THE INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK.

Otago Witness, Issue 3399, 7 May 1919, Page 19

THE INTERNATIONAL OUTLOOK.

PROBLEMS OF THE PACIFIC

MENACE OF JAPAN"

SIE JAMES ALLEN'-S VIEWS

Tho feature of the fifteenth annual meeting of the Otago branch of the Navy League, which was held in the City Council Chambers on Friday afternoon, was an address bySir James Allen on "The International Out-, look." Sir James dealt interestingly with the 'situation created by- the war, and gave expression to arresting views on the problems of the Pacific, with particular reference to their relationship to the welfare of New Zealand. The Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark) presided, and the chamber was filled with >vell-known Dunedin residents and with girls from local secondary schools. Decorations of greenery gave the chamber a festive appearance, and Nelson's famous signal was displayed in small flags on the table in the middle of tho room.

The Mayor, in opening the proceedings, said that the splendid attendance was ample evidence of '. the keen and active interest taken in the work of that " live" organisation by the citizens of Dunedin. The report that would be shortly submitted by the president —Sir James Allen—would show what solid and splendid work was being, done in maintaining the interest in the British navy, and would impress upon the citizens of the future the necessity of retaining a fleet sufficiently strong to keep Britain "Mistress of the Seas." The titanic struggle that had just ,ended victoriously had tauajat everyone what the navy meant, and how it alone kept the pathway of the sea open. They were honoured that day, continued the Mayor, by having present Sir James Allen, the Acting Prime Minister, who was the president of the Navy League. It, was always a great pleasure to have Sir James present, and they desired to give him a most sincere and cordial welcome. Through all the war years Sir James had toiled unremittingly to assist the Empire, and his work had won the appreciation of all classes of the community. Much of the credit New Zealand had earned duringr the war was due to Sir James, who, by his big vision, capable administration, untiring labours, and splendid Imperialism, had organised the man power, and- made it possible for the dominion to take a creditable part in the conflict.—(Prolonged applause.) r ; . THE RUSSIAN SITUATION.

Sir-James Allen, who on rising to speak wasJ greeted with loud applause, moved the adoption of the annual report, which lias already been published. _ He regTetted that his parliamentary duties, prevented him from taking the part in the activities of the league in Dunedin whioh he would have liked to take. Sir James paid a very high tribute to the work, of the secretary (Mr. C. Darling), and said that in the possession of such a secretary the Dunedin branch of th<* league was in an exceptionally forlunato position. He congratulated the local branch on the • very excellent work accomplished by the very, fine annual report they had before them that day. He had been asked to speak that day on the international outlook. The task, said Sir James, was more than any one man in New Zealand could undertake successfully, because sufficient iwas not known about the international problems confronting the statesmen of the world to enable anyone to arrive at a sound conclusion. They had only to look at what had taken place during the past 12 months o- so in Russia to realise that a nation might be completely disrupted by tho revolutionary ideas in its midst. The Russians had not sufficient knowledge amongst themselves to know how to prevent such a disruption. • They had not sufficient ltnowledge to carry on whatever Government they might try to establish, because they had not sufficient education to realise what their requirements were. From his own observations, he ventured to predict that recent newspaper reports represented tho position a 3 it stood, and he did not see how the present state of.affairs in Russia could last. He believed that the terrible regime whioh had proved so disastrous in that country would soon come to an end, and that a successful and sane Government would shortly be established in that unfortunate country. The principles 'which had actuated tho Russian revolutionaries had penetrated beyond Russia, and had spread their baneful influence to many countries,, but, fortunately, tho bulk of. the people had sufficient education to quell any attempts at revolutionary propaganda in other parts of the world. So far as New Zealand was concerned, he was sure that any attempt at revolution would not meet with the approval of the working people themselves, and would certainly not be accorded the approval of the masters of industry. Therefore, ho thought that we might rest assured that our peace would not be disturbed by revolution. The problem was a difficult one, because until the Bolshevist propaganda had ceased to agitato tho minds of men one did not know what might happen in any country. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. "When he had been asked to speak on his present subject, continued Sir James, he had been reminded of tho schoolboy who, on being set an algebraio problem, solved it thus: "X plus Y equals Z, but I don't know what X is and I don't know what Y is." In the present case, X would bo known when the peace terms were settled. There was a- difficulty in settling the peace. There was a possibility that some of tho nations might withdraw, and that would be a disturbing element in the international outlook. But _ ho hoped that sane counsels would prevail; that a via media would be found; that a peace would bo mado which -would be satisfactory; and that all the nations would join in signing tho league and covenant.. There seemed to bo t a prospect of tho whole" of the Allies joining in this covenant to preserve the peace of tho world in tho future. The principles at issue Were open, just, and honourable relations. He had no doubt it was the best thing to be perfectly open with regard to treaties and all negotiations between nations, and it was mandatory upon the nations which joined the covenant to lie just and honourable. The principles which actuated those formulating the covenant were founded on International law, peace obligations, and respect for treaty obligations. It was known what value was placed on international law

