TWO WORLD PERILS

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 43, 21 February 1925, Page 7

TWO WORLD PERILS

ATTACK,OJf CIVILISATION

WARNING BY THE DUKE OF "■■ ..NORTHUMBERLAND

(FROM OUR OWN COIIIItSPOKDENr.) ; ,•- LONDON., Ist January

In the.new -issue'of the'"National BjC-"', view"' tlie Duke of Northumberland, has.. an • article under tho heading'- "Where: Are Wo Going?" -The Duke-'is'always^ interesting when he decls with such sub- .

jects as Bolshevism, and in this article^V-} he maintains that the two world perils v te-day are Bolshevißm and.a resurrected Germany, or, as he puts it, "disintegra- ' tsoi? ; ft!?^ di?.ruptjp?i from tvithin through ■ V-.. .the/revolt against, the,..existing, world- :;^ order-""and an.attack from- without by, '■ ' Germany, with perhaps the resources :,of "''■.'.'vC Soviet Russia behind her."' .: • : v

Two European countries, he points out, have had to resort to a military dictatorship in order: to save themselves "from ; anarchy, and in many, others,. reprcßen- .' tatrye government is being more andw . more fhiperilled;': while' tile ' kttehMon»of •■■ ■ the^British public is being diverted' from 'y:t the; German dauger by the futilities dfc. ■'.'■ Geneva. "The plain truth is," says the -.' writer, "that we either had to leave r Germany powerful and gamble' on her :r;i'. future friendliness, or we had to ensure ':•'■■■ hep.; powei'leasness to threaten the peace ■ ■ of iiurope again.:,. The,; logic of-if acts com---'; pelled us to. talt'e~th'e" second cours'e'J'bu'fc"::we have never in ou'u hearts accepted all the implications which that course- involves, and hence the perpetual friction between us and the' French.". : - .; Thus ,a, great/many Englishmen are hoping for a drastic revision of the settle- 7 r' merit,- with an idea that' thus Germany/ r-' will bo reconciled. Supposing, he asks, '"■■'■■■:' Germany hud won; that she had -de-' ' manded tho cessipn of Kent and Sussex, an independent republic for Ireland '*•-■ the-handing over of Wales to oiiVof her 1; alhes,-i.the occupation of the Tyneside. - "• the loss of pur Fleet and oversells Do-,..,

minions .Can ifc be Imagined tlint "we . should acquiesce, .providing Germany- re-•• :i stored Wales to us and ceased Ato occu-' "' py the Tyne area? "If only people would face factsj: have a Jittle: imagination, and try-to bbo such problems as they appear to. others,-they would' rc-x; ' cognise. how ill-founded are all .such".■*•■ hopes." : '.' -.•■■■■■ ■ :■;.•', ■■'■; . A STRANGE "ANOMALY?'™'"''' > /So clear is.it that force is t)ie only ■ guarantee against a, fuUiro war that we have pledged ourselves to go to war i£ " ■any of the signatories to. the Covenant .' is'attacked. "But the strangest part'of •';■.'•• this-business is that the most ardent ; supporters of the tremendous obligatidnv of the- Covenant, of the Treaty of Mu-' '• tunl Assistance, .and of ,the ]alesli;Bchenie^ ''■',' for Compulsory Arbitration, whicrrwOuld,, V ll worth anything at nil, involve the V maintenance of colossaK armanienCs; ,abeulutely .decline >to consider. the. modest.".'.. ' proposal; to form an alliance ■with, France ] '-S and 'Belgium,' and they dov^b oh the ■ i.. amazing ground that it.\w6Hld; entangle",''; us itl Continental ailaws. It is, there-;' ■fore, less entangling to guarantee.'.some- 1.'.,. fifteen or twenty nations, whose security ■ ■ is little or no concern of ours,; than it isl " to, guarantee,two, whose ;;ecuvity is syn- , pnymous with-our own! There lias never ia all history been a more tragic loss of opportunity than during the past six years. 'No.group of nations has ever in .'- ---the history, of the world held such cards" in their hands as the' Allies did after Uie'_war. 'Wliafrfcourer nofr'haye- been achieved Jiad that alliance remained in, existence, cemented not by paper covenants, but- by naval and military agreements) What influence for good could : they not, have: exerted on the world," what a sense of security could they not have given to ikl, We might liave look- : ed forward—we had a. right to look forward—to fifty years of peace in Europe. He would be a bold man to-day who s would veiitiiro^o ' prophesy that pence" ' could be preserved for'ten!" * *

