“Hopes of Mankind Expressed in Pact

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 531, 7 December 1928, Page 9

“Hopes of Mankind Expressed in Pact

SIXTY NATIONS JOIN CHARGE TO PUBLICISTS British USiiUil Wireless Recti, noon. RUGBY, Thursday The Foreign Secretary. Sir Au>i : Chamberlain, and the American Ambassador. Mr. Alauson B. Houghto::. were the principal guests at the 1’ . «- grims’ dinner held last night to cel brate the signing of the multilateral treaty for the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy. Mr. Houghton read a telegram from the American Secretary of State. >1 F. B. Kellogg, in which he said: “The Treaty expresses the sentiments 01 all the peoples of the world, and six nations have either stated the tree would be adhered to, or have > t pressed their intentiou to adhere to ii. Thus it becomes a declaration of the hopes and aspirations of mankind. " In his speech, Mr. Houghton saal that he could not discuss the treaty as directly as he would like, because it was about to be laid for consideration before the Senate. All were however, agreed that the peaceful settlement of problems arising between nations was wholly desirable, and Uie fact that the Canadian people and those of the United States had been able to live side by side iu mutual safety and contentment, divided by an unguarded frontier, could not bo without significance to the rest "i the world. GUARDED BY GOODWILL These two peoples had shown that they were safer and nappier without naval and military forces for their protection. Sir Austen Chamberlain, referring to the fact that the multilateral treaty was about to be considered by the United States Senate, said that in these circumstances all he could say was that if it would approve itself to authorities of the United States, no Government would more readily and more eagerly give its ratification to an instrument which proceeded from American initiative than the Government which he had the honour to c present. Referring to the long unprotected Canadian-United States frontier, hisaid: “It is a frontier between Canada and the United States, but that frou tier is unguarded, except by the goodwill and good sense of those whom it divides.” Discussing the Pact he said: “What is it that 60 nations have done? For the first time in their history they have renounced war as an instrument of policy. I say for myself and for the Government which I represent that from the first moment when we received the proposal of the United States Government, we recognised it as important, and our earnest effort was to help it to its conclusion, and that now we have signed it we recog nise to the full its implications in the conduct of our own foreign policy, and the obligations which it imposes on us to seek the settlement of all international differences by peaceful means. TASK OF PUBLICISTS “The Pact, however, imposes much that is not confined to Governmenis. I desire, on this occasion, among the implications of the Pact, to say that it places a new obligation on the publicists of our different countries to work for peace, to interpret one nation to another, to be siow to excite suspicion or entertain suspicion, and that their part in making the Kellogg Pact a pact of peace is just as important and just as responsible and just as honourable as that of the meu who are immediately charged with the conduct of public affairs.”