THE HAGUE AGREEMENT.

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 17802, 29 August 1929, Page 6

THE HAGUE AGREEMENT.

Pertinacity, if it fails, is sheer obstinacy arid a menace to the peace; if it succeeds, it is lauded as real greatness. Mr Philip Snowden must be somewhat amused at ttie applause lie is receiving from those who a few weeks ago denounced him as a man ready io repudiate sacred contracts and to endanger the world’s peace. He would bo hardly human if he had not some feeling of gratification at his personal victory at The Hague, and lie will regard the agreement of France to evacuate German territory by the end of next June as sheer gain. The agreement regarding debt and indemnity payments, on the other hand, while it meets his demand that Britain should not suffer any further financial sacrifice, falls short of his own aim—complete cancellation of the Allies’ war debts and of the claims against Germany for reparations. It is",to-be hoped, .also, that Mr Snowden, in'the midst of the songs of triumph that are being sung in his honour, will realise that the antagonism aroused among a section of the French people is regrettable. Of course, it would have been impossible to act fairly without incurring -the displeasure of the French ultra-nationalists, but much can be done to appease the com-mon-sense millions of that nation if we refrain from whooping over the "victory,” and remember that the improvement in Britain’s relations with Ihe United States and Germany need not by any means imply antagonism towards her nearer neighbour. Indeed, a firm stand for fair-play, when it comes to be understood by the French people, will he more appreciated than the tendency of the Baldwin Government to yield and yield again to ihe French nationalist policy of keeping Germany under the heel of conquest and beggaring liei* by the greatest possible exactions. The French had come to expect acquiescence on the part of the Conservative British statesmen, and a noted Paris correspondent reported a few' months ago that a liberal Frenchman had said the best hope of bringing the French Foreign Office to a reasonable altitude would be the return of a Labour Government in England. This prediction has been proved correct. The gain is not so much the acceptance of a financial settlement —which Mr Snowden himself regards as only a temporary expedient—but the ending of the period of dictation by the conquerors in the Great War. The Locarno Pact, under which Britain, France and Germany agreed to settle their disputes by friendly negotiations, and each to defend the frontiers of tiie others in case of need, was the beginning of the new peace. It was felt that the logical outcome was the evacuation of Germany and the gradual reduction of the armaments of Europe to the standard that Germany had been forced to accept. The Peace Treaty of 1919 stated that Germany agreed to disarm on the understanding that the other nations would voluntarily move in the same direction, hut little has been done hithcrlo to fulfil that implied promise. Now that it has been shown by tilo proceedings at The Hague that the claims of the nations are to bo weighed in the balance of fairness and justice and not simply pressed through by those holding the greater power, tire way should be opened for more complete confidence in intcrnaticnal justice, and for a more rapid advance towards disarmament, ■peace, and the fulness of. friendship.