AN ARMED PE ACE

Taranaki Daily News, 13 November 1929, Page 11

AN ARMED PE ACE

INTERNATIONAL FEELING

OUTLOOK MORE HOPEFUL

FREEDOM OF SEAS IDEAL

PRESIDENT HOOVER SPEAKS

.Washington,' Nov. 11. "The world to-day is comparatively peace,” said President Hoover in an Armistice Day address. “The oatlook for a peaceable future is brighter than for half a century past, yet after all it is an armed peace, for men under arms,,, including active reserves, in the world'are almost 30,000,000 more than .before the Great. War, .“Owing to the. Washington arms conference and the destruction of the German Navy, the combatant ships in the world . show some decrease since the war, but aircraft and other instruments Of destruction are. far more potent than • even in the Great War. There are fears, distrust and smouldering injuries among the nations which are tender of war; nor does a single, quarter-century during all the ages. of human experience, warrant the assumption that war will not occur again.” The President made optimistic re-

ferences to the Kellogg Pact and other ... evidences of goodwill, and dwelt upon

the necessity of protecting citizens in .’various quarters of the globe. “We must, realise that. there are many unsolved problems and boundaries between the nations,” he sail. “There are peoples aspiring to a greater measure of selfgovernment;. there are fears of invasion and domination, bequeathed to all humanity from former wars; x there is a host of age : old controversies whoso fipectres haunt the world which at any time may touch the springs of fear and lllwfll. We must frankly accept the fact, therefore, that we and all the nations of the world will be involved for , All future time in small or. great con'troversies arising out of all these multiple causes.

■ :".WST EXTEND TREATIES. - ..fit. . .. heed, further to extend our treaties with other countries, providing *■ methods' for the reference of controversies to a conference which will inquire into facts or refer the matter for arbitration or judicial determination. We have need to define rules for the conduct of nations and to formulate an

authoritative system of international law. 'We have need, under proper reservations, to support the World Court ip order that we may secure judicial determination of certain types of controversies and build up precedents which -'add to the body of international law.” Referring to the United States’, in- ■ terest in the means for assuring a setvtlement of international controversies, president Hoover said: “There are today two roads to that end. The European nations have, by the Covenant of the League of Nations, agreed that if the nations fail to settle their differences peaceably, then force should be applied by other nations to compel them to be reasonable. We refused to travel thia road. We were confident that, at .least in the Western hemisphere, public opinion will -suffico to check violence, /and this is the road wc propose to travel.

-...“We .‘must, where opportunity offers, work steadfastly to remove the deeper causes and frictions which lead to disputes and illwill. One of those causes ■ i» competition in armaments.” After outlining the evils of armament, the President continued: “It was first and foremost to rid ourselves of this danger that I again initiated the naval negotiations. I am full of confidence in the. success of the . conference which will assemble next January. In setting up this conference we have already agreed with Britain that there will be parity of naval strength between us. I hope there will be a serious reduction in the navies as a relief to the economic, burdens of all. the peoples, and I believe that-men and women throughout the world demand such a reduction. We must reduce and limit warships by agreement only.

REDUCTION BY "EXAMPLE.” { ‘l have'no faith in a reduction of armaments by example alone until such lime.as the nations can build iip 'agencies for pacific settlement on stronger foundations’ and until fear, the most dangerous of all national emotions, has been proved groundless by a long proof of international honesty. Until the power of the world’s public opinion, as a restraint of aggression, has had many years’ test there will not be established that confidence which warrants the., abandonment of preparedness for defence among the nations. To do so may invito war.

"We will reduce our naval strength in proportion to any other country, haying said that it only remains for others to say how low they will go, it cannot be too low for us.” Mr. Hoover referred to "Another of these age-old controversies which stir men’s minds with fear—the . so-called freedom of the seas. In reality in our day it is simply the rights of private citizens to trade in time of war, for there is to-day complete freedom of the seas in times of peace. I am going to have - the temerity to put forward an idea which might break through the involved legal questions and age-old interpretations of right and wrong by a practical step which would solve a large part of the intrinsic problem. It would act as a preventive as well as a limitation of war. I offer it only for the consideration of the world. I have not made it a governmental proposition to anv nation and do not now. 1 know that any wide departure from accepted ideas requires a long and searching examination. This is not a proposition for the forthcoming naval conference, as that session is for a definite purpose and this proposal will not be injected into it.

PROTECTION OF FOOD SHIPS. "For many years, born of poignant personal experience, I have held that food ships should bo made free of any interference in war tune. I would place nil vessels, laden solely with food supplies, on the same footingias Jiospitn'E

ships. The time has. come when wj should remove the starvation of women and children from the weapons of warfare. The fear of interruption in seaborne food supplies has powerfully tended towards naval development in both importing and exporting nations.” Emphasising the necessity. beyond all things of building up a spirit of goodwill and friendliness and creating respect and confidence as a guarantee of peace, the President concluded: “It was in this endeavour that I visited the presidents of the South American Republics, and that is why I welcomed the Prime Minister of Great Britain to the United States. All these men have talked of their problems in a spirit charged, with the gravest responsibility, not only for our own reputations, but for the peace and safety of the world. We thought out loud together, as men cannot think in diplomatic notes; we made no commitments; we drove no discussion to a final conclusion;'” we explored acts of possible, constructive action and possible controversy; we examined pitfalls : of international relations frankly and openly. With this wider understanding of mutual difficulties and aspirations we can, each in his own sphere, better contribute to broaden goodwill, to assist those forces which made for peace in the world and to curb those forces which make for distrust.”

-• NOT A SIMPLE PROPOSITION. OPINIONS OF LONDON PRESS. Rec. 8.45 . p.m. London, Nov, 12. President Hoover’s proposal to grant immunity. to food ships in war-time, is featured in many newspapers. The Daily Telegraph expresses the opinion that the speech may become historic, but suggests the proposition may be less simple than it seems. For instance, fats, besides being food, are important in the manufacture of munitions,’ and grain and other foodstuffs are usable in making industrial alcohol. As another possibility, objection arises if the case is considered of two combatants, one of whom is depending mainly on sea-borne food and- is assured of uninterrupted supplies, while the other is depending on overland imports of food, the cutting off of which it is not proposed to make illegal. The Daily News doubts whether the attempt to humanise war is anything but a pitiful illusion. President Hoover’s proposal, however, must receive the serious attention of the civilised world.

The Times says it should be borne in mind that the problem is a. hypothetical one, namely what law shall be applied in eventualities which, if the Pact of Peace is observed by all signatories,' may never arise. In any case discussion 'must not bo allowed, to .detract from jnakjn# ;a‘ success of. the. approaching naval conference.