Right v. Might

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 234, 3 October 1936, Page 3

Right v. Might

(To the Editor). Sir, —Britain’s new Colonial Secretary, Mr W. Ormsbv-Gore, speaking on Imperial defence recently, “spilt the beans’’ badly. Admitting, quite truth-' fully, that, “We live once again in an unsettled and dangerous world, where power politics and great new armaments threaten the peace and order of civilisation in more than one continent,” he went on later, “Wo are quitting nowhere! .... Wo have the will, and are determined to have the means, to stand up for our Imperial rights.” .Now, if that is not “power politics,” dangerous to peace, I should like to kuow what he would call it. This is not an isolated example of British arrogance. It is one of a host of similar utterances, which surely cannot inspire any friendliness or conlidence on the part of other countrymen. What these Imperialists are all saying is something like this: “Most (irmly do we all desire peace, but we will brook no interference with our Empire affairs.” Which really means something like this: “We know we have collared most of the nice warm spots on this earth, and that wo have a trade monopoly and economic opportunities which are the envy of the world, and that, in consequence, hundreds of millions of men and women, just as worthy as ourselves, are compelled to live in comparative poverty. But we also know that we have a big air force and a big navy, ready for action, and we don’t give a ‘damn’ whether we are m the right or wrong. We resent the arming of these agrressive nations, whose power politics are a danger to the peace of tho world. Tlie League of Nations must stand firm, with the help ot Almighty God (and mustard gas and dynamite and fire) to uphold the splendid traditions of justice and freedom, for which our forefathers sacrificed so much, etc., etc.” We must realise that in reality it is only the bandying to and fro of such jealousies and bad feelings which, producing a sensation of insecurity and thence, in turn, the piling up ot weapons for defence, creates that vicious circle of fear —armaments, more fear —more armaments, and so on, till tho wholo system becomes so sore and explosive that the tickle of a cat’s whisker could set it off. Only a great act of goodwill and trust can break that vicious circle, and Britain’s good name in Europe is still such that sho could do it more easily than any other power. The forthcoming meeting of the Locarno signatories affords her a golden opportunity. It is generally recognised that the existing international “status quo,” as established by a sequence of wars and imposed treaties, defies justice, and cannot provide a fair distribution of economic opportunity to the people of all countries. For Britain to hold up the mailed list to the world in defiance, substituting might for right, is but to

contribute to the anarchy which grips this poor old globe. The British Empire will bear its share of “war guilt,” if this policy ever bears its fruit. Persistence in power politics must lead to war. —I am, etc., B. L. ELPHICIv. Frankton Junction, September 30.