Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1936 PEACE BY FORCE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 18962, 12 March 1936, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald. PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, THURSDAY, MARCH 12, 1936 PEACE BY FORCE

If the more dramatic developments in Kurope this week have diverted attention from Great Britain's profit sals for increasing her defence forces they have, at the same time, done a groat deal to emphasise the necessity for the measures outlined in Ihe White Paper. The speeches of the Prime Minister and other members of the House nf Commons incvilabl..' associated Germany's broach ol the Locarno Pad with the defensive ; ;teps contemplated by Britain, .and the connection between the two is not iiliicult to distinguish. Under the Treaty of Locarno it was expressly stipulated thai resistance by France to the reoccupalion of the demilitar isod /.one by Germany would not b< regnidod as an illegal act of warfare and Britain was pledged to assist France in the event of a breach occurring. Had France decided to ofl'ci armed resistance to the German troops —and the German press makes no secret of the fact that such a possibility had not been overlooked —there can lie little doubt that Great Britain and other signatories of the treaty would have been placed in an extremely diniciill position. Recognition that such a contingency might arise in the future is apparent in the whole British policy and was never more clearly indicated than in Mr. Baldwin's speech. Hitherto, the aim has been to prevent wars by means of international agreement, but when it is repeatedly demonstrated that some nations will abide by their pledged word on'y so long as it sails I hem il is evident that sonic new procedure is required, and it is in this direction that the world is now moving. The position is aptly summed up in Mr. Baldwin's statement: "I am convinced that you will be unable io prevent war on Ihe part of an aggressor unless that aggressor knows I hat his advent into war will be met at once by armed opposition." Such a doctrine, in an allegedly civilised world of a generation that has known the full horrors of warfare, is not pleasant to contemplate, but under the conditions that exist to-day there is no practicable alternative. Clearly war can■noi bo prevented by an appeal Io reason, bill only by creating in the minds of would-be aggressors a fear of !h< isequences. And this, after all, is the real basis of whatever law and order exists to-day. The groat majority in any community are peaceloving citizens who are prepared to abide by whatever conditions are laid down for the general good, but there

are always some who resent restrictions and others who deliberately flout them. .In the one case the existence of the law acts as a sufficient. deterrent, and in the other the lawimposes appropriate penalties, The

same principle is now to be extended io the international sphere: those nations who arc determined that peace shall bo maintained" —and they represent the majority of the international community—must show thai they are prepared to uphold (lie law and to use Ihcir collective strength to deal effectively with those who break it. In this task, Great Britain, by virtue nf her standing and influence, must play a leading part, and herein lies the explanation of the rearmament programme to which she is committed. Britain cannot fulfil her obligations to the League of Nations and cannot even protect her own territories unless she is in a position to use armed strength to enforce the treaties thai arc accepted and approved as the laws liv which international relations an to be governed. Had the principle of collective .security been something more* tangible than an untried theory many difficulties in recent years would have been speedily overcome. If Italy had known, for instance, that her in vasion of Abyssinia would have beo7i met with armed resistance by the members of the League of Nations, there would have been no invasion, and had Germany known thai I lie

signatory Towers were prepared io back up the Locarno Treaty by force of arm* there would lie no troops in the Rhinelnnd zone to-day. Until Ihe nations of Ihe world are made te realise, in the words of Mr. Baldwin that an act of aggression will brim all Ihe members of the League upon the offender, nothing can prevent outbreaks of war and there will be nothing to deter those countries who aspir. io expand and believe that they cat do so with impunity. If this stage i> to be reached it is essential that those who desire to preserve the peac< -liould be in an undoubted positioi to enforce their will, and this is pre cisely what. Grcal Britain is niminf at in her new defence measures. Ele statesmen have for years worked an remittingly to secure peace by con •iliation, and they are now committed Io work just as whole-heartedly 1< obtain the same ends by other means When the .stage is reached that col lective security '.« a reality, when fifty nations are prepared actively am not merely passively to outlaw wa and deal appropriately with outlaw; hen peace will be assured and auto ernts who cannot be restrained h appeals to their bettor instincts wil be suppressed by the -weight o! superior numbers and .stronger force representing Ihe law of the nation.The successful preparation of thi system may prove a costly proccsand to none more so than the Brilisl Umpire, but if it results in the pre vision of a lasting peace the mone.\ will have been well spent and tin ost will not be begrudged.