The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1928. RENUNCIATION OF WAR.

Waikato Times, Volume 103, Issue 17409, 23 May 1928, Page 6

The Waikato Times With which is Incorporated The Waikato Argus. WEDNESDAY, MAY 23, 1928. RENUNCIATION OF WAR.

With the horrors of the Great War still fresh in the memory the desire to outlaw war, which seems to be coming within the sphere of international politics, is a very natural phenomenon. No nation wishes to undergo that terrible experience again, more especially as the consequences might be the destruction of civilisation. Rattling the sabre is not a policy which can be indulged in under existing circumstances, and statesmen the world over are seeking to relieve the post-war tension by devising some means by which war can be banished as a method nf settling international differences. The League of Nations has done something towards nurturing a spirit of peace, but it is recognised that, as constituted, it has its limitations. The League is, however, a pivot about which other movements can turn, as its machinery can be used to bring the representatives of various nations together on common ground. The negotiations which are taking place with the object of framing a treaty for the renunciation of war may be somewhat premature, but they at any rate have the virtue of raising the issue for scrious thought. A draft of a treaty lias been submitted by the United Stales to tlie leading Powers, and it lias met with the cordial approval of the British Government. At the same time it has to be acknowledged that the question of giving effect to the treaty bristles with difficulties. There is 100 much at stake for Britain to throw down her arms, trusting to other nations to follow her example immediately. Other nations are precisely in the same position, and it is therefore obvious that the renunciation of war can only be obtained by a general agreement to which all the parties must give their whole-hearted adhesion without any reservations, it has been shown more than once thai a scrap of paper is a fragile defence unless ii

be backed by idols which count above everything else. It will be by the cultivation of an ideal that the solution of the problem will ultimately come. War has been shorn of much of its glory by the fact that armies now seek to destroy each other from a distance with high-pow-ered artillery, bombs from the air, and deadly chemical gases, which have taken the place of the man to man struggles of, bygone days. Apart, from this the world has advanced, and even before the Great War there was a growing feeling thai war accorded ill with Christian civilisation. That feeling was intensified by the events of 19J i and the succeeding years, and is more widespread than if has ever been, and lias'had many warm exponents in some of the leading soldiers who have passed through Ihe Ore. An analogous case is presented by the movement for the abolition of slavery. At one lime to question the morality of slaverywould have been lo earn the oblo.quy which is now bestowed on the Bolshevik, but as a result of the labours of the abolitionists the public conscience underwent a change. This-public conscience is far more powerful than treaties, and it is due to it thai no civilised nation will now tolerate slavery. The anti-war movement will probably follow the same course. Renunciation treaties arc not likely to be effective if the war spirit is nourished amongst the nations and adulation is showered on the heroes of war instead of the heroes of peace. The attitude of the public conscience towards war' is the real factor which will determine the trend of the future". When the people of every civilised country, regard war in the same light as they do slavery renunciation will then be in sight, and the treaties which will follow will be a formal recognition of what has been achieved in other ways. The order must be the public conscience first and the treaties afterwards, for in no other way can. the renunciation of war be complete and effective. This does not mean that nothing is gained in the present condition of the world by the anti-war treaty which has been submitted to the Great Powers by the United Slates. The discussion that ensues will help to arouse the public conscience and create an atmosphere favourable to the ultimate success of ttic movement. It is preparing the soil for Ihe harvest to be reaped later, and though it is unlikely that the difficulties in the way of the acceptance of the treaty in the near future will be overcome, the abolition of war will have advanced another stage towards accomplishment, What was only a few years ago deemed an impossibility is coming to be regarded as a probability, and in this there is a hope that the war to end war will have achieved its purpose.