain and the United States on the subject of naval co-operation, published yesterday, is interesting, but somewhat conflicting. The contention has frequently been submitted that if the two great English-speaking nations of the world were to pool their naval and military resources they could enforce peace throughout the world. Taking world conditions as they are at present, there is probably no doubt that this could be done, but what would be the moral force, or value, of such arrangement? According to the cabled report, the Canadian proposition, as stated by Mr. Dandurand, Leader of the House in the Canadian Senate, and endorsed by the Prime Minister (Mr. Mackenzie King) is thus expressed:

“We cannot understand why an agreement should not be reached between the two great English-speaking peoples allowing that their fleets, instead of being opposed in naval competition, should conjoin with the sole desire of assuring the peace of the world.”

The literal interpretation of this is an English-speaking combination for the policing of the world in the interests of peace. Mr. Dandurand, •on to say that the Preparatory Disarmament Commission at Geneva “can only hope to do useful work if Britain and the United States agree to a formula allowing them to make an appreciable reduction in naval armaments.” And he adds that the proposed draft convention about to be submitted to members and non-members > of the League of Nations, providing for conciliation and arbitration regarding grievances, “goes one step further than the Kellogg Treaty.”

What probably Mr. Dandurand intended to go on record as saying is, in effect, that as progressive disarmament was the logical sequel to the Kellogg Pact, international opinion in that connection would be largely influenced by the extent to which Britain and America could compose their differences on the subject of comparative naval strengths. In other words, Anglo-American agreement was condition precedent to international agreement. There can be no question that the moral effect of the former achievement would go far to establishing a basis for the latter, but. up to the present progress has not been easy. It is hardly like y that Mr. Dandurand had especially in mind anything like an AngloAmerican concert for the enforcement of world peace. that which is obtained by force can only be held by force. An arrangement of this kind, further, must be based on something more tangible than the bare assumption that the parties to it will continue permanently in that state of mind which makes cooperation possible. It is much more probable that the speaker shares with most enlightened opinion on the subject that the best basis or permanent peace is voluntary agreement, * and that the best metho of securing progress in that direction is for the principal powers to set the example and the pace. . . ' Canada’s interest in the subject, however, is important as toreshadowing future activities on the part of the great British overseas Dominions' in the peace z question, and even influencing the direction of British policy on the subject.