The New Commonwealth

Northern Advocate, 12 May 1939, Page 2

The New Commonwealth

Lord Davies, who is president of the International Section of the New Commonwealth, a society for the promotion of international law and order through the creation of a tribunal in equity and an international police force, has contributed the following article. The president of the international section of the society is the Rt. Hon. G. N. Barnes, while the Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill is president of the British Section.

Lord Davies writes

The events of the past few, months have convinced us all that a radical change in the sphere of international relationships is essential if war is to be averted. Today lawless force is the arbiter of the destiny of nations. It, is this fact that lies at the root of most of our present difficulties. The only right, or moral, use of force is the policing function, when it is employed solely as the servant of justice, to ensure that the law is respected and upheld. This is one of the fundamental doctrines of * the New Commonwealth, The New Commonwealth is a voluntary, international society, composed of members living in 51 different countries, which advocates the establishment of two institutions—an Equity Tribunal or Commission. and an International Police Force—as part of the permanent machinery of the Laegue of Nations. Its programme is constructive ‘and positive, because it seeks to express the universal but somewhat vague aspirations for peace which wo all cherish, in terms, not merely of treaties and pacts, but of living 'and practical institutions. Brace With Justice, Why do .1 emphasise the necessity for Institutions? It is obvious that a machine cannot run without motive power, and conversely, that the motive power will run to waste without a machine. Similarly, the League cannot function unless its members are animated by a determination to secure justice, upon which peace depends. We know that disputes and grievances exist, but if there is nc effective League parliament, not oven an Equity Tribunal, the will to achieve a peaceful settlement will run to waste.

Wc know that acts of robbery and aggression take place—Abyssinia and China arc two examples—but if there is no properly organised system of sanctions, the determination to secure justice is thwarted. i Hence the necessity for the appropriate international institutions through which public opinion can express itself. That is the Now Commonwealth Way io Peace. It is no use talking about the removal of the causes of war unless wc provide the machinery for the administration of justice. No civilised government could carry on unless it possessed institutions capable of effecting changes, in its laws and upholding Ihein. How, thou, can the League be expected to inaugurate Iho rule of law. if its members refuse to give it similar institutions? ■ Most of us arc tired of listening to mere denunciations of war. What wo really ward to know is: How is war to he prevented? Law and Order. The answer of the New Commonwealth is: By establishing international law and order on the same principles, and by the same methods, which have been successfully applied in the development of every civilised community. The League must be strengthened in two ways. First, by providing 'a peaceful procedure instead of war. Secondly, by developing a system 'of international sanctions diplomatic, I financial, economic, and military—-

strong enough to deter 'any nation, however powerful, from attacking its neighbours. These reforms are complementary, end should be undertaken simultaneously. They cannot be separated, because we know that a judge is useless without 'a policeman, whilst a policeman cannot function without a judge. Let us look a little more closely at the two institutions I have mentioned. First, the Equity Tribunal, or Commission. Its task would be to deal with any disputes which the Council of the League had failed to settle. ' The duty of the council is not to arbitrate, but to negotiate and conciliate. Should its proceedings end in a deadlock, then under the New Commonwealth system the dispute would automatically go before the Equity Tribunal, This is really what happened in the case of Manchuria, when the Lytton Commission was appointed to report on the points at issue between China and Japan. Like the Lytton Commission, the New Commonwealth Permanent Equity Tribunal would be composed, not of government representatives, but of disinterested and impartial individuals appointed by the Council and Assembly, 'and chosen, for their experience and integrity. They would be prepared to sever themselves completely from the politics of their respective countries. The members of this body would be entrusted with the responsibility of investigating all the facts and taking all the evidence. They would then recommend to the Assembly what in their opinion was a reasonable. just and equitable settlement of the dispute. Pooling Resources. Now I come to the second objective oi> the New Commonwealth programme—the organisation of a system of diplomatic, financial, economic and military sanctions, enumerated in Article 16 of the Covenant, in such 'a way as to ensure prompt, effective and united action against the aggressor or defaulter. This means the substitution of cooperative for competitive armaments —the pooling by 'all members of the League of their financial, economic and military resources, so as to confront the aggressor with overwhelming superiority of force. The commonsense implication of such a sj'stem of police force under the control of the international authority. Union is strength, and such a combined force would gradually attract to itself the loyalty of the peoples it protected, just as the police forces of our own country are now regarded as the protectors of the community.

Is this a practical proposal? In order to win the last war the Allies wore compelled to pool their resources, and even to institute ; a united command of their armies. Similarly, in order to prevent the next war, we are now compelled to co-operate with other members of the League in organising our joint resources and creating an international police force.

The Language Question

It is no use saying that technical difficulties bar the way. True, they do exist, but they arc by no means so insuperable 'as many of our critics seem to believe. Take for instance the language question in relation to an international police force. Nearly ten years ago I wrote, in “The Problem of the Twentieth Century." "Even the language difficulty can be surmounted and the Tower of Hubei laid low. The recruits of the international police will all be young men. They will experience little difficulty in 'acquiring several languages, if need be. or a simpler solution may be found in the introduction of an international medium. Esperanto, for instance, can

be learnt in less than six weeks." Since I wrote those words Esperanto has made great strides forward, and I see no' reason why it should not become the language of an international force and be. used at the proceedings of an international tribunal. I believe that the only hope of peace lies in the speedy establishment of n world, tribunal for the peaceful settlement of all disputes and of an international police force to uphold law and order. For both of these institutions an internationallyunderstood language is necessary, and when the time comes for their establishment the claims of Esperanto will certainly have to be considered and will, be hard to reject. On this ground, if on no other, the New Commonwealth is deserving of the suppart of Esperantists and I should like to appeal to them, not only in Great Britain but in other rands as well, to join ns in our struggle for saner international relationships and for a new world order grounded in justice and equity.