A Slay to Peace.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XV, Issue 4, 1 October 1924, Page 442

A Slay to Peace.

(By the Right Hon. Sir Willoughy Dickinson, K.8.E.) On November 11th, 1918, the bells rang' cut that war had ceased, and the world breathed freely. ■■ The nightmare was over, and we thought it would never recur. It was inconceivable that, after five years of slaughter, destruction, and terror, humanity would not set itself to make another war impossible. THE FAILURE AT VERSAILLES. With a desire to effect this object, the statesmen met at Versailles and framed the. covenant of the League of Nations. Had they contented themselres with this document, and had they entrusted to the international organ set up thereby the task of reconstructing a shattered Europe, war would probably have become a thing of the past. For the world was sick of Avar at that moment, and the nations would have collaborated gladly m order to make a real peace. But this goal was not reached, for it demanded a degree of self -abnegation of which politicians are incapable. The men m whose hands lay the future of the world could only think m terms cf money, or of punishment, or of territorial aggrandisement. The Treaty of Versailles failed because it was based. too much on justice, on the justice of the Old Testament that demanded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. What the world needed was a policy of mercy, the mercy of a new dispensation. Had the makers of the peace been inspired by the teaching of Christ, can there be any doubt but that by this time France would be paid, trade would be restored, and Europe would be on a fair road to prosperity and peace? THE "WORLD ALLIANCE." And what was true of Versailles is true of Spa, of Brussels, of Genoa, and of London. Every effort made to solve the post-war problems fails because it is invariably based upon material considerations, never upon spiritual. Experts, are called m to advise, skilled m finance or m polities or military technique; but no one is asked to give counsel on the moral is-

sues that are at stake. And yet this is needed more than anything else, since ,#ea : cc will never reign exceptby^.the action of moral force. The World Alliance for Promoting International Friendship through the Churches grew out of the conviction of this fundamental truth. It was' : founded m 1914, to "bring about good relations between the nations;.", :It has' councils m twenty-seven -countries, drawn from all the chief evangelical communions and from the Eastern Orthodox, Church. The British Council consists of 100 delegates officially appointed by the central authorities of. twenty-three religious denominations. It can therefore speak m the names of the Churches of England, Scotland, and Wales; and it consists 'of 'men who "have special facilities for guiding Christian opinion.— l i The Guardian. ' '