THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1938 NEW ROAD TO PEACE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22971, 24 February 1938, Page 12

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1938 NEW ROAD TO PEACE

"Under Mr. Chamberlain, in addition to a greater tautness in administration, there will be a new vigour in foreign policy." That was the prediction made in January of last year by a Liberal member of the Commons, a prediction that is being borne out by events. The British Prime Minister is taking the initiative boldly. The odd thing is that he is now being accused of timidity by those who previously clamoured that the drii't in foreign policy should be stopped! and a clear line taken. These same people railed at Mr. Eden for backing and filling and sighed for someone to take up the loose ends. Above ajl they kept calling for a "firm stand" by Britain, although in the event of consequences they would be the first to stand firm on their pacifist consciences, leaving the real stand to bo made on the bodies of the fighting forces. Unfortunately they left Mr. Eden little to stand on. As it is, the Army is still weak, although more body is being put into the Navy and Air Force. Thus Mr. Chamberlain starts on a firmer basis than any Mr. Eden could rely on for most of his term at the Foreign Office. Reports strongly suggest that the Prime Minister will make the direct approach to the problem that is characteristic of his direct mind and character. The core of the problem is that Mr. Eden's policies have antagonised the three most aggressive of the seven Great Powers and brought them into close association. On the other hand Britain is left with only one firm friend, France. Even little Belgium has edged out of the ring. As leader of a vast and scattered Empire, Britain cannot afford to remain at odds with Germany, Italy and Japan, all at the same time. Her fundamental interest is peace. If it is to be preserved, she must cultivate good relations with some, if not all three, of these Powers while yet there is time. That is what Mr. Chamberlain is setting out to do. Mr. Eden and Sir Samuel Hoare before him were inclined to hang back until all sorts of conditions were satisfied. Mr. Chamberlain is reaching straight after the end of general appeasement, believing that with the principle established on a basis of understanding the various applications can be peaceably worked out. In fact he is preparing to make that clear and constructive approach to peace that has been lacking ever since the war. Mr. Eden was prepared to block the present opportunity of rapprochement with Italy by making stipulations about Spain. In this he was acting in concert with France and maybe at her prompting. Mr. Chamberlain was not prepared to allow this new prospect to be closed, as others had been in the past. Only two years ago HenHitler made an offer including 25 years' peace, a Western air pact and Germany's return to the League. That hope was effectually extinguished when, in agreement with France, Mr. Eden ignored the offer until Berlin should answer a long questionnaire of his framing. The questions were never answered, Herr Hitler's offer fell to the. ground, and Germany bias since sworn never to return to Geneva. A year before th&t, in 1935, arrangements for a Western security pact with special reference to the air were well under way when Sir Samuel Hoare accepted France's suggestion that an Eastern European agreement be made the condition precedent of any Western pact. Once again the result was frustration and stalemate. The only positive achievement of those barren years was the Anglo-German naval agreement, a bargain made without the intervention of third parties and a continuing cause of mutual satisfaction and advantage. Can it be wondered that, looking back at the unfruitful record of the years since the Disarmament Conference came to grief, Mr. Chamberlain should seek to make, a fresh start, clear of post mortems, of strangling stipulations and embarrassing conditions 1 The old way failed. It multiplied irritations. The world was daily moving nearer the shipwreck of war while every national leader declared for peace. In this situation Britain found herself ill-prepared to meet a threefold threat with either arms or alliances. Germany stood athwart the North Sea, Italy astride the Mediterranean, Japan dominated the Orient with only Singapore and no battle fleet parting her from India or the South-West Pacific. If all Britons will calmly confront that situation, they will realise that it is far better to change the policy and the fumbling diplomacy that created it. Mr. Chamberlain seeks to cut through the tangle of reservations in which the Empire is caught. He is seeking to open a new account with Italy and then to go on to Germany. He will still cleave to France, aiming to bring the four Great Western Powers into friendly association. They must live together and it is far better to do so in "amity. There is no cause to weaken or break the Berlin-Rome or the London-Paris axis. The real achievement would be to make them unnecessary, let them be lost in a new Western Quadrilateral, that would quieten French fears about security and German obsessions about encirclement. Until some such Western European settlement is arranged, until her hands are freed, Britain cannot hope to deal on reasonable terms with Japan. No one will underestimate the difficulties Mr. Chamberlain will have to overcome. They have increased dangerously in the last three years. Yet to make the attempt—an active, intelligent, constructive attempt—is a present imperative in order t6 save the world from blundering into war..