A British Judge Surveys the Situation

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 206, 28 May 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

A British Judge Surveys the Situation

wp—«ROM time to time there have been great convulsions of nature H which have spread ruin and destruction in the neighbourhood, but they have subsided gradually and passed away. That is so , with human affairs,” said Lord Justice Sankey, in the House of

Lords. “In places at present the crust of civilisation has worn thin and primeval forces have broken through which have upset old ideas and old conventions.

“There is no need to be alarmed. Such things have happened before and will happen again. They may be due to one of several causes. They may be due to greed; they may be due to a sense of injustice or oppression: they may even be due to the pursuit of an ideal. In very early days Rome had to reckon with the rise of Christianity.

“Later Islam swept over Europe. To-day we see Russia overwhelmed with Communism, although its tide seems no longer to be flowing.

“Their system is entirely different from ours. We believe in a God who became a man; they have elevated a man into a god. It makes it very difficult to deal with such people. In Italy and in Germany you can see a deification of the State that is undoubtedly opposed to our system. Provocative words are or no use, but it makes it very difficult to see their point of view.

“There must be no recriminations in Great Britain. Someone will say, ‘These are mere words, in which we all agree. Tell us what you advise; make some concrete suggestions.’

“First, whatever else happens, we must be prepared to defend ourselves. This means that we must be ready to make sacrifices—sacrifices of our ease, sacrifices of our time, sacrifices, to some extent, of our personal liberty, and sacrifices which in my view are the least—sacrifices of our financial resources. No man at this juncture should be allowed to make a profit out of the difficulties of his country, either by excessive prices, excessive wages, or reckless speculation.

“A proud nation like ours, entrusted with the mission of Empire, cannot accept the security of slaves. That mission is not finished, and we owe a duty to ourselves, as well as to those under our protection and to those to whom we have made promises, not to refuse, if it is forced on us, the dangerous battle for the right

“There are moral issues involved here which far transcend all material considerations. But I would rather not promise than fail to perform. Ido not think that we are likely to have war. We must pray for peace. But it gives me no satisfaction to think that, if Germans kill 20,000 young Englishmen to-morrow, the day after we should go and kill -10,000 young Germans.

“Nor is it satisfactory to think that if London bombs Berlin, Berlin should bomb London. I sometimes find myself wishing that the younger generation could make their voice heard. They, at any rate, see more clearly the ideals of justice and freedom, which are still in their minds unencumbered by the mists and clouds of politics.

“The next step is a far more difficult one, especially at a time when tempers are aroused and when passions are inflamed.

“If you wish to endeavour to make peace with an opponent, it is always wise to try to put yourselves in his position. What is the cause of the present policy in Germany. It may be due to the pursuit of an ideal which we cannot appreciate, which we do not understand and for which it is impossible for us to have sympathy. But it may also be due to a sense of injustice and oppression extending over many years, for which apparently they have found no remedy.

“I should prefer to leave the details to those who know more about the facts than we do and who therefore are in a better position to enter into negotiations. Of this I would remind them, that no great nation can be expected to give way to arrogant demands, nor can any great nation for long submit to ignominous conditions.

“Lastly, I am still a believer in the ideals of the League of Nations. We have been told that the ideals which an age of reconstruction sets before itself are never realised and that they end in disillusion and disappointment. But those ideals remain.

“They have not perished, because they are imperishable. What has failed is the machinery by which the League of Nations sought to attain those ideals. Let us, therefore, work together in order to obtain those ideals, in the hope and in the determination that, at any rate before we leave, they will have been accomplished.”