WITH GLOVES OFF

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 74, 24 September 1927, Page 7

WITH GLOVES OFF

ML 1914 COME AGAIN ?

.SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE WORLD

rA SUICIDAL KELAPSE

•The. results of the recent sham attack on London from the air seems to show ■that, contrary to the hopes of some of our experts, London cannot be successfully defended. Within two or three hours ,bf a. declaration of war—in the unlikely ievent of that formality being observed— .the destruction oi the capital and the massacre of its inhabitants'will begin.

Among.all the booklets of the brilliant . '"To-day and To-morrow" series, none, I think, is so weighty and impressive as Jiofessor M'Dougall's "Janus, or the Conquest of War," writes the Very Rev. !W. B. Inge, Dean of St. Paul's, in the Standard." It contains twice as much matter as the other volumes, and instead of the Puckish humour of some iof the other contributors, it is profoundly eerions. The writer reviews, not at all hopefully, the various plans which have been made to prevent another war. : It is • commonplace that very few people .■wanted war in 1914, and that still fewer |want it now, after the appalling experiences which M'Dougall illustrates by poignantly touching anecdotes at first hand of the years 1914-18. He recalls how .the very modest proposals of the nineteenth century for naval holidays, proportionate reduction of armaments, and the like, were rejected one after another. Be reminds us how a whole body ■of injternational Law, intended to make war "more humane, was thrown on to.the ■crap-heap, first by the Germans and Ithen by the Allies. OREAD WEAPONS. . He quotes a£ length from a terrible article written in 1924 by Mr. Winston Churchill, to show what war would have been like in 1919,- and still more what the next war will be like. "Nations who believe that their life is at stake will not be'restrained from using any means :to secure their existence. It is . probableBay certain—that among the means which will next time-be at their disposal will pe. agencies and processes of destruction wholesale, unlimited, and perhaps, , once launched, uncontrollable." Among these Jie names bombing aeroplanes guided automatically without a ■ human > pilot, poison gas in far deadlier forms, and pestilences methodically prepared and deliberately launched upon man and beast. This study'is certainly being pursued in the laboratories of more than one great country." I shall return to these predictions presently.

Among the manifestly inadequate explanations o£ the causes of. war are the inherent -wickedness of mankind, ' the ■pecial depravity of emperors, kings, and other rulers not elected by universal suffrage, and the desire of armament manufacturers and profiteers to.make fortunes. 3?oor human nature is not so bad ■as to enjoy^ killing and plundering for their own sakes. Monarchies are not at all more bellicose and aggressive than republics. Those who think otherwise may profitably study, the. published letters of JRooseyelt and Senator .Lodge. Kopsevelt was. supposed to be rather more friendly to this country than most American politicians; but these letters reveal him contemplating with satisfaction a ■ war against England, at a time' when we had not given the United States the slightest provocation. As for the ambitions of profiteers and others we may feel certain that nobody who has anything to lose .Will lightly vote for another war. HOW WARS ARE CAUSEQ. Economic imperialism—the wish to, se-' cure markets and monopolies; the pressure of population upon the means o£ subsistence; and bombastic patriotism, are real causes which have promoted wars in the past. But they are not likely to cause another war, unless a threatened Governtnent thinks that a successful war is its only chance of: escaping revolution. This was undoubtedly one of the causes of tho Great War; but the Governments which tried the experiment had one-and all the most bitter reasons' to regret it. Germany was probably misled also by the memory of .her former wars, . especially . that, of 3870, which were actually made to pay; but nobody will dream again that a European War can be profitable either to jrinnera or losers. We must, however, remember that there is one diabolical Government—that of Russia—which would not shrink for a moment from massacring three-quarters of the,population of Europe, if the remaining 25 per cent, could be subjected, to the. same misei'ies which they have inflicted <jn their own people. The bitter truth must be spoken, that until this nest of hornets has been smoked out disarmament in Europe is quite impossible. .Italy also is said to be a menace to peace; l>ut in my opinion Mussolini is only indulging in the dangerous game of sabrerattling; a serious war would be too dangerous to himself.

I agree with M'Dougall thqt feat is the teal cause o£ war. We must have often seen two dogs approaching each other with bristling hair and perhaps with wagging tails. Neither wants to fight; but when they meet they stand eyeing each other nervously, until one of them flicks an ear or twitches a leg, and in a moment they are at each other's throats. "The proper remedy to work for is the removal of fear." Or, as Lord Cecil puts it, "What keeps alive armaments is one thing only—the fear and suspicion of the nations for each other." IS PREVENTION POSSIBLE? This clears the ground for discussing •preventives. Christianity no doubt offers absolution, \but unhappily the nations do not seem, more disposed to listen to the teaching of the Gospel now than they have been in the past. Arbitration treaties are sometimes useful, but not when two nations are vitally interested in getting something which only one of them can have. ' If two men want the same woman, they will never submit to arbitration the question which of them shall have her. Nor will great nations invite thejr neighbours to decide whether the Moors or. the Indians or the Filipinos arc "peoples rightly struggling to be free." The Quakers say, disarm and trust to the decency of. your neighbours,. not to plunder a defenceless and obviously unaggressive people. The fate of .China, which actually adopted this policy in the last century, is not very encouraging to these idealists. .

The proportionate reduction of armaments bristles with difficulties. If a gambler who has won a heavy stake says to his opponent, *o\v we will play for love for the. rest of the evening," the loser is not likely to consent; he wants, as he says !? •'»vft his revenge." This is very much tue j>ywtir;n of the losers in the late war it rnigh; Jave been wiser to treat them ,vith whoiiy unexpected generosity International *jwl abolition of nationalities is manifesSj impossible. It commends itself chiefly to those %vho, undercover of pacifism, desire a bloody classTvar.

_ Whether M'Dougall's suggestion of an international air force, with a prohibition pf national air fleets, is feasible,-! will not discuss. It is perhaps one of the best suggestions yet made.