by some of the nations which one would have expected to have behaved honourably. There could ba no peace of the world unless tho nations would obey international law, and respect the obligations they entered into when they signed the peace treaty. He (Sir James) had great faith in the proposed League of Nations. President Wilson, when ho gave the world his 14 points, did not, the speaker thought, realiso some of the practical difficulties that he would have to face when he came into contact with other nations whoso ideas were dissimilar from his own. The idea of the league was a sound one If any covenant could be entered into between those who had been fighting to keep rhe peace of the world, then such a covenant should be entered upon. If in the future it became necessary in New Zealand to train men in order to make them physically fit, he hoped that the people of the country would not get the notion that this was being done with the idea of militarism, but would realise that the ideal aimed at was to make the people physically fit, both for their individual benefit and for the defence of the country should the need arise. The covenant aimed at appeared to bo fairly satisfactory. Those who signed it were bound to obey its principles. It provided that nations must not enter into any strife amongst themselves without first making an honest effort to settle their dispute pacifically, and, if they could not do that, submitting it to the league for arbitration. The power that would be exercised to bring recalcitrant members of the league into lino was to prevent them from having facade with other members of the league, or, indeed, _ with any outside nations Such a recalcitrantnation would have no financial dealings with anybody beyond its own shores, and,' geneally speaking, it seemed that a fairly powerful lever would in this way be brought to bear to prevent nations from disobeying the covenant. A reduction of armaments would be necessary. It wa's difficult to say how far this could be made to apply .to the nations outside the league, but unless something was done to keep down armaments he felt bound to sav that he thought something was lacking and unsatisfactory in the covenant, as far as its provisions were known. In respect to neutral nations, it seemed indefinite whether any power could bo exercised in respect of.such nations to reduce their armaments. LINES OF COMMUNICATION.

With regard to our own Empire, whatever the league might agree to, and whatever peace was decided on, one assumed that. British statesmen —who had gained a reputation that one might well be proud of—(applause)—would make such provision, either in the peace treaty or the covenant, to protect the waterways of the. sea, which to Britain were. everything.—(Applause.) He endorsed everything the Mayor had said with respect to the magnificent work done by the navy and the mercantile marine. Britishers might well be proud of the splendid part they had played.—(Applause.) So far as one could gather from ■ the newspapers, the position of . the British Empire and its communications might not be altogether satisfactory in the future. What our means of protecting the seas might be in the' future he did not know. It was said that a battle cruiser nowadays was as easily punishable from the air as the smallest boat. There was a possible . danger- that might come from nations that to-day were fighting on- our side, or were neutral, or from nations at present opposed to us, owing to their occupation of territory which was on our direct line of communication, or was a menace to any of our lines of communication. He hoped our statesmen at Home had been wise enough to insist that no such menace would be left to us in the future.

