“SACRED TRUST”

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 444, 28 August 1928, Page 16

“SACRED TRUST”

PRIME MINISTER ON PEACE PACT

CEREMONY AT WELLINGTON (From Our Resident Reporter.) WELLINGTON, To-day. “A sacred trust In the interests of civilisation,” is how the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, describes the Peace Pact signed yesterday. The occasion was marked by a united service in the Town Hall, which was crowded. The Mayor, Mr. G. A. Troup, presided and the Governor-General, Sir Charles Fergusson, occupied a seat on the platform. Among others on the platform were the Prime Minister, Mr. Coates, members of the Government, the Bishop of Wellington, Dr. Sprott, and representatives of the other churches in New Zealand. “While no one can state definitely what the outcome of this effort is going to be, while many have doubted the effectiveness of any pact without means of enforcement, none will deny that it is a great experiment and a bold venture,” said Mr. Troup, after reading a copy of the treaty. “In business parlance it would be termed a gentleman’s agreement, and behind it will be the great moral force of eight of the most powerful nations of the world. By our presence here to-day we give evidence of our desire to help to make this new instrument effective in promoting peace. We rejoice to know that one of the signatories of this pact will he a New Zealand representative, namely, Sir James Parr.” “The treaty is not one following upon victory and the conquest,” said Mr. Coates. “The first suggestion came from M. Briand, the French Foreign Minister, who wrote to the United States and asked that milateral treaty be entered into by France and the United States. After some delay what is known as the Kellogg Note Was issued, which suggested a multilateral treaty. SIMPLE DECLARATION • “The treaty provided that after the signing to-day it would be open for other nations to come in if they so desired. It was a simple declaration by all the signatories that they will use every peaceful means of arranging any differences between them. There was one great thing in connection with the treaty which all must recognise, and that was the power of public opinion and the wide desire that in future there should he no more wars. The declaration in the treaty would be recognised by all nations as a sacred trust in the interests of civilisation. Great Britain’s policy had always been founded on a desire for peace. There was no other nation which had signed so many arbitration treaties as Britain, and she had always subscribed to an orderly, peaceable method for the settlement of International difficulties.

He hoped New Zealand would always be found subscribing to treaties which would make for peace, not only in the Pacific, but throughout the world.” DEEPLY-ROOTED The Bishop of Wellington, Dr. Sprott, said the event of the day might mark a new chapter in human’history. The nations concerned solemnly acknowledged that the foundations of international relations must henceforward stand on a different basis, and instead of regarding each other as potential enemies nations must regard each other as potential friends. There was a great guf between this ideal and what actually was, and everyone must uproot deeply seated notions. One was that war, like earthquakes, was a national calamity over which they had no control. There ' was again the delusion that the prosperity of one nation must mean the decay of other nations. This must be uprooted, as also must that caricature of patriotism—national vanity. An interval of a minute’s silence was solemnly observed, and the National Anthem closed an impressive ceremony.