CURZON'S OPTIMISM

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 107, 7 May 1923, Page 7

CURZON'S OPTIMISM

THE INTERNATIONAL

OUTLOOK

DEPLORES "A POLICY OF

SKEDADDLE"

GREAT BRITAIN" AND TEE RUHR.

XFfiOa OCR OWN tORRBSPONDBRT.V

LONDON"-, 3rd March.

Lord Curaon, ac the guest of the Aidwych Club, delivered an address on various aspects of foreign affairs. :

As to the unsigned Peace Treaty ofLausanna and:the Peace"Party:and War ■ Party at Angora, he said 'he -jould not Relieve it possible that, any; nation, or !. Government, or- people would! in the ; long run reject a. treaty so generous, so considerate in 4is term£ as that which we offered,; a -treaty .■which would; have : the result of■ enabling Turkey.to resiarne asrain her- career both, in Euro.pe, and; in' Asia, .He only asked them, to-bear m Blind one 1 thing about Lausanne, and! that' was that wheft the. success or-fail-' ,ure of-those proceedings was attributed, as it sometimes .had beeni 'to' an iridivjd-. ual, it ought to be, recalled/ that, the. British'representative there ■ ■was-''only one. of eight; Powers. He waß not the president of the' Conference, lift was. only the chairman of one particular- Commission, which, it was true,, was concerned .withi .601116 of- the npst important aspects of the case;, but in all respects, he had' to work with, his colleagues... He had to conclude if it 1 were possible not an individual but a collective peace—an" international peace, and a .peace, in'which' those who were, defeated in. the late struggle—he. spoke of. the Turk—had as great, a share as those who-were victorious. Therefore, the proceedings at Lausanne were international proceedings,' and what he Was concerned with, was not the victory of .his own country., but the peace of the- world at : large. A HUNDRED. YEARS AGO. . The .Foreign Minister-made, an -illuminating comparison of the present time with the .period- after the Napoleonic, .wars.- "A hundred years ago,"-he said, "the condition of affairs was much slower in reaching recovery than now. It took not four .years, to recover... but fourteen and fiteen, and even more, years. • It was not until 1921 that cash payments were renewed in our.own country. For. ten years or "even more after Waterloo there was,, a record of war, of. rebellion', and of revolution;. there was the war of' independence in Greece; a little later there was war between Russia, and Tur-, kyj there was revolution in Italy, Egyptj and Spaini Of course, the.statesmen of that day' had drawbacks to. meet andl abuses to . remedy different from. ,those with which we .are now faced. At that time' there were grave defecis in-" our . law and in our' administration' in'"..this; country, the gradual removal of. which ■was not.accomplished until 1832, but we also now have factors.'to deal with".with which they were not confronted- We. have to meet an almost complete-collapse-of international credit. On the whole, the havoc and confusion, what I may callthe v physical disturbance, created by. the late war-has been immeasurably areat-■ er than', that which: followed the defeat" of Napoleon ;• and, again, we also have the 1 deplorable spectacle in one part of' Europe .o.f two-great nations;. France and Germany, whose harmonious., relations are indeed essential for the. recovery of international peace.' engaged, in va sort of disguised war—a' war which is not serious as a contest of physical force, because- of the great disparity; of i strength of- the two, but which is serious in the passions which.it may engender and the consequences which may ensue.'- ■;■' ■■ OUR. DOMESTIC SITUATION. \ Ss to the present position: "Our reyenue_ covers our expenditure; our debt is being- steadily reduced; stocks, axe appreciiatinjar, flic exchanges 'are 4*teing,v fixed interest stocks have risen 5 per cent., and. industrial 6tocks 30 per cent., in the past year. Our gxpo'rts of manufactured croods-have almost climbed Sack to, prerwar level;-there is ah im-, provement in our : exports of iron and steel—l wish I could say the same of cotton. Our.imports, for/reasons with which you are 'familiar,' are not recovering,quite so .quickly. ■ This, I-believe, is in a sentence a. fair summary of the domestic situation." .._ . ... ','.. . ' Lord Curzon spoke with optimism of Poland, of Gzecho-Slovakia, of Austria, which has just been, able to float a £2,000,000 loan in London. "I pass to Italy." he continued,, "which during the last four years.has more than once been threatened with riots and revolution. There has arisen there a strong man of whom I saw 'a great deal at Lausanne. I speak of Signoif Mussolini.... He is a man of astonishing energy and with an iron grip. In a.-few months he haa crushed, internal:, disorder, has aroused the enthusiasm and enhanced the prestige of his: country. . and 1, has had the wisdom to make peace -with Jngo-Slavia. The clouds are' lifting over "Italy at this moment. : Take Greece. , Her financial and economic situation'is seriously de--pressed, but I believe that the.'patriotism of her people and the vitality of the race will be sufficient to enable her to emerge from the disaster from which she is suffering. The. pictm-e I-have draiwn Of the Central Europe States is, therefore," one.not of despaii" or despondency, tut, of recuperation and hope. BLACK PATCHES. "There are some black patches on the international canvas i there is the position of Russia; there is the Near East, the peace of which is still unsettled, but as to which I entertain some sanguine hopes; and there is the position which exists at the present moment between France and Germany on the Ruhr: I wish I saw daylight there. I certain-' ly mean to say nothing that will add to the difficulties of- our Allies, because, after all; the French and the Belgians were our Allies only a year or two gone by,-when .the Germans, were our foes. It is easy to criticise the, policy of the Government as being indecisive and halting. . I am not sure that for the moment it could ba anything else. I believe that, \broadly speaking,: the public opinion of this country understands, sympathises with, and! supports the policy which we are pursuing. With'us, I believe, they think that the military entry into the Ruhr, whether it was right or wrong, was' at any rate, unwise. .'VVith us, public opinion thinks we were right not to participate. I believe, also, that they hold we were right in maintaining the position,of our troops upon the Ruin* as long as possibls." ' ' Lord Curzon declared that public opinion would welcome warmly any indication that a way out of the difficulty could be found, aud when, that opportunity occurred would expect our country to. take a part. He looked, forward to-the day when it would be solved, not by individual. action, but by international action. LEAGUE OF NATIONS. '■ "There are two other features in,, the international situation which encourage in one a spirit of reasonable confidence. We have for the first time existing in Europe a permanent administrative machinery, I moan, the League of Nations. There was nothing comparable to this or, resembling is in 1815. The League of '* ' ■ ' ' '

