Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1919. THE GOLDEN AGE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LIII, Issue 17, 22 January 1919, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 22, 1919. THE GOLDEN AGE.

THERE are some people who believe that the golden age about which people have dreamt for thousands of years, is at hand. There are others who scoff at every proposal for the benefit of ’the human race and sneer about the millennium. The golden age idealists visioned a time when every one would do right of one’s own accord and so make it possible to dispense with parliaments and policemen a s well as armies and navies. The croakers take no heed of the teaching of history and «o not realise the progress of the human race. Selfishness in one form or another is the of the world s troubles. And who is there who can deny that there is much more consideration for others in the world to-day than there has ever been. 'before. But while the desire to do right is a moral quality which all may possess, the power to discern the right is largely a matter of the intelligence which can he acquired only by observation and study. One of the greatest tasks before the Peace Conference is the creation of conditions that will guard the wor d against future wars. 'Something more than the (Balance of Power is needed for the whole world suffers by a miscalculation by one party regarding its chances of winning if it has the mind to fight. 'Germany was faced by a League of Nations’ hut she underrated their capacity to fight and she fought and lost. It is not enough to be strong enough to win. The free; nations mustbe strong enough to step in and , tell an erring nation that there must be no war. It Is just here that the League of Nations proposal comes in. But there are great difficuhtes in giving practical expression to the proposals. There are no grounds for over-confi-dence on th© one hand or of scorn on th© other. In att adrese de ivered at the annual meeting of the New York Bar Association Sir Frederick Smith, who visited America in 1917, as a representative of the British Cabinet, being Attorney-General, took as his subject ’‘Law, War, and the Future.” It was a masterly speech and elicited from his legal confreres an enthusiastic reception. He commenced by analysing the elements involved in the conception of Jaw, distinguishing its scientific from litg metaphorical uses. From this he proceeded to an examination of the conception and the definition of International Law, 'dwelling shortly on the obvious fact that until the sanctions of International Law ar© “in one way or another reinforced so as to gain a force comparable to the sanction of private law, there is security in the world neither for civilisation nor Christianity,” And thus, by a natural transition, he brought himself to “President Wilson’s nobl© and most eloquently expressed conception of that League of Nations which relied upon to safeguard the future of the world.” He then devoted himself to an examination of some of th© difficulties which have to be faced before this ideal can"!!® realised. ‘‘The essence of the proposal is a League of Nations pledged (and strong enough) to compel by force the obedience of a recalitrant member to their collective decision. If this condition cannot be secured, tho whole scheme is futile and foredoomed to* failure. Many difficlulies emerge at once. Are the Central Powers, on the conclusion of tho war, to b© admitted, and if so .when, to auch a league? The answer to this question would appear to depend, first, upoh tho completeness of the victory over them, and secondly upon th© form of the constitution under which they respectively emerge from the war, A second necessary condition would appear to be that the league should reach agreement as to Ah© military establishments which each of its members should be allowed *o maintain. The obstacle in the way of such, an agreement are patent and could not be elaborated. A public discussion of them- such as is apparently- contemplated, hardly lessens, the evident difficnlty. And a further question ayiee®, whether any, and what, special arrangement would b© required in the case of an insular Power, possessing no army, and relying for its protection on mari time air ..defences ? It seems to me no* altogether unreasonable 'that an

Englishman should suggest this difficulty. A third and more fundamental consideration arises when our attempts to think out the foundations of such a league, in relation to those inevitable changes which, the evolution of human-' ity brings to the relative strength of nations.’' 1