THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, August 11, 1936. THE LEAGUE AND PEACE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22956, 11 August 1936, Page 8

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, August 11, 1936. THE LEAGUE AND PEACE

Peace talk is not meaningless. The confusion in Europe at the present time threatens war, but it is not too much to hope that out of the very threat of war there may emerge a stronger wish for peace and a clearer understanding of the means that must be employed to ensure it. Lord Rennell, speaking recently in the House of Lords, spoke of the existence of a strong body of opinion in France, Germany and Great Britain alike anxious for an understanding. That is unquestionably true and is itself a hopeful augury for the future. It is useless to think of a reconstituted League of Nations except in terms of Germany's inclusion—and, for that matter, of Italy's reconciliation. When the Locarno Powers again seek to resolve mutual misunderstandings it must be hoped that all of the Powers concerned will find it possible to meet on common ground, with the clear realisation that present differences pale into insignificance beside the prospect, and the implications, of another world conflagration. The aim of the forthcoming conference must be to pave the way for reconstruction of the League of Nations, and that end can be attained only if League members and prospective members are prepared to measure the obligations imposed by membership by the risks that will have to be met. To that end it is to be hoped that the present effort to keep the rest of Europe aloof from the savage struggle that is being waged in Spain will succeed. Intervention, by a single Power or by a group of Powers, could only increase the risk of causing a spread of the war madness. Spain must be allowed to work out her own destiny, while Europe concentrates on the major task of buttressing the shaken structure of peace. With or without Germany, The Times has said, the League must go on. But the goal surely will be a. renewed League incorporating all of those Powers which have abandoned it, or whose confidence in it has, for one reason or another, been rudely shaken —a League, as The Times has said, " based upon firm contributory political understandings, and capable of showing that peace is profitable to all." To the League ideal the Government of New Zealand holds fast, as was made clear in the Minister of Finance's recent Budget speech. The vast majority of the people of the Dominion will approve of that attitude. But there will also be a strong hope that the Government will not hesitate to face the realities of a disturbed world situation by making adequate provision for defence, and by recognising that we must anticipate possible eventualities in the light of our responsibilities as an Imperial unit. The Federal Attorney-general, Mr Menzies, when he returned to Australia last month, took the first opportunity that was offered him—a civic reception at Perth—to utter a gravely-phrased warning against indifference to what was happening in Europe. No state of affairs which could produce war in Europe, he said, could leave Australia untouched. Australia was an integral part of the British world and had a vital interest in what was going on. Such words might be applied with equal truth to this Dominion. It is no longer enough for us to say that the Empire is a world-flung democracy standing for peace. Not even the strength of our democratic systems can guarantee us immunity from the influences making for the disruption of Europe. All of our weight must be steadied on the side of peace; but at the same time we are morally bound to be prepared to face the consequences of failure to accomplish peace. Great Britain is making ready for war

while she yet hopes to be the greatest single instrument in preserving the world's sanity. Our own preparations for war ought, therefore, to be conditioned by the British conception of necessity. It.has been wisely said that, in such conditions as rule to-day, armed strength is inevitably the complement of diplomacy in the struggle to ensure peace. That truth should not be forgotten when the Cabinet is considering defence policy. There is force in Mr Justice Northcroft's contention, made in the course of an address at Christchurch on Saturday, that unpreparedness not only tends to create war but also lengthens it and increases its losses. The tragic experience of the war years, he added, had taught us to have a special interest in the preservation of peace. We can work more surely toward that end by being strong enough to discourage the designs of a would-be aggressor. "To-day," said Mr Justice Northcroft, "with the world a cauldron of war poison, it would be criminal to allow our absolute defencelessness to continue." Those whose pacificism is not of the sentimental kind will unhesitatingly agree.