A WAR TO END WAR.

Evening Star, Issue 16625, 7 January 1918, Page 6

A WAR TO END WAR.

NO "ARMED PEACE" AFTER. EIGHT ON FOR THIS. Mr Lloyd George said, in conclusion: •* Finally, there must be. asparattion, for tho injuries dono and the violation oi international law. The Peaoo Conference mast not forget our seamen and the ser- ; vices they have rendered and the outrages I they have suffered for the common cause | of freedom." Mr Lloyd George regarded it as especially regrettable that the recently reported ; proposals of the Central Powers contained no reference to a permanent peace after the war. "It is desirable—indeed, it ia essential," he said, ''that the post-war settlement shall not contain the seed of future war. But that is not enough. Howover wisely and well we make territorial and other arrangements, there will still remain many subjects of international controversy. Economic conditions after the \iar will be difficult in the highest degree, owing to tho diversion of human effort to war purposes. There must follow a world shortage of raw materials, which, will increase the longer tho war lasts. It is inevitable that tho countries controlling raw materials will desire to help themselves and their friends first. Moreover, whatever settlement made, it will be suitable only to the circumstances under which it is made; and as circumstances change changes in that settlement will be necessary. As long as any possibility of dispute between nations continues—in other words, as long as men and women are dominated by passion and ambition, and war is tho only means of settling a dispute—all nations must live under the burden not < nly of having to engage in war time after time, but of being compelled to prepare for a possible outbreak. The crushing weight of modern armaments, the increasing evil of -compulsory military service, the vast waste of wealth in the effort to evolve warlike preparations—these are blots on our civilisation of which every thinking individual mustbe ashamed, " For thes.o and similar reasons we are confident that a great attempt must be mado to establish by some internatioaal organisation an alternative to war as a means of settling international disputes. Rf ter all, war is a relic of barbarism); and just as law succeeded violence in individual disputes, so we believo it is destined ultimately to replace war in the settlement of controversies between nations. If, then, we are asked what we are fighting for, we Teply, as we have often replied, ' For a just and lasting ptaee'; and we believe that before peace can be hoped foi\ these conditions must be fulfilled : " First, the sanctity of treaties must be re-established. "Secondly, territorial settlement must be secured, based on the-right of the selfdetermination or the consent "of the governed.

" Lastly, we must seek by the creation of some international organisation to limit the burden of armaments and diminish the probability of war. " On these conditions th© British Empire would welcome peace, and to .secure these conditions our peoples are prepared to make even greater sacrifices than they have yet endured." PRESS APPROVAL. LONDON, January 6. (Received January 7, at 9 a.m.) The newspapers agree that Mr Lloyd George's speech is momentous and historic. They describe it as unexpected in its scope and immediate in its gravity, especially when viewed from the standpoint of a choice being presented between the possibility of a settlement and of the war being protracted and redoubled in intensity. Now that the Allies' irreducible minimum has been distinctly defined, the .onus is put on the enemy, and there must now be aivtfnswer from Berlin which cannot fail to have a far-reaching effect on the world's whole future. AMERICAN OPINION. NEW YORK, January 6. (Received January 7, at 9.35 a.m.) The ' New York Times's' Washington correspondent states that the consensus of opinion is that Mr Lloyd George's speech is the most effective counter-stroke io Count Czermn, but does not add anything to his previous \itterances, and does not bring peace any nearer. 'Die speech may be followed by similar statements from France, Italy, and America.