The Dominion TUESDAY, DECEMBER ,19, 1933. DIPLOMACY AND DISARMAMENT

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 73, 19 December 1933, Page 8

The Dominion TUESDAY, DECEMBER ,19, 1933. DIPLOMACY AND DISARMAMENT

———<> lust when most people have come to the conclusion that-, the Disarmament Conference is a corpse, diplomatic circles are; put . pnprcrpt; r efforts to keep the issue alive. Current news tei - of various & conversations in London, the object, of which, considers The Times is to bring about a basis of negotiations between France and Germany, “whose present disagreement absolutely prevents the conclusion of the Disarmament Conference. We ha ve also been tol that Sir John Simon in his official capacity as Secretary of £ tate J° ; Foreign Affairs is to undertake a diplomatic mission to the European c-initak in an effort to save the situation. It may be that the Foreign Secretary’s tour will be than the similar enterprise undertaken previously by Mr. Arthu Henderson as Chairman of the Conference, but that is dqubtfu . , John Simon, possibly for the reason that he is a greater lawyer th a politician, has not been strikingly successful as a diplomat. T|e whole history of the disarmament question shows that attempts to cross every “t” and dot every “i” have had the result of scaring the more timid and suspicious from putting their signatures to definite commitments, and give force to the contention that th ? tO ?S must precede the will to disarm. The will to peace will never attain full and overwhelming expression until the various world economic problems which are keeping the nerves of the nations on edge have been adjusted. Disarmament is essentially a moral question, no. a legal one, for its object is the abolition of a callous and cruel method of settling disputes between nations.. Hence it is more hkely to be effected through the weight of public opinion than through the conditions and provisos of contractual obligations agreed upon by diplomatic and technical experts. The recent defeat of the British National Government at the East Fulham by-election demonstrated that public opinion is quite capable even now of giving a clear indication of its will in this matter. The result was interpreted by The Times as a popular reaction from the suspicion that the Government was not putting its full weight into the campaign against rearmament. It has unfortunately developed, however, that in both Italy and Germany public opinion has been rendered inarticulate. Added to this there has been no systematic attempt by French political leaders to educate the people against armaments. .Their education has been in the opposite direction. The prospect of bringing France and Germany to agreement, therefore, would seem to be very remote.