ADMISSION OF GERMANY

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16360, 7 June 1927, Page 9

ADMISSION OF GERMANY

TO LEAGUE OF STATIONS. ‘•THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT.’ REV. J. AITKEN'S REVIEW. “By far the most important event 1 in the history of the,League of Nations j during the past year has been the ad- j mission of Germany as a member, j which took place on September B,”‘ said the Rev. Jas. Aitken, in his re-. view of the activity of the League, at ; the annual meeting- of the Gisborne . branch of the League of Nations Union, of which he is president, in the ; City Hall last evening. “Forty-eight : states were represented at the meeting' of the Assembly on that date,” he continued, “and -18 States voted in l favor of the resolution. It may well prove not only * the must important 1 event in the history of the League during the past year, but also the most important event in the history of the world during many years. “As M. Briand said in the speech with which he welcomed tho German delegate to the Assembly, ‘our presence, both yours and ours, is of great significance.’ Remember that before Germany could join the League she had to make formal application to be received. Remember that her application was accompanied by a wellunderstood stipulation that she should j be accorded a permanent seat on tlic Council. And remember that the granting of that scat required the unanimous vote of the Council itself. But France sat on the Council, and France, by voting against a permanent seat for Germany, could have kept Germany out of the League altogether. The object of the League is to promote and preserve the peace of the world. Had France not been persuaded of Germany’s sincerity in seeking | to advance that great cause she could ! easily have blocked her admission. | And had Germany not been equally j persuaded of France’s sincerity she j would never have applied to become a | member of tlio League at all. Germany and France are prepared to trust each other, and to co-operate with each other, and that, as M. Briand said, is of profound significance. “When Sir James Allen addressed that great meeting in the City Hall some weeks ago, ho alluded to a number of the leading personalities in the Assembly of the League—men like the Cecils and Chamberlain, and Bones and Aiotta. He made no mention of Dr. Strcscmnnn, the German Foreign Secretary, and chief of the German delegation. The omission might -well seem to suggest that Sir James was unable to speak very enthusiastically of that statesman. But lam in a position to state that the omission was wholly inadvertent. Sir James holds. Dr. Stresemaim in very high regard, 1 and looks upon him as a man whoso ability and sincerity are beyond question. Dr. Stresemann,, in the first speech which ho delivered to * tho As- . scmbly, admitted that Germany had only gradually been converted to the ideals for which the League of Nations stands, but he declared that they ‘ were becoming more and more deeply ■ rooted in the conscience of the German people,’ and we may safely attach the greatest weight to his assurance that ‘the German Government speaks for the great majority of the German race when it declares that it will wholeheartedly devote itself to the duties devolving upon the League of Nations.’ “We have travelled a long way since 1918. It is easy to criticise tho: League, easy to find fault with its constitution, to cavil at its adminis- j tration, to disparage its achievement. But the admission of Germany is a great encouragement to all who sec in the League tho one hope of peace and security in the future. It is true that Germany’s accession was the occasion of the withdrawal of Spain and Brazil, but nevertheless the League has been immeasurably strengthened, and there is some ground for believing that Spain and Brazil may before long return again. In any case the League must j continue on its beneficent way. “ It is impossible now to conceive the world as a whole turning back to the chaos and .confusion and constant peril of former days. ‘I am more than everconvinced,’ said Lord Balfour, ‘ that the experiment we have began is an experiment we can never afford to drop. The League of Nations may be, and will be, modified. Tho pact may bo changed. But that we can ever consent to go back to tho international disorganisation which preceded tho League. of Nations, that we can ever give up carrying out tasks which only the Leaguo can cany out, that civilisation will submit to retrace one of the greatest steps ever taken—that, I frankly admit, seems'to me absolutely incredible.’ “ There are many aspects of the League’s work on which one might dwell,” continued Mr. Aitken,' “but most of you must be familiar with the general outline of its activities at least. We know that an immense amount of work has been done by the Commission on Disarmament. How much that problem has been advanced towards solution it would be hard to tell. If you have given any time to the study of it you must have been impressed with the enormous complexity and difficulty of the subject. Ho. is a very simple soul who is impatient to see results. The bringing of the nations to disarm is a long task, and we are only at the beginning of it yet. May I repeat again my conviction that the end we all hope for will he reached, not through the efforts that wo expressly directed towards it so much as indirectly through the efforts towards other things. “ The League has a hundred interests besides disarmament, and' it is worth while casting our minds back over some of them. What a catalogue wo can make : There is the widespread and varied work of the Health Organisation. There is the Economic Conference and the preparations for it. There is tho financial reconstruction of Austria and Hungary, and' the financial problem of Danzig.' There is the settlement of refugees, and the interchange of population still going on. There are the multitude of questions centring in international communications, railways, waterways, and the like. • There are the interests of minorities. There is

tho great mandate system. There are tho social and humanitarian interests, the white slave traffic, child welfare, traffic in drugs, slavery, and a host of others. In connection with all that immense and varied work, tho League has developed a widely-ramifying organisation, endless committees and commissions, upon which sit the representatives of all the member States, and upon many of which are to be found representatives of non-member States also, like America and Russia. And it is out of tho contacts and consultations of these committees and commissions that tho atmosphore is being developed—the atmosphere of mutual understanding and mutual respect among the nations—which more than any schemes devised for the purpose, will make disarmament possible. After all, the peace and security of the world depends not upon schemes and projects, pacts and treaties, but upon the growth of a better spirit among the nations. It depends upon the dispelling of suspicion and fear, and the furtherance of mutual knowledge, appreciation, and trust; and the best of all means to promote the growth of that new and better spirit is the ' contact and consultation,’ which the League has brought about in so gratifying a measure. “ I would add but a single word to remind you bow necessary it is that the union should continue and extend its good work,” concluded Mr. Aitken. “ In tho last resort the League, rests on the foundation of public sentiment, land on tho determination of the people that it. shall succeed. There is an im mense work still to bo done in the way of informing and educating public opinion, and I trust that all our members will remain loyal to tho union through the coming year.”