CRUCIAL POINT

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 10 March 1925, Page 5

CRUCIAL POINT

IX SECURITY PEOBLEAL GERMANY’S EASTERN FRONTIER ALLIED DELEGATES CONFER. BY CABLE- PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT. PARTS, March S. In contrast with the meagre information vouched to British correspondents last night, the French newspapers appear with copious reports of the, conversation between the Premier (M. Herriot) and the British Foreign Secretary (Mr Austen Chamberlain),' from which emerges security and not disarmament as the chief topic. The crux of the whole problem is Germany’s eastern .frontier. While Mr Chamberlain rejected the protocol and an Anglo-French-Belgian alliance, M. Herriot agreed to consider a quintuple pact, subject to reservations, the chief of which is that the terms of the treaty as they affect Germany’s eastern frontier must be guaranteed equally with those affecting the western frontier. Mr Chamberlain was unable to reply explicitly, but hoped it would be possible to find an arrangement satisfying the Czecho-Poles and the Germans. In that, connection M. Herriot appeared ready to counsel the Poles to take a oommonsense view of the situation and use his good offices to secure a compromise. There the matter rests for the moment. THE PACT AND THE DOMINIONS. WHAT BRITAIN WA3STTS. LONDON, March 8. The Morning Post, in* a leader entitled “The Pact and the Dominions,” denies that Britain is joining the pact, This would be taking a leap in the dark. British diplomats are not involving the country in dangerous commitments, but are seeking to renew the settlement of Europe which the Allied victory made possible. It is impossible to'treat Europe like a derelict island in the Pacific. If the European countries have a feeling that all are in the melting pot again then the policy of financial recuperation will be thrown aside. Surely, if the Germans see'the advantage of stability the Allies will not miss the chance of reaching firmer ground. Mr Chamberlain is seeking not an adventure, but a settlement —not an upheaval, but co-operation. He is fighting for the status quo. We trust, therefore, that the Dominions will look at this new orientation of British diplomacy as conserving a precautionary measure designed, to protect the Empire from such bolts from the blue as the Clianak affair. It is an attempt to give Imperial diplomacy that continuity which is the prelude to unity of aim. ' It is nonsense to accuse Mr Chamberlain of thinking too much of Poland and too little of the Empire. Mr Chaifiberlain knows well that the spark which, starts the Balkans may evolve the wdiole fabric of the Empire, which can never be safe if Europe is restless. Moreover, grave as are the problems in Europe, they pale into insignificance compared With the. mighty racial issues which are threatening domestic peace in more than one British Ddminion. The protocol is dead. It. collapsed primarily because, the Dominions would have nothing to do with it. The decision was wise, because, the protocol mortgaged British power for causes with which the British Empire might have had nothing m common, but the proposed European pact is limited arid definite, and it therefore deserves unprejudiced consideration by the Dominions. We ask our kith and kin overseas to consider the grave issues raised by Mr Chamberlain not in a narrow sectarian, spirit,’ but in the light of the supreme interests of the Empire, which can only be secured by men whose vision can span the seas, concludes the article.