The New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1922. AT THE HAGUE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11250, 30 June 1922, Page 4

The New Zealand Times. FRIDAY, JUNE 30, 1922. AT THE HAGUE

New Zealand is to be represented at The Hague, and Sir Francis Bell is to be the accredited reeresentative. This means that the new status of the Dominion has been fully recognised at last. It is always, of course, better to be late than never. Why the Dominion was not represented at the discussion preceding the treaties subsequent to the Treaty of Versailles, It is difficult to understand. The principle on which representation is based was recognised and adopted at Versailles. There a good beginning was made, and it was recorded by the signature, under the Versailles Treaty, of the New Zealand representative, the Prime Minister, the Right Hon. W. F. Massey. In details there was the same recognition, for' Mr Massey took part in the deliberations, and presided over one of the most important committees. After the establishment of the new status, that was, as we have said, n good beginning. It is a pity that the policy was not followed with the other treaties, in which the Dominion is just as much interested as in the things' covered by the Treaty of Versailles. Especially can this he said of the Treaty of Sevres, involving our interests with Turkey, because in those interests we are joined with our Indian fellow-subjects, who have used, those interests in a manner which, to say the least, was unexpected. In fact, the Sevres Treaty has been altered, according to the insistence, on certain matters affecting both Imperial and humanitarian policy, of the Indijvn Government. A claim was made on religious grounds for concessions to the Turks. The Sultan was the guardian of the holy places of Islam, and in an important sense was the head of the faithful. The claim seems to have prevailed, apparently for want of advocates of the opposite view. It could have been urged that the Arabs, who are quite as good Mohammedans as the quoted millions of Moslems under the British Crown, and just as interested in the holy places of Islam, hare revolted against the Sultan, cut themselves free from the Turkish Empire, and established a kingdom guaranteed by treaty with the Allies. There ia the patent fact, also, that Mohammedan troops from India very cheerfully took part against the Turk during the war, on several fronts of the same on Turkish soil. Moreover, the Agha Khan himself, the head of the Indian Moslems, has made statements, which could have been quoted, denying the whole of the points in , the Indian claim, and supporting the Arab declaration that then Turks have been the oppressors-of Islamic subjects of their Empire for centuries, and not fit at all to ho the guardians of the holy places, or to he considered protectors of Islam at all. The Agha Khan, in short, supported tho Arab case, which brought about the setting up of the Arab Kingdom. Had a Dominion representative been present at the Allied Conference, which, early in the year, altered materially the Treaty of Sevres by great concessions to the Turks, concisions injurious to both Imperial and humanitarian interests, the Indian case might not have produced the effect it did.

The principle was again recognised at Washington, it is true, hy tho presence there of a Dominion ronresenta-

fcive. It was a recognition before a limited number of nations. The representation at The Hague will be the fullest recognition since the Treaty of Versailles. The business at The Hague wants to be clearly understood. There is an idea abroad that it may clash with the League of Nations in some way that may eventually lead to tho establishment of a rival world tribunal ■ —to the tribunal known as the League of Nations. But it is now evident that the world is not yet in a fit state for tho free working of the League of Nations. The League ia making progress, considerable progress. At the same time, it cannot attend to more than the work of establishing the lines of its future usefulness. It is concerned more, just now, with principles than with details. But details are the essence of The Hague Conference work They are the details of reconstructing the business of the world, almost hopelessly dislocated by the war; the details of a project not much more than half-formed to anything like the state of a general agreement for re-eetablish-ing the commercial relations, without which the civilisation of our time is in danger ai utter wreck. It may be roughly said, therefore, that the work at The Hague, which is ostensibly to arrange a basis for permanent peace, is really the' preparation of the world for the functioning of the League of Nations. The League is in theory a magnificent instrument for preserving against disasters a world of established order. In practice it would he useless to hand over to the League a world disorganised and in disorder. On its side the League is perfecting its plans for functioning. It is for The Hague to perfect the plans wbioh will, make the world amenable to the League’s functioning. If that is so, and we think it is, there can he no clash between the two. Rather is it, that tho two, the temporary Hague Convention and the permanent League of Nations, may very well work together through the present serious crisis in the affairs of the world. In this way, as a matter of fact, the Washington Conference has done great work hy clearing away many difficulties preliminary to the permanent functioning of the League of Nations. At The Hague Conference the interests of the Dominion will be akin to the interests of the Empire and of humanity. The rehabilitation of Russia, for example, is necessary to the reconstruction of the after-war world. Tile sooner that rehabilitation is effected, the better will it he for the peace and commerce of the world and for humanity in general. At the Conference discussing this problem, our representative will not represent material things to any great extent, it may be said. On the other hand, he will not he distracted by material interests from the spiritual side to any extent whatever. Seeing things in their true light, of justice and truth, he will he able to emphasise the true light. Without any display or pretention, he may ho a valuable force in the discussion. And what is true of him is true of all the oversea representatives. Moreover, in all the settlements—for "it is a Conference expected to settle many things of great importance—the Dominions are directly interested. Matters of trade, exchange, territorial and other arrangements, on which the preserva. tion of smooth relations depends, payment of war indemnities, limitation of armaments—all these and many others are of as great vital interest to the Dominions as to the rest of the world. The world, as the war has revealed, is a great aggregate of interdependent nations, bound, if peace is to he preserved, to work together as an inter, national whole. That working can only be smooth when free from the disturbance of such elements as rattling sabres and profiteering pushes. In the international discussion which is to eliminate the cause of such disturbances, the Dominions are now privileged to take part. They took a part well in making war. It is for them now to do the same in making peace. Peace was signed four years ago, but it has yet to he made. In this making of peace oversea representatives have as good opportunity of good, work as oversea representatives had and em. braced in the war.