WORLD PEACE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22431, 29 May 1936, Page 14

WORLD PEACE

I EFFORTS OF LEAGUE R * ' I SECURITY FOR NATIONS mHi ■ 1 —» : COLLECTIVE ACTION NEEDED »• * __ I INTERNATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS * / * The international situation and the » efforts ,that are being made to build J up a system of collective security were J described by Mr. H. Duncan Hall, a * member of the Secretariat of the h League of Nations, in addressing memg bers of* the Auckland branch of the *• League of Nations Union at a luncheon * in Milne and Choyce's .Reception Hall » yesterday. 'There was a large attend- » ance. Mr. Morton Aldis presided. *» Mr, Pall said he wished to make it £ clear that in his address the views ex--5 pressed would be his own and not those of the League. His hearers would undor- ? stand the difficulties under which he « laboured in speaking about the present g international situation —one that was £ extremely grave.

Z It had been stated by M. Herriot 8 that the League had met defeat on £ two fronts—in the Rhincland and in * Abyssinia—but, Mr. Hall explained, these two issues had not been finalised. £ The situations in the Far East, in Abys- £ sinia,'and in the Rhineland were all r* inter-linked. £ " A Piece of Machinery " *r m "The League is merely a piece of £ machinery, and whether or not that •» machinery works depends on the head of steam supplied to it by its mem- * bers, particularly the great Powers. If £ insufficient steam is supplied, it will -v not function properly. The reason lor £ failures is the unwillingness of 111cm- £ bers of the League to carry out the jjjj Covenant. This degree of failure is a J very serious one indeed " % The failure of the League in Abys- % sinia, Mr. Hall ' continued, was exe» tremely grave. The League had begun | the imposition of sanctions because of jj the realisation that if they were not £ put intp operation, in view qA the ehal- £ lenge it was faced with, there was a » danger of a general breakdown of the g peace. An act of war had been com- & mitted under the Covenant, not merely J, against the victim State, but against all members of the League. » Mr. Hall said that in discussing the * future of the League one had to face the grave facts of the present situation. There was 110 future for the League . unless the various members of it made up their jninds to apply fully the provisions -of the Covenant. Misunderstanding About Defence

The question of defence, the speaker continued, was one upon which there ■was a good deal of misunderstanding. In travelling through the various British Dominions lie had noticed howpeople, although having fundamental interests in common, tended to diverge in their views. For instance, there might be members of a community who were a'rdent Navy League supporters, and other ardent League of Nations Union supporters. Mr. Hall said lie saw no reason why they should clash, and why members of a Navy League should not also be members of the League of Nations Union, and vice versa. The Covenant itself was a very realistic document, he said. It was not a pacifist document. National defence forces were necessary for the defence of a country's own integrity, as well as to enable it to contribute toward collective action with the object of securing world peace and order. For Tears the Iveague had been working to fering about disarmament. It had faited, hut the reason was clear enough. It was impossible to judge the position regarding armaments in the different countries without taking into consideration the doctrines which those armaments served. Where the principles of the Covenant had been repudiated, where treaties had been violated, and where force had been used to destroy the political independence and integrity of members of the League, there was one situation. \> hero a Government put its whole force behind the Covenant and was loyal and consistent in its support of the League, then one hnd another situation quite different from the first. Collective Security

Another aspect of the Covenant was that relating to the system of collective Security. All realised that collective security at present was a weak thing. Mr. Hall considered, however, that people would make a grave mistake if they under-estimated its possibilities. - In view of air transport and progress i|i other branches of science and invention, the British Commonwealth of Nations must look for safety, not only to the national defence of each ■unit and to the co-ordination of its defences as an Empire, but also to collective security through tho League. Since without the assistance of other nations, which had a similar interest in maintaining peace, it could not hope to survive as a Commonwealth, it must make a desperate effort to establish the collective system as the dominant force*in world politics. The British Government, like nil other Governments, was supporting the collective system, not only on moral grounds, but also because its supremo interest from a material point of view was peace, which, in the long run, could be assured only by collective actio#. " WORLD ON ONE FRONTIER " NEW' FACTORS OF INSTABILITY "The effect of inventions, particularly the development of air transport, upon international relationships, can hardlv be over-estimated," said Mr. H. Duncan Hall in addressing members of the Auckland branch of tho Economic Society of Australia and New Zealand at the Auckland University College last night. The lecture room was crowded, Mr. A. A. Ross presiding. ' Mr. Hall said it was quite futile to expect a restoration of trade as long as the peace of the world remained disturbed. Unless security could be felt in world relationships, trade would even decline. He emphasised the difference between tbe outlook on world affairs from 1920 to 19:50 and since then.'For 10 years following the formation ot the League of Nations there was a feeling that peace would not be menaced. Yet there was no justification for that feeling, as the causes of war had not been removed. In 19.'U it was found that these causes were still operating, and with added force. New factors were the increased economic instability and the rapid change in transport and communications. Air transport had developed so quickly that even experts were unable to assess its probable effect. The result was the world was beginning to meet on ono common frontier. Further, the changes had not been foreseen. Then there was psychological instability in which tho radio was an important factor. Tri speaking of the application of sanctions in the Abyssinian war, Mr. Hall said the stopping of the export to the aggressor of a number of important Uev products, tbe economic and financial embargo and the cessation of imports from the aggressor had all - been carried through with success within their limits. Moreover, the application of sanctions had impressed t'urope