Co-operation Is Our Only Salvation

Northern Advocate, 23 February 1938, Page 8

Co-operation Is Our Only Salvation

-MISS COURTNEY

A more or less informal talk on various > international questions was given by Miss Kathleen * Courtney, secretary of the Women’s International Peace and Disarmament Committee, of Geneva, at the Y.W.C.A, rooms last night, when she met representatives of the Teachers’ Institute, University Women’s Club, W.E.A., and others. Miss Courtney said at the outset that;She would hot give an address to the meeting, but would suggest various topics and avenues for discussion, and she invited questions and comments, a procedure which was adopted at a number of her Auckland meetings.

“Mr fidOti’s resignation and the present'ySituation in Europe, with which the.iesifnatiott is connected, are very rniiOh to the forefront now.” said Miss Courtney.

“For nay part, I know only what 1 have read in the papers, but- It is evident that the differ-

i! eitce -of opinion between Mr Nev- . ,IHe Chamberlain and Mr. Eden, which was known to exist, has now come to a head, and in general, I judge that the crux of the

question Is In regard to Great

Britain’s attitude to the dictator countries, and in particular, Italy.”

Some time ago, Miss Courtney said, Viscount Halifax had been sent to Berlin, and it was said that this had been done over Mr. Eden’s head, for, after all, Mr. Eden was Foreign Secretary. Whether this was true she did not know, but it seemed that it was. Is Italy Weaker? In regard to Italy, it was quite evident that that country was in a different state today than formerly, andihe could not believe that Mussolini Would hayr tolerated Germany’s position in Austria, where Hitler had seized poWer, if she had been able to resist. There was considerable evidence for i conclusion of that nature, as Austria,had been the bone of contention between Italy and' Germany for a long time. ' Italy had never fancied having Germany bn'her'frontier and desired to keep Austria between them. The Spanish adventure and the Abyssinian war ’had also apparently cost Italy more than was expected, and, though Miss Courtney said she was sceptical about economic conditions affecting countries, as they seemed in many cases to go on as happily as before* it was perhaps true that Italy had been affected. It was at this moment when Britain could possibly have brought pressure to bear on Italy that Mr. Chamberlain thought ■ that we should go towards Italy instead of Italy coming to Britain, and Mr. Eden had been sacrificed.

Stronger Line Needed

That was one element in the present situation, and how it would Work out she could not say, but she wished a stronger line had been taken some time ago, and now. The Spanish situation was closely connected with these things, and Italy had-,bitten off more than she could chew when she went to Spain. It s6emed possible • that the Insurgents in Spain would be granted belligerent rights, and that would be a, nasty blow for the Government Side. ■

In the Far East the position was just ds serious, and when one talked about, the Far East one thought about the United States, and. what chances there Were of America throwing off its policy of neutrality and isolation 6ttd ep-oberating with other nations. According to a speaker at the meeting of the Auckland Rotary Club on holiday, . said Miss Courtney, there waS -ah increasing desire for cooperation. As far as Japan and China were concerned, one had to consider what the Japanese aims were and how they Would affect British interests The. Whole situation was closely connected with that in Europe. It was I if Japan would have other present policy if the tic Powers had not been in the Mediterranean, and of the United States’ isolaolicy. War of Ideologies. I fr interesting avenue of was the so-called war on s. Fascism and Nazism on j sand, and Communism on the ! - -;

other. These three had a lot in common' with each other, and one had a dictatorship theory set up over against a democratic theory.

In Europe there was an attempt tc set up that people were fighting for certain ideals, but Miss Coimtaey doubted if they were fighting for ideals. There was a conflict of ideals. She could not help thinking, on looking back over history, that wars were in the national interest rather more than wars of ideology. If Italy and Germany desired to gain control, it was not because they desired to set up the Fascist regime,, but because they wanted to gain control of the Mediterranean. The League of Nations. Another aspect for discussion was the League of Nations, the effect of past events on it, and the part it could play in the future. One of the most tragic blows to the League had been its failure to protect Abyssinia and the abandonment of pressure on Italy. Since June, 1936, when sanctions had been abandoned, there had been a disintegration in the League,

She believed, however, that there was no salvation for the world except in the form of international co-operation, and they would have to go back to the League again and build it up.

It was impossible to secure safety in any other way. The building up of armaments could only lead to an explosion. She believed that they would have to get back to the League as a real thing, and not one to which lip service only was given. There was also the question of economic appeasement as a means for peace, and the United States had shown a desire for trade agreements with Britain. Such an'agreement was cf great importance to New Zealand, as it would undoubtedly affect New Zealand trade with Britain.

In reply to a suggestion that New Zealand might be withholding from other countries materials which were needed, Miss Courtney said that the difficulty was to find out what such a country as Germany needed. Some time ago, there was set up a commit--1 tee on raw materials, and Germany declined to join in. War In Mind? A policy of economic self-sufficiency might be the reason for such countries manufacturing leather from fish skins, for example. If such a policy was adopted, then experiments had to be made in producing materials which were not to be had in the country. Very often a country desired certain things, with war in mind; for example, the demand for colonies, despite the fact that only four per cent, of the world’s raw materials came from colonies.

Colonies would be of no particular use in time of war for producing raw materials, but would be useful for air bases and also that highly important and mysterious thing, prestige. An endeavour should be made to find out first why countries used substitutes.