PEACE AMBASSADOR.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 20 April 1922, Page 2

PEACE AMBASSADOR.

SENATOR PEARCE ON WASHING-

TON CONFERENCE

In a speech in Sydney on his return from Washington, Senator Pearce said he felt, with the^chairman, that the Washington Conference had don© a. great and noble work for humanity and lor the world at large. To see what that conference did accomplish, he asked them to take their minds back, and ■to take a rapid survey of the condition of world affairs in which they met. Jle went on to speak of the fact that two of our powerful neighbours, the United States of America and Japan, were engaged at that time in building, with feverish energy, warships of the largest and most deadly type. They were engaged in expanding their naval arma^ ments and their fortifications in the Pacific; they were looking at1 each other with jealous eyes. And was he exaggerating when he said that, in both these countries, the Press, or a .section of it, insofar as they represented tne people of those countries, were speculating, not as to whether war would occur between these two countries, but when it would occur. That was not an exaggerated picture of the condition of affairs in that part of the world which had the most interest for us—the Pacific. What of our own Empire? Britain, which has suffered so terribly in ihe war, was endeavouring desperately {^ bind up her wounds, to get on her feet, and to restore some semblance of financial stability, yet she was faced with the condition of affairs which lie had pictured. Desperate as her own position, might be, Britain saw that she had to join in this feverish race of armaments if she were to hold her own among the nations of the world. To us in Australia what did it mean, with our great war debt, our small population, and our rich heritage to be developed ? It meant this : Not that we could economise in defence, but, if that race were to continue, that where we were spending £100 we should have to spend £1000. The possibility of war in the Pacific had meant that, in selfpreservation, we dare not decrease our defence preparations; rather, that we had to increase them.

Senator Pearce went on to ask his audience whether they had ever stopped to think what war in the Pacific would ■. mean, to Australia. Assuming that the British Empire even were not a belligerent, think of the fate of neutrals in 1 the late war, who found themselves crushed between the upper and nether" millstones. Think, too, of Australia's geographical position in the Pacific, even if we did keep out of such a war— and' any war in the Pacific would be a miracle if we could keep out of it. t Geographically situated as- Australia! was, assuming that war took place between the nations he had mentioned, it j would stand a very good chance of fill- j ing the role that- Belgium filled in the"! I late war. That, briefly, was the posi-vj tion before the Washington Conference ' met. The British Empire was a partner | in the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. Let him repeat what he had said at the Conference. When, in 1911, the re"newal of the Alliance came.to be considered by the Imperial Conference he ' was one of three Ministers representing Australia, and who went to Britain charged to support the renewal of the Alliance. As Minister for Defence ! during the war he knew the part that ! Japan played as far as Australia was concerned and as our ally in the war in this part of the world. (Hear, hear.) And he had to say that, as far as Australia was concerned, he knew that Japan had played the game—(applause) —and that we, as Australians, believed that, if a man played fair with us we played fair with him. We were not, lie had assured them, fair-weather friends, and we would not be the first to suggest the termination of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. At the same time, there was a nation whose good opinion and friendship we valued most highly, and with whom we desired to be on terms of amity—the United States of America. (Applause.) He had proceeded to point out that, if he had interpreted correctly Australia's opinion on the point, it was that the Empire of which Australia was a part should be friends with both nations, and that they should try to reach a common understanding and mutual agreement as regarded the Pacific question, and to secure for these great nations an ' arrangement for peace and mutual understanding for the benefit of all ] three. The Anglo-Japanese Alliance, ! however, was undoubtedly a cause of misunderstanding in the United States. It was useless for the British representative to point out that under the terms of that treaty Britain could not be called in^ against the United States j in the contingency of war. The feel-I ing was that the Alliance between I Japan and Britain was aimed at America, and was continued as a threat against America. It was difficult" to convince any American otherwise.

Now these three nations—Britain, the United States, and Japan—and a fourth, alongside of which our nation had fought throughout the war, had signed the Pacific Treaty—a treaty in which they undertook to respect each other's territory in the Pacific region, and in which also they undertook that, in the event of, a threat against the territory of any one of them in that region they would consult together as to the means of meeting such a threat. Senator Pearce went on to say that he was not so much concerned with the particular terms of that treaty. It did not, as some of the American critics in the Senate tried to make it appear, establish any entangling alliance, as opposed to the traditional policy of the United States.

"But what it does is this," he added. "It makes for a guarantee of honour, for an appeal to reason and not to force. It brings those who are a party to it, when any difference may arise, to the conference table to settle these differences. It brings out any differences which may exist from behind the sealed door of secret diplomacy into the open light of open international conference." (Applause.)

More than that, proceeded Senator Pearce. It revealed to each of those nations that the other nations were not, as they suspected, secretly planning and organising for their downfali! and for aggression on their territory. It was a pledge of good faith; a pledgeof friendship and of mutual aspiration and intention as to the policy in thoseregions. Put that, proceeded Senator Pearce, in the place of the suspicion, the jealousies, and the rivalry that had existed, and they would understand that, having reached that common understanding in one of t&e greatpowder magazines of the world, they were content to agree to sink and destroy some of the means of making war which they had heen so industriously building for the last ten ysar&.

