THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1928. OUTLAWING WAR

Wairarapa Age, 23 May 1928, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1928. OUTLAWING WAR

■O—s, There is nothing half-hearted in the reply made by Great Britain to the American proposal of " a multilateral pact renouncing war as an instrument of national policy. Everything else in Sir Austen Chamberlain's Note (of which tho text was published yesterday) is subordinate to the opening and closing passages in which he states respectively that the British Gcveinment will support to the utmost of its power the conclusion of a treaty for the renunciation of war, and. that it has been ascertained that the Dominions find India are all in cordial agreement with the general principles of the proposed treaty. The reservations made by Sir Austen Chamberlain in matters of detail relate to the right of self-defence against aggression, tho safeguarding of British protectorates, and the obligations Britain and the Dominions have already undertaken under the League of Nations Covenant, and Britain herself under the Locarno Paet. It can hardly be suggested that any of these reservations are in theintelves unreasonable, or that "they are inconsistent with the general principles of the proposed treaty, which Sir Austen Chamberlain, on behalf both of Britain and the Dominions, has warmly endorsed. As an American newspaper observes.. all that is left now is to devise legal means to.cause these principles to be applied fruitfully in the practice of nations. For British people, the real interest of the negotiations for which the way is now open so far as the Empire is concerned is in the extent to which they are calculated to bring America into active partnership with Britain and other nations in organised efforts to safeguard the peace <f the world. In offering to renounce war as an instrument of national policy, Britain and the Dominions are not adopting any new policy. They are simply affirming the policy to which they are committed in the fullest degree by inclination and in practice. Tho interesting question raised is how far America is prepared to go in contracting with other Powers to renounce war as an instrument of national policy. Obviously, the proposed treaty- will be of little value or -significance unless it implies some mutual obligation on the part of the contracting parties to uphold the undertaking and to act in concert against those who break it. If any such obligation is implicit in tho treaty, its conclusion will bring tho United States into much the -same relation to world affairs in Europe and elsewhere as if she had become a member of the League of Nations. If the proposed treaty is to be more than a pious profession, there should be no difficulty whatever in bringing i A .s -articles into conformity with the League Covenant and with the obligations undertaken by members of the League.