LLOYD GEORGE DEFENDS THE PEACE TREATIES

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 106, 28 January 1939, Page 2 (Supplement)

LLOYD GEORGE DEFENDS THE PEACE TREATIES

Well-Reasoned, Frank Analysis

“The Truth About the Peace Treaties,” by- David Lloyd George, two volumes (London ;■ Gollancz).

There need be no hesitation in regarding “The Truth About the Peace Treaties,” by David Lloyd George, which comes from the London publishing house of Victor Gollancz in two substantial volumes, as a monumental

work. In the first place, it is a reasoned analysis of the most important,- and probably the most far-reaching, peace treaty ever made. Secondly, it comes from the pen of one of the principals in the international discussions—the only one, incidentally, who is alive today. Thirdly, it is written not only with the intimate knowledge of both the foreground and background of events, but also in the light of subsequent happenings over a period of two decades. In other words, it has the added value and balance of long-range perspective and mature reflection. On the other hand, It is not to be torgotten that this work is a partisan one. It represents the knowledge, memories and understanding of a statesman who stood at the helm of the Empire throughout the latter part, of the Great War, but it also represents his personal opinions, his particular outlook then and now, and his particular prejudices and inclinations. It is a defence of the peace treaties, by one who played a major part in formulating them,, and must be accepted with a more critical eye than would be called for in the case of an independent survey. This-is not to say that Mr. Lloyd George has taken a purely defensive or a one-sided attitude On the contrary, his work has about-it a ring of frankness in analysis that commands respect and confidence. He is often revealing in . a merciless way, specially in his descriptions of the human frailties, bigotries and short-sightedness which existed at Versailles, just as they have existed whenever even the greatest of men have met on high occasions. He has put his cards on the table. All that must be remembered is that they are his cards, placed in his way. The author’s main defence of the Peace Treaties is based on his contention that they were fundamentally sound, but that their provisions were subsequently distorted and abused by interested, and, in some cases, unscrupulous parties; that, in consequence, they lost balance and equity, and in some directions drifted out of the ken of post-war reality.." Many critics, notably international ones, disagree entirely with this view, and are of opinion that the treaties were in the nature of a gigantic expedient devised at the behest of a eoterie of near-seeing victors, who neither wished to look ahead nor were capable, in the circumstances, of doing so. But, says Mr. Lloyd George:—

Let the critics of the treaties take the highest standard of right attained in any civilized community or between one civilized nation and another, and then measure the peace settlement by that canon. As one of the authors of that settlement, I protest against Its being judged on the subsequent abuse of its provisions and powers by some of the nations who dictated its terms. The merits of a law cannot be determined by. a fradulent interpretation of Its clauses by those who are in a position, temporarily, to abuse legal rights and to evade honourable obligations. It is not the treaties,that should be blamed. The fault lies with those who repudiated their own solemn contracts and pledgesi by taking a discreditable advantage of their temporary superiority to deny justice to those who, for the time being, were helpless to exact it.' It is not fair to charge the authors of the treaties with these abuses or their consequences.

The first volume of the work deals first with the background' to the Versailles scene, the preparations for the conference, and then its tortuous progress. A detailed review of the discussions in aH their aspects is interspersed with many personal sketches of the participants, including President Wilson and Colonel House, M. Poincaire, Orlando and Sonnino of Italy, Botha, Smuts and Milner, and many others, including Clemenceau. Most readers will find that these intimate gHmpses are valuable, not simply because they clothe the bones of the record and argument in an attractive, piquant fashion, but because they bring down to a human level an essentially human occasion, packed with problems of human sentiment, ambition, rancour, loyalities and disloyalties. The second volume deals in greater detail with the various treaties themselves, their details, and the circumstances in which these details were discussed and framed. This volume concludes with a pungent review of what the author considers to be infractions of the treaties in letter and spirit. There is provided a detailed index, and the first volume is generously illustrated, as well as containing a number of explanatory maps and diagrams.

“THE MALICE OF MEN” “The Malice of Men,” by Warwick Deeping (London: Cassell and Co.). This latest novel of Mr. Deeping is in line with the best of his other works. It gives a good picture of an English provincial town toward the end of last century, and as a character study is excellent. His theme, if uot a new one —youth’s cry against a conventional and unimaginative world of class privilege and snobbery—is treated with strength and dignity. With emotion and bitterness John Lancaster tells the story of his life, from his youth spent in the sombre premises above a small draper’s shop, through a none too lovely adolescence to manhood, when his urge to create and his business ability combined to make him Sandbourn’s most prominent builder and property owner. He himself declared that his triumph was due to a successful hatred against one man, Sir Beverley Bullstrode, who, from the height and security his position allowed him, scarcely deigned to notice this young upstart. No small part of the quarrel was because of Sanchia Cherrill, who became Lady Bullstrode. John Lancaster’s love for this woman was the finest thing in his life, though that alone would never have dared him to do what he did to set her free. As he said of himself: “My life was a record of successful hatred, and love was the crown of my hate.” This book should provide its readers with food for thought