PEACE PROBLEMS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3397, 23 April 1919, Page 14

PEACE PROBLEMS.

SPEECH BY MR LLOYD GEORGE,

SOME WARNING WORDS.

(By Cable.) - LONDON, April 16

In the House of Commons Mr Lloyd George emphasised the gigantic character, complexity, and gravity of the problems to be solved by the Peace Conference. He instanced the fact that 10 new States had sprung into existence, some of them being independent, some semi-independent, and eome possibly protectorates. The boundaries of these must be indicated, if not defined, and the boundaries of i 4 countries must be recast. This -would give tome idea of the purely territorial difficulties, but there were many other problems equally affecting the future of the world and the destiny of the human race. The question of indemnities was not easily settled, and could not be settled by telegram. Mr Lloyd George referred to the international arrangement for labour and the great experiment on which the whole peace Hung —namely, the society of nations. All and each of these separately would occupy months, and one blunder might precipitate a universal war. In view of these things they were justified in taking some time. It had been imperative in some respects that they should take more time, but for the fact that they were establishing machinery capable of readjusting and correcting possible mistakes. That is why the League of Nations, instead of wasting has saved time. They had to shorten their labours because, while trying to build, they had seen, in many lands, the foundations of society crumbling into dust. No bosJy of men worked harder or more harmoniously. The journey was not ended. * It was full of perils for all lands. The Prime Minister referred to the intrinsic difficulties. Dealing with the problems of a multitude of nations, he said he believed the difficulties would be surmounted. There were questions never heard of, which almost imperilled peace. While they were sitting in Paris one question never heard of before the war nearly produced a conflict between two Allied States. The Balkans created an atmosphere of unrest, from which the war arose, and one of the features of the present situation wa3 owing to the break up of the great Empires. Central Europe had been Balkanised into small States, and care must be taken lest causes

of future unrest be created by the settlement now being made. The Russian situation furnished one of the most complex problems ever dealt with by any body of men. There was no Russian Government, and the organisation controlling Central Russia was not even de facto a Government for the whole. Russia presented a spectacle of a vast country in chaoa, infusion, and anarchy. The best they, could do was to provide security for those dwelling on the most accessible slopes of this volcano, and arrest the devastating flow of lava, so as not to scorch other lands. There was no question of recognition. It was never proposed or discussed, because no Government represented the whole of Russia, and because the Bolshevist Government had committed crimes against Allied subjects which would make it impossible to recognise it even under other circumstances, and because at this moment the Bolshevists are attacking our friends in Russia. Regarding the proposal for military intervention, the Prime Minister declared it Avas a sound fundamental principle of our foreign policy never to interfere in the international affairs of other countries, however badly governed they were. Notwithstanding the state of British feeling, the difficulties of military enterprise into Russia were immense. Even if military conquest were possible, the political and practical difficulties remained. He was horrified at the Bolshevist teaching, but would rather leave the Russian Bolshevist until he saw what Bolshevism was doing, than he would see Britain made bankrupt by a costly military intervention. He pleaded that the world should let alone those who are doing their best at the Congress, and he added that Vienna's difficulties were insignificant compared with those of Paris. April 17. In the House of Commons Mr Lloyd Georgo said that if we had abandoned Generals Kolchak and Deniken to the Bolshevists it would have been an act thoroughly unworthy of any great land. They had only asked to be supplied with arms, and he did not regard that as in the least a departure from the British fundamental policy. Our policy was to prevent a forcible irruption of Bolshevism into Allied lands, and therefore we were organising all the forces in the Allied countries bordering on the territories from the Baltic to the Black Sea. If Bolshevism attacked any of our Allies it would be our business to defend them. The world would not be passive so long as Russia was torn and rent by civil war. Our policy was to induce the warring

