LEAGUE'S FUTURE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 129, 27 November 1935, Page 9

LEAGUE'S FUTURE

CONSTRUCTIVE WORK

PREVENTION OF WAR

(British Official 'Wireless.)

(Received November 27, 11.45 a.m.)

RUGBY, November 26.

Speaking at the dinner of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, at which the Prince of Wales presided, the Foreign Secretary, Sir Samuel Hoare, said that a great new feature which had been projected on the international background of British for-' eign policy was the League of Nations. Some people had been surprised at the eagerness with which British opinion had rallied to the support of the League, but people whose policy was based on a profound instinct for peace could hardly fail to be attracted to an organisation designed to abolish war and remove its causes. A country accustomed to the exercise of a certain moderation of statements and outlook must inevitably support procedure under which nations pledged themselves to abstain from extreme courses in their mutual relations. Finally, people accustomed to face big issues must welcome and support an institution not only inspiring in its conception but one which with adequate support was capable of dealing with so many of the world's maladies. Sir Samuel Hoare went on to speak of the need for a strong and living League of Nations, and warned his audience against the inevitable tendency to consider the position of the League solely in relation to some immediate problem. The League had two functions. "The first," he said, "is to prevent war by removing the underlying causes which lead to war. The second function comes into play when war has broken out. There can surely be no doubt which function is a constructive one or to which the efforts of statesmen should be directed. We must never lose sight of the fact that the future of the League a future upon which the hopes of all those who believe in it as a living embodiment of ibeir ideals are so ardently set, depends upon its ability to perform the constructive and statesmanlike part ■:>! its task, and upon the readiness of its members to use it for constructivs work. The causes which lead to international strife are many, 'and it would be hazardous to forecast the nature of problems with which the League may be concerned in future, but it seems probable that greater use may be made of the resources which the League possesses of considering and dealing with economic questions, and study spent in considering the origin and means of settlement of economic problems will assuredly not be wasted." The Foreign Secretary recalled his speech in the League Assembly and his suggestion for inquiry into the question of colonial raw materials, which he said he regarded as an essential contribution to the future organisation of peace. In conclusion he spoke of the support and comradeship which the great Dominions had so constantly offered to the foreign policy of the Mother Country and which he adduced as proof of the contention advanced earlier in his speech that British foreign policy is