Nations is still lacking in the; full m«w sure of authority and strength ■which, if; its membership were wider than it ia now, would enable it $o reach the posU tion that it seeks" to attain. But you Vould make a great mistake if you de* ride it or disparage it. -' You ought', on/ the contrary, to give" it every assist*. ance in your power. It provides a pra«« * tical machinery for good purposes, ans is gaining in strength, enthusiasm, an* support. It ha« already done: a very, great work in the international spher« in combating disease, in organising philanthropic efforts,"in promoting international tcommtmicktton* It hi* dealt successfully ■■■with several very ■ delicat* problems.that were .submitted:,to it; \ above all,; it. hae developed and is promoting that spirit' of international cooperation I have been, arguing with you is the ■ sola secret of.successful dealing with international affairs, in th* future. ■ ■ POLICY' OF UNIVERSAL SKE- -;!:--"- ■•."."":-DA.DDLE.■•■.'■■■ '"-■ .'"/ .- : "I sometimes wonder when I see what! is said, and what is written, whether wa are not. in, great 7 danger of losing something, of our • ancient self-confidence and! self-respect-Tby. pur ..'.■willingness 'to rum risks .to. dare greatly'■; and rdo.. greatly for;great-ends. ■■: (Cheers.)- - We ''want toi limit.\ our .obligations,-'.'to. curtail 'our 're- .. sponsibilities; : acd to, raducs ouri .expen-. diture. rFlag T wagging for .the' mere I"sakelN, . of showing- the, .Union Jack has long ■ oe,aEe.i to" have, any attractibri, even, for) the. British race. But I confess I.ani .rather, shocked when. sometimes I take* uP'.my paper : i« the morning and, I read; an almost piteous" appeal to : "the, British! people to withdraw from everywhere—■. from, the Rhine, from : Coiißtaniiriopl« x from'the, Strait?, Jerusalem,. SniJ,.Baj:h- ' dad. I have not any personal sympathy; for the. policy of universal,'skedaddled Withdrawal is, an. expedient; it is som«>i times a, 'wise and necessary expedient, but' it is in no sepse a. policy. .You havo to consider something more than mere ■•'.. pounds, _ shillings j and penes. You ..have to, consider obligations, and honour and the good, faith; into which we have entered, and ; to',.think of British interests, and the _consequences of- withdrawal i 5 too hurriedly or-rashly undertaken, ana! of -the effect, to'be produced-upori th« peace of the world:'.: I-am;'old, enough in public life ''tol.remember many,cases . in. which.,., in deference., to ..popular' clamour, we haye withdrawn. I have seeni British armies and-British influence withdrawn from the-Soudan, the Transvaal, ■^and'from parts of the iNorth-West Fron-. tier of India, and Avith..what results? After the lapse of only a few years s,v the, expense of untold blood and'treasure w^e had to. go back again. I don't want to repeat that experience. There ara . places from which we ought to withdraw, and may have to withdraw, but I wowlcl like to be cautious about withdrawing,^.; . and. be certain.. I. am. not -makins a ftiistake in doing so. and leaving my country in greater, difficulties'; It is better to stay a little longer than to go too' soon; '■' r think' that our ."foreign policy aa announced by its' statesmen should be resolute and firm. • The "days have not •yet gone.by.in my judgment when Great , Britain can still, speak: to the world in accenfb of 'courage, confidence, and 1 truth;'"^: ;"-':"-;. ■- : >-;. ."'- ■ '" ■