NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY. Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1925. THE MEANING OF LOCARNO

Northern Advocate, 1 December 1925, Page 4

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY. Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1925. THE MEANING OF LOCARNO

The' Locarno Pact, 'which is to be signed in' Londom. today, marks the greatest step towards peace since the armistice. This advance has been gradual and each conference that has been hold has added something in the way of assistance.' When the Treaty of Versailles was signed n great many issues remained unsettled, and during the years that have elapsed since the close of ISHS efforts have been made to remove anomalies in the Treaty and to secure the smooth working of the general ideas that lay behind the Treaty and Wilson's "Fourteen Points." In all the earlier conferences the one outstanding difficulty in the way of a final settlement was the question of reparations. At Genoa the relations between France and Britain became so strained that it seemed probable an open rupture would take place, and such rupture might easily have occurred had it not been for the good offices of M. Benes of Czechoslovakia, who not only arranged the differences which had arisen between Mr Lloyd George and the French Premier, but also drafted a general scheme

of non-figgressiou •, for, the .nations of; Europe. It was not*.'however, 'till the! adoption of the Dawes .Report that any- j thing like a security pact was possible, j The Dawes Plan was far' from being perfect, but it was at least workable and definitely settled-both the amount that Germany was to pay and the time in which the reparations were to be paid. The maximum amount Germany was to pay in any one year under the Dawes Plan was £125,000,000,, which re-presents the interest on a capital sum of some £2,500,000,000, a very different j figure: from the £6,000,000,000 previous- j ■ly-suggested and from the £24,000,000,-, | 000 .mentioned by Mr Lloyd George j during what came to be known as the V-Khaki Election." .Thus,, though little seemed, to hayebeen-done at the I previous conferences and many people | contended that they had failed, yet in reality they prepared the ground;: and without such preparation Locarno would J never have been.

The Pact itself may be explained ( thus: —France, Belgium, ,and Germany ] have entered into an arbitration treaty j and a security pact each with the other, j The Arbitration Treaty provides that in future France, Belgium and Germany, will submit all and every dispute; which | the one may have against the other, to ' arbitration. The Security Pact draws i a line of 30 miles to the east of the , Rhine, and this line is to be -a demilitar- ' ised zone which is not to be fortified, i across which no troops are to be sent i either by France to attack Germany, or by Germany to attack France. The Security Pact is -also signed by .Italy and Great Britain, but not the Arbitration Treaties. Italy - and Great Britain both guarantee to support Erance if that country is.wantonly attacked and to support Germany if that country is wantonly attacked by France. The definition of wanton attack is the •crossing of the demilitarised zone for purposes of aggression by the troops of either country. Belgium also joins in this guarantee, so that the effect of it ds that if Germany were to attack France she would instantly find herself at war with Great Britain, Belgium, France and Italy. Besides these pacts and arbitration treaties there have also been signed treaties of arbitration with Poland and Czecho-Slovakia ,and Poland. They have not been signed by Britain nor by Italy, and neither of these two countries is bound in any way to guarantee the eastern frontiers of Germany. The Arbitration Treaties are a promise that Germany will submit to arbitration all disputes that may arise between herself and Poland and Czechoslovakia in regard to boundaries and all other matters. Thus it will 1 be seen that the Pact has been signed by five countries, both the Pact and Arbitration Treaties by three countries, and Arbitration Treaties without the Pact by four countries. Great Britain is

limited to a guarantee of thd western frontiers only, and the Dominions arc not in a-ny way bound by the 'Treaty of Locarno until this Treaty -has been ratified by the Dominion Parliaments.

This Treaty of Locarno is to remain in force until all the countries concerned are satisfied that the League of Nations is able to give the guarantee of security which the Pact gives. The idea of the Treaty, has beeh to Work within the Covenant of the League and to strengthen the League in every possible way. Mr. Austen Cham•berlain in his first speech on the Treaty said that no written covenant or paper could ensure peace. Statesmen had done what they could, but it still remained to instil the spirit of Locarno into the hearts of the people. That is not so easy as one might think. The makes of munitions, (militarists in general, and politicians who see power slipping from their grasp and getting into the hands of the people mil oppose the peace and security of Europe by all the means in their power. They will play on the sentiment of fear and on the sentiment of a false nationalism and pseudo-patriotism. It will be for the people to resist them, and to remember that under the guise of patriotism these war-mongers are in reality seeking not only the destruction of their country, but the destruction of civilisation itself.