Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1925. SECURITY PACT

Greymouth Evening Star, 13 June 1925, Page 4

Greymouth Evening Star. AND BRUNNERTON ADVOCATE SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 1925. SECURITY PACT

Many in 1 lie overseas Dominions are asking why any European security pact is thought .necessary,and why Britain should not flatly decline to be a party to it. These honest doubters should remember, however, that it was claimed often, both during and. since the great war, that had Britain made it previously clear to Germany that the whole might of the British Empire would be used against any German aggression, the Kaiser would never have ordered his forces to move against France. What ground these 'is for such statement must be a matter of opinion; the Kaiser always professed contempt for lhe British army, and believed that the German navy with its submarines, could keep in cheek the British fleets, His misjudgment

brought disaster to his country and himself, but he was nearly victorious through the- Want of adequate co-operation between his two principal criChiics, especially in the earlier stages of the war. It is remembrance of this, . which prompts British and French statesmen to seek a pact providing for immediate cooperation should the Germans ever be tempted to indulge in further dreams of world conquest. Where the two Allies differ is as to the possibility of aggression coming from and not Germany. The French press scorns such a suggestion, but the I|uhr advance and other incidents are not evidence of French goodwill towards the. defeated enemy, whom she still .fears and mistrusts. Since the signing of tile Versailles Treaty, and the refusal of the American Congress to ratify the Franco-Anglo-American defensive pact, .France has shown uneasiness, and her diplomacy has been shaped to make it too dangerous for the Germans to Work for a war of revenge. To a certain point sympathy can be felt with France in this attitude, but,she’ cannot expect her Allies, and particularly Britain, to agree to anything and everything France desires. The Homeland is compelled to consider the European situation in a different light to that which the overseas Dominions need, and what the latter could safely ignore, must be given serious thought by the Homeland. This duty does not seem to be sufficiently realised by some of the overseas Press, Avhich, moreover, is apt to belittle the Mother Country’s supremacy in the scheme of things.' After all, the Homeland is still the senior partner in the Empire, and be so, for many years yet. There is little cause for the Dominions to be anxious about their forces being committed to defend any Continental frontier, as Mr. Baldwin has made it clear that no pact is likely to be signed by Britain, unless the Dominions approve, and that in any case, Britain will not agree to defend France against aggression without reserving the right to help Germany should she be wantonly attacked. There could be little objection to. a bi-lateral pact, for a limited period, which in practice, should mean that Britain- would not be called upon for assistance. It is significant of the high prestige of Britain that no suggestion has been raised that she is likely to be an aggressor against France or-Germany. The wisest conduct for overseas people is the Asquithian advjce to “wait and see.” The Homeland Ministry is fully conversant with public opinion in the Dominions, and is very unlikely to run counter ,to this-, without good reason. Scare statements from the popular, but often irresponsible, Press in- the Motherland can be unheeded, and attention confined to official statements, or the comments of the “Times,” “Daily Telegraph,” and similar newspapers. France is not in a very enviable position nowadays. Her domestic dissensions, the further slump in the franc.’s exchange. value, the difficulties regarding finance, and the war in Morocco, are all helping to make her statesmen and Press somewhat “touchy,” and until the French outlook improves, it would be well to, keep calm about French newspaper claims, and rumours what Britain; lias agreed to do for her. It has long been clear what France wants, but her chance of getting it is less to-day than ever it was.