The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1919. LEAGUE OF NATIONS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10207, 18 February 1919, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1919. LEAGUE OF NATIONS

The long-expected text of the Constitution of the League of Nations, being published, shows how much progress has been made from vague aspiration towards concrete fact. How much of the ground has been covered towards a “de facto” solution of a problem regarded everywhere as difficult, and in some quarters as insoluble, a perusal of the articles of the proposed Constitution makes clear enough. It also reveals certain weaknesses which are rather serious. Nothing, however, could be more satisfactory than the principle adopted, which is the substitution of reason for force in the settlement of national disputes. “Arms give way to the Toga,” the old Roman said when peace descended after the great civil wars from which the Roman Empire emerged. On that historic occasion his hope was that the substitution of reason for force would bo permanent. What is more, he worked for that end by welding together the organised world of his day into a single great Empire. He formed a great League of Nations, in fact, and used it for a considerable period in preserving the peace of the world, the peace known in history as the “Pax .Romana.” Ultimately, that League of Nations failed; (1) because it was founded by force; (2) because of the attacks of unorganised nations outside its borders expert in war, and determined to obtain as the reward of their military prowess the best places in the sun. The first of these causes prevented the heartiness of unity necessary to repel powerful aggression, While the second was much helped by the frightfulness which the superior warriors incorporated with their method of waging warIn the present attempt to form a peace-conserving League of Nations—the second attempt in history—the weakness of a forcible union will be wanting; for the League is a thing of goodwill among men, as well as towards men. Regarding the second cause of failure, there is not on the horizon any great powerful fighting nation ready to dare all things and to do all things for the host places in the sun. But there is a groat Power which recently advanced against the world on those lines, and was frightful as well as possessed of warrior skill. That Power is now , in tho

dust, ' broken „by the power of the sword, which it had invoked. In its defeat, that Power shows no signs of repentance; on the contrary, it demands favourable treatment : seeks even to enter the League ,of Nations. Lately established on democratic lines, the strength of which has yet to be demonstrated, that Power has declared its policy of the future. This includes (inter alia) the German view of President Wilson’s Fourteen Points; restoration of the German colonies; admittance at once, and on equal terms, to the League of Nations. The fourteen points represent the German interpretation of “freedom of the seas,” which, if universally accepted, would make the Germany of to-morrow unconquerable, and, indeed, irresistible, especially if the Gorman interpretation of another of tho fourteen points prevails, tho interpretation of which frees Germany from paying tho costs of tho German-made war. Germany, according to the clauses dealing with tho matter, may be admitted to tho League of'Nations by a vote of twothirds of tho delegates sitting in general meeting. Remembering what this Power was doing yesterday’, realising that to-day it has no regret and means to escape as much reparation as it can, it becomes necessary for the world to examine the strength of the Longue for the preservation of pence with righteousness which it shows such eagerness to join.

Primarily, one looks to the compulsory methods. An International Court of Arbitration administering international law gives an award: if the Court is unanimous and the delegates of the House of Delegates (less those interested) are unanimous, the executive of tho delegates can declare both boycott and war against any party disobedient to the award. In case or war, moreover, the delegates must, before armed forces are used, first consult about the number, weight, and nature of such force. It seems that the constitution is admirable for all the States of the world except tho big Tiger State that wants to join but may not want to observe any of the rules. Between the free rush of the 'tiger and his victims there 'stands the barrier of unanimous decision which, generally in the affairs of the world, represents an impossibility. And in case the impossible should happen there is the special hindrance in the requirement of a council of delegates to deliberate on the extent of force to be raised, equipped, and sent into the .field. This is necessary ; no doubt, as tho original and superior proposal to establish an international policing force to back the decisions of the national delegates and their executive was negatived. German loaders have, it has been reported, objected to the policing force. As there is no policing force in the Constitution, the suspicion, if not the inference, is obvious. The expedient substituted is simply an invitation to any tiger among the nations to go ahead, preparing to do things, and doing them quickly. And this after breaking down all the armaments of the world. What can be done by a nation restricted by force major to reduced armament was shown by Prussia a little more than a century ago, when it joined the League of Nations against Napoleon with one of the most powerful and best-disci-plined armies of tho day. This is the weak point of the Constitution of the League of Nations. France is openly restive, naturally, being the nearest neighbour. Whether Britain sees the matter in its true light remains to be seen. But it ought to be obvious that the sea power of Britain did not win this war in order to sign its own deathwarrant. The weakness shows the spot of unreality in an otherwise practical proposal. There is no real guarantee for obedience to the Court of International Arbitration. There is no real guarantee, therefore, for the permanence of the world’s peace. There is, therefore, no real reason for troubling any further about a League of Nations which has no real strength. It is a League—as at present proposed—for the purpose of restoring Germany to full strength, unscathed as far as possible, and launching her on another and better attempt to conquer the world. If established in its present form, the League of Nations of 1919 will be as powerless to resist the Huns as was the Roman League of Nations with which the Huns did as their wicked will enjoined. ;