Senator Pearce went on to say speaking of the other fruits of the treaty, that the agreement in regard to the Pacific made possible the agreement on the question of the limitation ot naval armaments, and the agreement m that respect created this position in the Pacific: As resarded Japan, the United States, Britain, and France, they were each left with a sufficiency of naval armament to protect their country and their national honour. They had, however, voluntarily sacrificed such naval armament as would enable them to make aggressive war on any other of those nations in the Pacific. (Applause.) With the position of China, which he described as the powder magazine of the Far East and of the Pacific, Senator Pearce next dealt at some length. Not many Australians, he said, had the means of understanding exactly what China meant to this country. The nations of the world began to wake up to the danger that, in the carving up of that rich heritage, their trade interests began to clash and also their territorial interests, and when Russia and then Germany came down and seized strategic pothts of that territory, farcing Britain, France, and Japan to do likewise, they realised that policy had led to a position in China which might eventually lead to dismantlement, and which would, as sur« as fate, lead to these nations meeting in deadly conflict there, because of the selfish policy which they had pursued. Again, the problem of the disorder and anarchy in China itself was one fhat had to be dealt with. Had his audience ever asked themselves what was China? What was the Government of China? If China was to get on her feet, and was to become a. nation, politically, as she was a nation racially^ then the best service foreign nations could render her was to leave her alone. The policy that the Nine Powers agreed to was just that, in one sentence—to leave China alone.j to agree that they would not interfere with China, and would not take advantage of each oilier in China, because of China's weakness. As soon as China could establish orderly government, a Government able to govern really in China, these powers which had been filched from China were to be given, up.

Senator Pearce went on to point out how, while the conference was sitting ' the Japanese^ and the Chinese delegates ' met to see if they could arrive at a common understanding in regard to Shantung, and how, finally, with the assistance of Mr. Hughes, Secretary of State, and Mr. (now Earl) Balfour, and with the tangible expression of the desire of the Japanese Government to ; give proof to the world that they were in earnest in seeking a peaceful solu- ' tion of the outstanding question in the East, it all led to a complete settlement regarding Shantung. Already the Japa- ' ne*se Government were withdrawing from Shantung, which was again to be restored to China. i

Senator Pearce dealt also with the question of the 21 demands made upon China. The' Japanese delegates, rightly,: he thought, took up the attitude that | the conference had no right to deal with these demands, but eventually, before the conference concluded, one of the Japanese delegates, on behalf of his Government, announced that Japan, in the general interests of peace, had de- j cided practically to withdraw all those demands, with the exception of two I points—the extension of the lease of Port Arthur and the extension of the lease of the railway. (Applause.) i "Japan," Senator Pearce added, "has shown that' she is abreast of any other nation in the Pacific in her -desire for peace. (Applause.) She realises as well as any other nation that there is the danger of moral isolation which comes to any. nation tiiaty pursues an aggressive, selfish, . and Jingoistic policy." "In subscribing as she has . done," said Senator Pearee, "to the policy of ; the Open Door, by giving up any hope ' sh© had of territorial aggrandisement \ at the expense of China, and by de- : daring her allegiance to the policy of , peace set out in the Pacific Treaty, and to the policy of non-aggression under the terms of the Naval Treaty, Japan ' has played a part well worthy of her great history." (Applause.) ' |

China, Senator Pearce went on to say, had been given her chance to live. Naval rivalry in the Pacific had been ended, But the greatest and most glorious achievement was this: That the two great English-speaking nations of the; earth, the great Republic of the United Statas and the greatest empire of aS time, the British Empire, were in common and complete understanding in the cause of peace. (Applause.) He had spoken of the Pacific as having been one- of the danger spots of the earth. But he asked them, as Australians and as Britishers, not to forget that there were others/ He asked them to think of these danger spots. Were tfcey satisfied with the position in Europe to-day? Could anyone be? When tfrey looked at Asia and at Russia, at India, at Turkey, and other countries, could they say that all was well? Much as had been accomplished at Washington, could they say that the conference had laid one little finger on any .one of the problems vexing these parts of the earth? Rejoicing- as we did at tlitf ; chievements of Washington, we should not foolishly shut1 our eyes to these oiher danger spots whiblr the statesman of Europe were industriously trying to solve as problems which confronted them. Therefore,, we- must tinge our optimism with just that note of caution before we could' say that all was well".

Senafor'Pearce paid a- glowing: tribute to the part that Earl Balfonr played in the historic conference as the leader of the British delegation, and'emphasised' the necessity for dominion representation at these international' conferences. Desirous as others acting for us might be to see our point of view, they were, he sard, at a disadvantage in seeing things at quite the same angle- as we did, because they were not affected by the- environment in which we were brought up. Senator Pearce closed with the r«^i mark: that there was a desire in i America to see a.> still stronger Bond' between the United States and" Australia, which, he said, had Been extremely fortunate in having to repre*sen6 it in the United States such men i as Sir Henry Biraddon and Mr. Mart j fe&aldon. (Applause.) i