parties in Russia to meet and discuss the establishment of a commonly acceptable authority which the Allies could recognise as the Russian Government. He did not despair of a. solution. There were even now promising factors. Reliable information indicated that while the Bolshevist forces were apparently growing in strength Bolshevism itself was rapidly waning and breaking down before relentless economic pressure. Thero were unmistakable signs that Russia was emerging, and when she was again sane and normal we should make peace in Russia. In replying to an interruption by Mr Clynes, the Prime Minister said the Government had no approaches at all from the Russian Bolshevist Government. He had heard reports that others had received proposals, which thev assumed to be authentic, but these had never been submitted to the Peace Conference by any member of the conference, and therefore the conference had riot considered them. Referring to the general peace terms, Mr Lloyd George said the representatives of the great Powers had reached a complete understanding on the great fundamental questions affecting neace with Germany. They had formulated their demands, and he hoped that by the end of next week they would be presented. The Prime Minister strongly denounced attempts to sow dissension and distrust between the Allies, and said that no one could have treated more sympathetically the peculiar problems and susceptibilities of Europe, with their long and bitter memories of national conflict, than had President Wilson. They had never forgotten the poignant fact that most of tho war sufferings and sacrifices had • been borne by heroic France, and they had not forgotten that she was entitled to feel a sense of security against a repetition of attack. Upon ail the questions that camo before them they came to a unanimous conclusion. What had happened at the Vienna Congress showed the importance of unanimity. The Peace Conference unanimously and unhesitatingly concluded that it would be a first-class blunder to publish the peace terms before they were discussed with the enemy. No Peace Conference had ever given its proceedings so much publicity, but he would rather have a good peace than a good press. The conference would take every action neeessarv to prevent premature publication, which might only encourage the enemy to resist. The Prime Minister declared that every pledge tho Government had given had been incorporated in the Allies' demands. The Government had never swerved one iota from these demands, and it stood by

them because it thought them just. What we wanted was a stern peace, because the occasion demanded it—not to gratify vengeance, but to vindicate justice. Every clause in the terms must be justified on that ground. Above all, we wanted to protect the future against a repetition of the horrors of this war. | Mr Lloyd George, after denouncing the I newspaper attempts to sow dissension between the Allies, and emphasising the necessity for freeing commerce and Tndus- ; try as soon as possible and reducing the enormous war expenditure, said that one of the results of peace would be the abolition of a great continent's menace of armaments. The forces of Germany would be reduced to an army only just adequate to police her cities and protect her commerce. We and Europe must profit thereby. The danger was not that there might be recrudescence in Germany, because Germany would only with difficulty raise 80,000 armed men to'preserve order. The danger was that the world "was going to pieces,, and the gaunt spectre of hunger was stalking through the land. MR LLOYD GEORGE AND THE PRESS. Mr Lloyd George, in his attack on the Northcl iffe press, referred to an attempt bv certain newspaper owners suffering from diseased vanity to sow dissension amongst the Allies. The Premier also said : " The Times is a threepenny edition of the Daily Mail. On the Continent there is an idea that it is a semi-official organ of the Government. That shows how long an old tradition takes to die." I Mr Lloyd George's speech created a good impression in the lobbies and secured fairly good press notices. There is some ~dis-< appointment at the failure to give definite information regarding the conference, but it is agreed that the Premier's general account was satisfactory. The Daily News parliamentary correspondent says : " A merciless castigation of Lord Northcliffe was a feature of the speech, and particularly a passage in which Mr Lloyd George referred to the great newspaper proprietor as- labouring under a keen sense of disappointment because his very ridiculous expectation was not fulfilled—that he was the only man able to make peace." The correspondent adds: " The speech indicates that the great twin brothers who have used and been used by each other have finally broken their partnership of politics and journalism. Both will gain from breaking an inglorious association." The Northcliffe papers give prominence to the Premier's onslaught, and profess indifference to what they term a gross dia-

tribe. They declare that the "wild accuaetions of attempting to bow dissension among the Allies is extravagantly untrue* They continue a fierce criticism of the Got* eminent.