MARSHALL ISLANDS AND JAPAN. "I do not view without a considerable amount of alarm," continued Sir James, "the position in the Pacific We are taking under our mandate a portion of the territories previously occupied by tho Germans. Other islands in the Pacific will probably be handed over to a nation that during the war has been a friend of ours. •We cannot say that that nation will remain friendly for .all time. I look with a good deal of suspicion upon the occupation of the Marsh alls by the Japanese. If you look at the map you will see that the Marshalls are about half-way between Japan and New Zealand and Japan and Australia. It seems hard to find any reason—except the wish to dominate the Pacific—why the Japanese want to occupy the Marshall Islands. I do not know what will result from the Conference at Home, or what the position may bo with respect to the mandate of Japan with regard to the Marshalls. During the war an undertaking was arrived at in reference to the islands north of the equator and the islands south of the equator. That undertaking having been made ; the Empire cannot break its word, and if the Marshalls have to go to Japan, we must put up with that position. But I hope that satisfactory arrangements will be made with reference to the question of fortifications, etc. Ido not wish to underrate what Japan has done in the war. The fact that she was present in the Pacific made things comparatively safe for us, and every credit must be given her for the service she rendered. It may be that I am wrong in thinking that she has any ulterior motives in occupying the Marshall Islands. J hope that I am wrong, and that Japan has no intention of spreading her wings right over the Pacific. But I fear there is a possibility." NAVAL POLICY.

"As for cur own naval policy," continued the Minister, "it is impossible to,give you any idea of what it is going to be. Lord Jellicoe is on his- way here to advise as to what we ought to do in the future in regard to naval defence. When I was in England in 1913 an arrangement was made to ttart a very small naval policy, whioh would, however, have been a beginning, if the war had not broken out. We should have- made a beginning to train our own Now Zealanders as a New Zealand unit of the British navy. It was never in my mind to create a special navy belonging to New Zealand. The legislation provided that immediately on the outbreak of war every thing we had was to be handed over to the Imperial Government. As soon as war did break out everything we had—the Philomel ,etc—was handed over. Moreover, I do not believe that the Australian commonwealth ever had in their minds the idea of creating a special navy belonging to Australia, and on the outbreak of war the commonwealth also handed over everything to the Imperial Government. I do not know what we shall do in the future. But the only thing that will satisfy me is that if we are to protect the seas, then cvei?y part of the- Empire should havo the opportunity to take its share. It is riot sufficient to pay yearly a certain amount of , money.

We must pay for our protection in men, and it would bo an everlasting disgrace to New Zealand if in the future our Motherland had to enter into any naval combat m which New Zealand was not represented by some of its manhood. —(Applause.) If we value our freedom, it is our duty to take our share and train our men for our unit in the Imperial navy. I do not know what ships or machines may be required in the future. When I was in England I was told that the submarine was entirely unsuitable for New Zealand. I did not believe this then, and I do not believe it now. But Lord Jellicoe is coming, and we shall have the privilege of hearing what he has to say." THE AIR SERVICE. There was an important development, the speaker continued, which had taken place daring the war, and that was the air service,, the development of which was ope of the miracles of the last four years and a-half. in 1913 there was practically nothing in the air department of the Motherland, yet at the conclusion of the war the British Air Service was the finest in the world. It was necessary to consider what should be done in New Zealand in regajd to the air service He did not propose to enter into a large policy of aviation, but he thought it wotdd be necessary for us to have a minimum establishment of experts here, in order that if war broke out we might be in a position to train men for defence purposes, if the need arose. Air machines would be used for other than military purposes, and there was no reason why the civilian • and military functions should not be combined. Colonel Bettington had been invited to New Zealand, and was at present in Dunedin, to advise the Government with respect to aviation. Men had been already trained in flying in New Zealand, and some of these had gained great reputations and won high distinction. However, with regard to both the naval and the air policy of the future, he would ask the people to exercise patience until the opinion of the experts was available.— (Loud and prolonged applause.)' Professor G. E. Thompson seconded the motion.

The motion «was carried with applause. The following officers were appointed:— President, Sir James Allen; vice-presidents —Messrs J. A. Johnstone and P. Goyen; hon. treasurer, Mr J. A. Johnstone; hon. secretary, Mr C. .Darling; committee — Messrs P. Barr, R. S. Black, F. O. Bridge man. W. F. Edmond, P. Goyen, N. Galbraith, "C. Holdsworfch, J. A. Johnstone, W. A. Moore, W. J. Morrell, P. R. Sargood, W. D. Stewart, M.P., and J. W. -Smith; Ladies' Committee—Lady Allen, Mesdames W. F. Edmord, J. M. Ritchie, Theomin, E C. Reynolds, J. M. Gallaway, and J. C. M'George, and Misses M. C. Rpss and Rattray. The singing of the National Anthem concluded the meeting.