THE H.B. TRIBUNE SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 10, 1934 PEACE AND WAR TALK.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIV, Issue 280, 10 November 1934, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE SATURDAY. NOVEMBER 10, 1934 PEACE AND WAR TALK.

The eve of the sixteenth anniversary of the day when “cease firing” was sounded along the Western Front, from the North Sea to the Swiss frontier, sees very little apparent betterment in international relations than did the fifteenth or the fourteenth, or indeed any such anniversary during the last five or six years. On the face of things very little would seem to have been done in the way of either salving the wounds of war or of settling the countries affected to the changed conditions that have arisen out of it. It is, of qourse, not in the least surprising that the mam difficulty has come in effecting an adjustment as between France and Germany, the two countries most intimately concerned in the making, in the conduct and in the results of the great struggle. It was only natural that defeat should rankle badly in the German heart that had been so confident of victory, but it certainly would have been better for that country, and for the world at large, had it accepted that defeat as a corrective of the policy its rulers were pursuing and devoted thoughts and energies towards repairing the wreckage of the war. Matters were, indeed, moving in that direction until the appearance of Herr Hitler on the scene, rearousing all tlie bitternesses that were gradually disappearing. It may be hoped, however, that even under Hitler this feeling will subside, and possibly the urgent necessity for paying more attention to internal affairs will help to that end. If only the differences between Germany and France could be satisfactorily disposed of and German Nazis compelled to stay their hands in other countries there would be very little need for fear of a European war. Indeed, even as things are it may very well be thought that there is really no nation among them all that has at the present time any notion of kindling the flames of war. Apart from the fact that none of the more bellicose is in a financial position to carry on a big war, the peoples of Europe are not yet far enough away from the horrors of the last to be likely to enter upon another with any degree of enthusiasm. So far as concerns Europe—and perhaps not even excepting Germany—there is really very little of the war-thought such as led to the catastrophe of 1914. Thus we may fairly well assume conditions to be such that wc arc safe from any really big outbreak of hostilities for at least some years to come. Perhaps, too, it’ we heard a good deal less talk of the kind of peace that implies the imminence of war, the chances of war itself would be still more remote. Even the well intentioned but so far ineffectual efforts at reaching agreement about reduction and limitation of armaments cannot but have helped to keep the minds of the peoples quite unnecessarily upon the possibility of war. No doubt, too. this has been emphasised by the continual stir created By the modern Press, which, in its desire io be “in first,’’ frequently spreads

news that is by no means ripe for public consumption. Had disarmament negotiations, for instance, been conducted with a good deal more privacy there would have been a much better chance of some practical outcome. As it has been, every minute phase has been bruited abroad, so giving material wherewith to awaken popular feeling to which negotiators’ had to pay regard. There may be a good deal to be said against the “secret diplomacy,” of the past, but there is quite as much, if not more, to be said against presentday insistence on knowing every detail that is being discussed by responsible statesmen. In any event, it may be said that we serve best the cause of peace by pursuing our daily avocations as though there were no danger of its being disturbed. At the same time, that docs not mean that we should not quietly prepare ourselves as best we may for any possible outbreak that may occur.