Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1938 END OF A TROUBLED YEAR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 31 December 1938, Page 8

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY, DECEMBER 31, 1938 END OF A TROUBLED YEAR

INTERNATIONAL unrest again ; marks the end of another year, i Japan is still pursuing its undeclared war against China. The | ! Spanish civil war, of over two j i years’ duration, continues. There' lias been great loss of life and ' property, extending from combatants to innocent civilians. Fori tunately, and largely as the out- : come of Britain’s attitude, the war has not extended to other nations, as was feared. Britain, though desirous of peace, has not only had to deal with its recurring 1 troubles on the frontiers of India, | but, as a mandatory Power, has been embroiled in more serious I strife in Palestine. All nations talk of pacifism, but all the time i increase armaments. Distrust supervenes. Racial and religious persecutions have caused horror even in countries where they have been perpetrated. There has been a degree of moral as well as economic collapse; also a further demonstration of the results of the substitution of dictatorial for democratic forms of government. 1 here has also been a regrettable increase not only in race prejudice | but in class-consciousness, neither I of which is in the interests of the peoples of the world. The Treaty | of Versailles which is generally admitted to have been almost vindictive in some of its terms —although Germany’s attempt at European domination warranted the imposition of some penalties —has been gradually but flagrantly broken by Germany. Under the Hitler regime of the past five years the Germans have regained their position as a dominant force in world afFairs. It matters little whether it be due to Hitler, Goebbels or Goering; the fact remains that Germany has resumed her place in world politics. Her ! policy causes even more concern j than it did in 191 4 —perhaps be- ! cause the nations recall the experience of 1914, the four years j war and its toll on humanity. As | one writer has said, the future ! historian will write of the position to-day as evolving to the tune of violated treaties, repudiated debts, and undeclared wars . . .

“as peculiarly astounding because it grew out of a conflict in which ten million men died, believing that their sacrifice would end just such things.’’ High ideals have been ruthlessly swept aside. Mr Chamberlain, as Prime Minister of Great Britain, has consistently pursued his policy of appeasement. Up to the present he has succeeded. His unorthodox methods have been criticised, but there can be no doubt that they j averted a European war which must have had appalling conseouences. It is true that Czecho-slovakia—-a war-created State, given independence in return for its support of the Allies in the Great War —was in part sacrificed. Had war taken place and practically the whole of Europe been involved, Czechoslovakia would have been devastated. It | has been said that Hitler was bluffing and that his bluff should j have been called. Mr Chamber- | lain’s attitude resulted in the j resignation of some of his leading ; Ministers, including Mr Anthony j Eden. It must be left to historians | to record who was right and who 1 was wrong. For the moment we are grateful that war has been avoided. There have been created no-war pacts between Britain and Germany, between France and Germany, and another friendly pact between Britain and Italy. The FrancoRussian alliance has been in doubt but has not yet been abrogated. The defensive alliance between : Britain and France remains intact. : Belgium agrees with it but claims : the right of independence. The : value of these pacts awaits their : testing-time. There is also an • Anglo-American trade agreement, : reached this year, and many en- : lertain hopes that it foreshadows ■ something of greater influence in : | world affairs. The recent Pan- ■ j American Conference confirmed : j community of interest. In any * j case, trade and the economic : position are of the greatest im- : portance at all times. There still : ; exist possibilities in many quarters : i of a spark causing a war con- : | flagration. We have given merely : : a sketchy outline of European af- ; ! fairs, and agree with the AmeriE can editor who wrote recently: = j “Instead of a world governed by z anything approximating interz; national law, we live in a world E threatened with international E | anarchy." It must be confessed E| that the outlook is not bright, but ~ there is hope if there is a return r to sanity and a realisation by the E leaders of militant States of the = awful co nsequences that would ~ follow more war. E The power of Great Britain, as E a leading commentator has said, E has been “in the hands of one E whom we all know now to be as EE Kood an Englishman as England ~ has bred in our lifetime, and he. E having the practical wisdom which EE | distinguishes Englishmen, chose E j for his right hand a man wholly 2 j at one with him in purpose and in ~ temper. We may rest assured thal E no man living has a finer or more ~ I generous sense of justice thar = Lord Halifax. When he says tr = i Parliament, as he has said, tha» E I after another war, the boundaries jr. | of Czechoslovakia had to be re

drawn, no council would draw them again as they were drawn in 1919, we may take that as a final verdict and as meaning that Lord Runciman had come to the same conclusion.’’ In a New Year message published yesterday, Mr Chamberlain again rejected the contention that Britain s sole task is to prepare for war in the belief that war is inevitable and he added that last year’s gains far outweighed its trials and anxieties and left no cause for pessimism. Re-armament plans had so progressed, though much remained to be done, that Britain can discharge her obligations to her allies, to the Empire and to herself. ‘Our armed strength has enabled us to say that we will meet all peoples in a spirit of reasonableness, but not conceding to force, while our social serives have been maintained.