PERILS OF THE PACT

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXII, Issue 19365, 23 July 1925, Page 9

PERILS OF THE PACT

may cut heart out of empire. SMUTS’ WARNING. \ YOUNG IMPERIAL NATIONS PREFERRED TO ‘SPECTRES OF EUROPE.’ A grave and plain-spoken warning to the British Government against the perils of the proposed European security pact is uttered by Geneiftl •Smuts, the South African statesman. Some of the Dominions, he predicts, will not follow Britain into what he calls a “new Holy Alliance,” and pursuance of such a policy by Imperial loaders will “cut the heart out of the Empire.” LONDON, July 10. The Daily News publishes a special message from General J. C. Smuts,

formerly Prime Minister of South Africa, regarding the European situation. “I confess that I am profoundly suspicious both of the pact and the policies behind the pftet,” says General Smuts. “If the pact does not contain anything more than the League’s Covei nant, as its supporters affirm, why not |be satisfied with the Covenant? Why Jftrc certain quarters jubilant over the | pact? 1 “The truth is that there is more I behind the pact, which, like the ' Geneva protocol, tends to stereotype 'and further entrench the settlement j made under the peace treaties. Far j more than the Covenant, it will onj courage the diehards of the peace nent to stand more pat 1 han . ■- cr, i' rendering impossible any peaceful re- | form of the present intolerable ar- , rangements.

THE OPEN DOOR. “Europe will be lured to destruction by a false sense of security and solidarity. It would be far better to be Europe grope is way painfully to the light and let a new international atmosphere arise, under the aegis of the League. “Most of the loading spirits at the Peace Conference recognised thftt their was limited and transitory. Consequently they constituted the League as the organ both of change and security.

j “The Covenant leaves open the door for future change. Don’t lot us close lit! Those who build on insecure and dangerous foundations in Europe must face insecurity and danger. “It will be a wholesome experience, paving the way for necessary reforms. In the absence of such reforms the present arrangements in Central Europe, in all human profitability. spell trouble. The supporters of such arrangements incur a fearful responsibility. “FATAL PARTING OF THE WAYS.” “An equally grave view must be taken of the pact, because it is proposed that Britain shrill dissociate from the Empire, taking her own line in cardinal foreign policy and leaving the Dominions to decide their own policies. I feel certain that some oi the Dominions won’t follow Britain, and, as one believing in the British Empire as the greatest human institution on earth, F cannot with equanimity acquiesce in such a policy. “The pact may well become the; fatal parting of the Empire’s Ways. British statesmen who adhere to a new Holy Alliance may find that they have not only fatally dissociated Britain from the progressive forces of the new Europe, but also have cut the heart

|out of the Empire. i “Why not go forward to an uncer- ; tain future, hand in hand with the young Imperia] nations, rather thlan j with the spectres of Europe? Both jas a citizen of the Empire and as a good European, I have rooted distrust I of the Holy Alliance.” I WARNING WELL FOUNDED. The Daily News, commenting in a leading article, on General Smuts’ message, says: “This warning to the , British Government, against entering an Anglo-Franco-German agreement dramatically coincides with the day on which Germany, probably, is replying to France and paving the way for an international conference in August I or September. “General Smuts is thoroughly in-

I formed and entirely detached from I European feuds. Ilis views, therefore, ; bear an authority greater than those j of any other statesman. “His message is well-founded. It is ‘just a warning to the opportunists who want to guarantee France’s security

in order to preserve peace, land to those idealists who gladly accept any settlement making war remote, in the hope that mankind’s good sense will mitigate those injustices to which General Smuts refers. MELANCHOLY OUTLOOK. “It is possible to pay too high a price for Fiance’s security, especially as other countries are liable to be attacked; but it is well worth enduring the present sham peace if a real peace can thereby be assured under the League. “The pftet may prove that European statesmen are reviving the old. dis- i credited methods of peace-keeping. That is a melancholy outlook, even if it wore not supported by General Smuts’ grave prophecies concerning the Empire’s attitude.”