MIXED MUSINGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16895, 6 July 1918, Page 1 (Supplement)

MIXED MUSINGS.

BY J. GILES.

INTERNATIONAL ETHICS.

I Not only as poet does Schiller in his i noble lines on "The Invincible Armada" eulogise England as "the only Eden" known to freedom; but as historian of the Netherlands, in language kindled by the love of freedom, he oxpressly defends I England for her intervention on behalf j of the Netherlands, but utters most uncompromising acntimentß upon international ethics which may well be quoted to-day as a complete vindication of the stand taken by the Allies of the Entente, in August of 1914. And not only this, but when the time comes to consider how to constitute that league of nations against violenco and oppression which is the hope of the nations and the theme of the American President's persistant eloquence, then the weighty words of this German writer may be appealed to for the justification and maintenance of whatever barrier may be devised against German tyranny, fraud, and cruelty. Punish the Oppressors. Doubtless the gloomy fanaticism of Philip 11., which made him attempt to dragoon the Dutch into the acceptance of his own religion, must seem to the German statesmen of to-day a thing deserving only derision and contempt, whilst thoy would have nothing but praise for an/ attempt ho might have made to exploit tho Netherlands simply for the military and financial aggrandisement of the Spanish monarchy. Tho oppression of the people would not much concern them. But Queen Elizabeth of England did not look upon tho business as one that concerned only the Spaniards and the Dutch; sho gave her support to the weaker party, and tin's is how Schiller defended her action. He says:—" States are connected with one another as much as individuals. Policy and humanity demand that a wrong perpetrated against a nation should bo taken note of on all hands and punished. . . . Society I must not remain passive in face of the deliberate provocation of a blind and outrageous tyrant. . . . What? A whole nation should look on with indifference when the blood of her is spilt by the absurd and barbaric whim of a despot?. . . A State which would [thus] dissociate itself . . . would forfeit its claim upon the help or support of a neighbouring power, this primeval and holy right of unhappy peoples. If this were to obtain oppressors would .never die out on earth, for they would be able to infringe the rights of social compacts with impunity in derision of tho checks of the living law," Yes, "derision" is the right word. The "checks of the living law" of justice and humanity, whether set in order by a Grotius or a Stowell, or solemnly adopted by Hague conventions, have now been not only evaded, not only ignored, but actually derided, as futilities not worthy the attention of practical politicians. But the "living law" is immortal, its " checks" will not be corroded by rust, and the " holy right of unhappy peoples" will come into its own.

Duty of Strong Nations. The right or duty of a strong nation to intervene for the protection of a weak one has not been precisely defined or formulated, but it seems to have been generally considered that each caeo must bo dealt with on its own merits—a view which doubtless has often caused tho question to bo determined by the consideration of what was expedient and convenient for the strong country rather than of what were the needs of the weak. A generous sentiment would have demanded the intervention of England and Franco in 1864 when Denmark was ruthlessly plundered by the central brigands of Europe, and, if anyone be pleased to assert that the nemesis of criminal negligence may be traced in the wars of 1870 and 1914, who shall venture to contradict him? But public opinion was not then prepared for intervention, and the reactionary peace sentiment after the Crimean war amused itself with a dream of splendid isolation" as the truo ideal of English policy. And in the case of Denmark there was no treaty, as in that of Belgium, to make it impossible for a

self-respecting nation to shrink from intervention, although without a treaty there was surely enough of menace to England in the occupation by German armies of the Belgian coast not only to arouse her to instant action! but perhaps also to cause bitter regret that alio had failed to intervene in 1864. At any rate, it seems not rash to trace, a higher guidance in that disposition of human affairs which caused the contemners of humanity to drop the mask and openly set at dafiance nil laws, human and divine, at the moment when a disgust of "splendid isolation'' and a new sense of brotherhood mode it certain that-the call of distressed humanity would evoke from her lovers a sure response and an invincible determination. And so has come about the great struggle which some call Armageddon, and which seems well typified in the story of Hercules defeating Antaeus by lifting him off the earth, for the strength of the giant was, like that of Germany, entirely earthly, and turned to weakness directly it was deprived of its earthly and material support. But better perhaps than even this noble symbolism, and more welcome, to our readers, may be tho recognition in this stupendous struggle of the possibly last world-conflict between the Christ and the powers of darkness. The League of Nations. The Holy Land has been wrested from the oppressor, and has passed into safe keeping, but there yet remains the holy land of tho habitable earth, the homo of humanity, the "dear city of God," as the hero emperor styled it, to be redeemed from bondage— bondage of ignorance and vice, of lust and hate, of greed and fraud; and this redemption cannot be achieved so long as the world is menaced and oppressed by monstrous

ambition, brutal force, and calculated cruelty. Not until the dragon has been crushed can a clear prospect bo opened of the brotherhood oj peoples which is to ensure that "a wrong perpetrated against a nation shall be taken note of on all hands and punished." When will Germany desire to enter such a league? Not while she fancies that 6he can retain the rich territories of Belgium and Northern Franco and at the same time so exploit the vast stretches of Russia as to supply her with resources and to facilitate her triumphant march to unknown destinies in Asia and the Far East. Unknown destinies, indeed! For when she has discovered that the strength of the Western Alliance is greater and its purpose more immovable than her own, and has begun to perceive that her Russian policy has proved a snare to her feet, that- its complicated entanglements are much more barbed than she had supposed, and that the germs of organised resistance coalesce more rapidly than she had expected, then perhaps she may begin to think with some feeling of dismay that she may have made a mistake. Then it may be time to think about talking; but is any pacifist so obsessed as to fancy that any talk with the enemy now would be palaver, only not futile because so mischievous? lint every sentiment of loyalty—loyalty to the dead, to the living who are holding their lives only for the service of the great cause, to our allies, to humanity—forbid and inhibit the craven thought of negotiation while the dragon's teeth and claws retain their capacity for mischief.