RETURN TO BARBARISM^"; ;'/ ; The writer then goes on to consider ■•";-■. tho even greater misunderstsinding 6£ Bolshevism that prevails in this country. "IV is a,symptomj.o{"a deadly disease, which has b_een. working . for ceii-., turies^in the bosom of European so- -ji ■ •cjety." Its aim is the destruction of civilisation; aiid as it restß on twb'main.' foundations, religion and the family, S, these are the main objects of attack., > Thus, in the collected .speeches . and . ■ writings of Trojfcsky very ■; little attention, ■■ •; is paid to the economic• or pbliticai prin- ".'•]. ciples of Communism. ■,"l'.We "are,'.'"'mi!'.' iftct, up against a psychological...prob-..:: lein, and the attempt■comnionly-'-made-'• to deal with it aa ifit .wei'c a jjaiiticaT 'r" ■ or >a social, problem .is bound,:tp, fail.;,;; ■ •That is the real reaspn;why, Bolshevism V is not understood in tliia • country; .'lin-. ■■ t ; d6ed_, it would almost 'sceitt ','tb . rieclUil'e 'a'""' ■ ' medieval mind to understand "it.'/■• Jlt ' •would havo presented. no:idinlculties .in.,'.!'.! those days, for the ■belief', was .then ':! commonly accepted that human beings actually existed and could be met. witli ' 'every day who not only woraliipped'tlib,','>i IT^ry principle of evil, but were tvholly'-"-devoted to its-practice,"and: thu"ihedii.>-:''- ■ val world had a very summary way of"' dealing with thcin^';,.;;. Thelo have been tyrannies, matsaci'cs, . and tortures before. What is new, what is different from .all 'othbr forms 6E ' tyranny is the desire to'eradicate the. primitive .instincts which distinguish v mankind from thp brute-creation. It is . ■ cori'ectfto-say -that' Bolshevism' involves ■•• ■ a-retiii-n to'bfifbafis!n,"for"eve lir tiio'.niOßf ; ':'■"' •degraded savage'has. some form of re- "' llgioiij aiid most barbarians • havo ■ very . strict notions of family life. Indeed, the most primitive forms of society are ffa'uiid- ' ' odupon the; family. ;, , . ';" .The Soviet is really an inlcinatfonai ' ■ Ooveinmeut, at ■ war with the whole ■ • ■'world, particularly;^th' its.'.chie.f Vpnemyy 1- ' - tho -British Empire, . which -has' bes>i" r ' ■gravely weakened through ■ its'"efforts! as' """"' events in India, Egypt, and, to somo extent, in prove. "If only Europe can be."plunged into, another great war, the. triumph of \ Bolshevism' '" : should bo assured." .

•' THE FINAL ALLIANCE. - : - • .■ "How, far.-can Germany and Soviet" ... Russia unite?": finally asks the DukeGermany lost'control of the Bolshevik movement after the . war, but she is steadily regaining ;t.. Great Britain and France will, no doubt, assist her in doing- ; so.: Are they-not setting' her on her ' legs again and" supplying her witli \ money?- Since; the .time of Peter-'Uie•'■■■' Oreat,.^German.influence has Been-para- ■ piount iivjßussia.^ -Is .there.any; reason': ;v; to^uppose it will be less so in future? "' AU these, tire,of course, .speculations,but ? they ;are •justified by history and by present-daY facts. ' Even supposing. Bolslievism .disappeared entirely, and "the •■■' rsardom was restored, is there any rea;- 'i son to suppose'it-would be"\friendlv fo Ol this 'country, which welcomed the' re'voS"'*' lution with, such effusion and',:'has>V treated the murderers- of the Imperial Family as on an equality with' • any ' other civilised Government? ."On the ' whole, looking- at the situation from the pomt-of view of our; late enemies, there ' .would seem to be no cause for discour-' ' agement." ■■ •'■.: ; ■ ; '■