WHERE SANCTIONS MAY LEAD

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22393, 14 April 1936, Page 8

WHERE SANCTIONS MAY LEAD

The British Government is once again face to face with a critical decision on the. question of how far the sanctions policy adopted by the League should be prosecuted. A London message says it is understood the British Government is now satisfied that unsupported economic: sanctions are ineffective. No other conclusion seems possible as the situation stands at present. If the coui-se of events be traced, it will be remembered that Italy accepted the risk of economic sanctions and went to war. In other words, the imminence of sanctions did not prove a deterrent, as had been hoped. Neither have the financial and economic sanctions since imposed served to stop the war or seriously to embarrass the aggressor. So far they have failed of their purpose. There are other sanctions that might prove more effective, such as embargoes on oil, iron and steel, coal and coke, although the fact that important suppliers, such as the United States and Germany, are not League members makes their efficacy doubtful. There is also the real risk that their imposition would involve war with Italy. Britain has to face this possibility, to decide whether she is prepared to go to war to uphold League principles. The British Government is stated to have reached the conclusion that economic sanctions can only be made effective if League members are prepared to employ military sanctions, if necessary, in support of them. The British public has therefore to ask itself if it is prepared to go to war for the sake of peace, or to wage another war to end war? And if the answer i'S in the affirmative, there is the further question whether force can be extirpated by force. In New Zealand, as well as in Britain, citizens should gravely ponder these issues.