CONTINENTAL BLOC.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18899, 27 June 1923, Page 8

CONTINENTAL BLOC.

N.EW MOVEMENT IN EUROPE. AN IMPENDING CATACLYSM. The -recent discussion in France and on the Continent of Europe of tlle „ possibility creatine a -‘continental bloc from- which Great Britain would be excluded, and which should, indeed, be directed against ence from what is colled Anglo-baxondom, a reminder of how far the world has drilled from the ideals in which it professed to believe in 1919, declares a leader water m the Christian Science Monitor. iho idealism of that time had in view a peace settlement which not only should be based on a J d solution of the issues which were in the Great War, but which shou d piovicte a machinery whereby international disputes in the future should he adjusted by some more intelligent and judicial _ mdl ‘“ ,‘l“' the use of force, embodied in competit armaments and the balance of power, body can now dispute that these ideals were not realised. Some of the vmtoroUs Powere never fully believed in them, ot ] le r rs J to strain reason and justice m order to get ioo much for themselves. Others, again left the arduous way of world co-operation f r peace, for the primrose path of ease. Needless to say, the nations arc now aU moving steadily once more toward destlire tion. And no clearer warning of the im pending cataclysm could be given than l » talk and it is serious talk-o. a an? b’oc For what does such ft bloc mean r It means the open abandonment of the idea tor which probably a clear majority of tnoso who perished in the war cheerfully laid down their lives—that there should be no next time,” that humanity should be saved irom another such holocaust of sufioii- 0 . whale foundation of the continental hioc m the belief that the idea that humamty could conlruot some alternative security for' than armaments, and some other international agreements than ior f e > , utterly failed. Therefore, so its advocates de clare, the only thing to do is to go back to the time-honoured system ot armaments as the basis of natio _ o f+he Hence the discussion in Europe te-day of the possibility of building up a bloc consisting of France and Italy, and Belgium and the Little Entente, which will dominate the &on tinent and be able to fulfil the treaty, or prevent it from starting a There°is r<! s V omf doubt -bother the formation of such a combination IS Possible. Neither Italy nor Belgium, nor France on second thoughts, seems to be ready for so drastic a , severance of the fnendships and common ideals of. the days of - But whether this particular p:ropoi»1 . comes to a head or not, it shows the way the wind is blowing. And that way is in the direction of another, world war. For th- conse quence of building your own national security on the possession of superior armaments. as -against your neighbour, is inevitably that that neighbour, in self-defence logins to expand his armaments, oi to seek alliances whereby he may seek escape from subordination and recover freedom. The first sign of the new movement was seen in the rapprochement between Germany and Russia, begun at Genoa last year. And so there sets in that process of competitive armaments and international-alliance ana intrigue which from the dawn of human history to 1914 has deluged the world m blood. Surely, during the last ten years, mankind has hfl>d lessons enough in the folly of trusting for its safety and its prosperity on the policy of “every nation for itself and the devil take the hindmost.” Experience shows that it only means that the devil engulfs them all. The only road to world peace and to adequate prosperity for all is that the nations should go back to the ideals of 1919, and, in so far os those ideals wore badly carried out or abandoned, make a fresh start and build more wisely than before. j.he civilised nations can prevent war and can create securities for national peace if they will really face what is involved. The condition of success is that they should be willing to eo-oporat-o for the purpose and recognise that the well-being of humanity as a whole must come before their own selfish hopes and aims. In no sphere is the inexorable truth of the Golden Rule more apparent than in the field of international affairs to-day. If the nations continue to think first of themselves, they will once more be ravaged and ruined by the consequences of that selfishness, as they were in 1914. If they rise to the level of ranking the wellbeing of their neighbours along- with their own, there is nothing which can prevent their making steady progress toward that haven of steady peace and stable prosperity which they are one and all now seeking separately for themselves.