“The Things That Make For War”

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 72, 17 December 1938, Page 1 (Supplement)

“The Things That Make For War”

VISCOUNT HALIFAX, in a speech at Edinburgh, referred to "three possibilities of Hie future.” “The right conclusion, to my mind, in this matter of armament for national delence.” he said, "is that there is a good deal of sense in the old-fashioned idea that an umbrella often helps to keep the rain away. “The world that we desire Io see is a world in which all nations may exist side by side, their just rights respected by till, and differences resolved by free discussions. A world in which the men and women and children can live decent lives, no longer haunted by the dread spectre of war that stalked the world a month ago. “Yes, if we ar" to succeed in bringing the world into smoother waters, we must face frankly the three possibilities that the future seems Io hold. “'l’lie first is war; the second is an armed peace; (he third is a peace of understanding. "We wish to escape the first, and we wish to achieve the third: but it may be that, just as Dante made the entry into Paradise through the way of purgatory, so we, if we arc Io reach the true peace, have Io pass through the stage of armed peace to get there.

"For. let us remember, peace will not come, like Christmas, just by waiting for it. Peace is not a passive thing. Just as good is all the time an active struggle against wrong, so peace must be an active struggle against, (he things that make for war. “For reasons which it is not hard to understand, the gosjiel of force has gained a hold in many quarters, and it is this which is the real enemy to the free growth of confidence between nations, without which they can only move uneasily from one dangerous crisis to another. "But we shall not substitute for this gospel of force what we think a better creed merely by catching the infection ourselves, by resigning ourselves for all time to nothing better than the necessary attempt to meet force by force, and letting go all hope of exorcising the evil spirits that torment and oppress Ihe souls of men. "We assert our rights when things go smoothly; we assume our responsibilities when the times are troubled. We are living today in a time when, besides claiming rights, we must assume our full responsibilities. “In this task I do not doubt that we shall enlist the goodwill and active support of all who love their country, and who wish to see their country make its full contribution to the creation of a heller and happier world."