CONDITIONS OF PEACE

Grey River Argus, 25 March 1940, Page 7

CONDITIONS OF PEACE

POPE & PRESIDENT Definition Accepted BY BRITAIN. | [Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.] (Received March 24, 6.30 p.m.) LONDON, March 23. Under the heading. “Conditions or Peace,” the “Spectator” points out: “The aims of the Allies are just, practical, moderate, and well-known.” It adds, however, that “a disinterested third party may well give a more impartial definition of the principles on which peace, to be enduring, must be based. Two such definitions, fortunately, are available to-day, emanating from the two men who carry greater weight than any others in the religious and the political world respectively. One is Pope Pius XII., and the other is President Roosevelt. Their findings both confirm and supplement one another, and Britain and France can accept the whole of them without reserve.

The Pope, at Christmas, postulated five points, as follows:— First: All nations have the right to a life of independence, with reparation if it had been impaired. Secondly: Peace must be founded on disarmament; mutually accepted, organic, and progressive. Thirdly: International' institutions are necessary, both to defend and, where necessary, to revise treaty

settlements. Fourthly: The just demands of ethical minorities must be fairly met. Fifthly: Rulers and peoples, alike, must be imbued with the spirit of moral justice. The “Spectator” finds the moral basis of peace laid down by President Roosevelt at last week-end as clear, compelling, and comprehensive as Pope Pius Xll.’s postulates, and the journal concludes: “There is no word in Mr. Roosevelt’s speech, and no syllable in the Pope’s statement or principles which this country does not subscribe to and make its own. By such criteria we must judge the peace plans emanating from any quarter. So far as they fall short, we umpst reject them, and state our reasons, and present our alternative.” ,