A MISSION OF PEACE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 231, 30 September 1929, Page 6

A MISSION OF PEACE.

Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald lias started on his American journey under the most encouraging auspices. The recent successes of the Labour Government in the field of foreign affairs have greatly enhanced its prestige, and the British public now seems to look confidently to the Prime Minister to find a practicable solution for the disarmament problem. Those who are always on the look-out for illustrations of the irony of Fate may note with satisfaction that Mr. Mac Donald is travelling on the old Imperator in the splendid suite once reserved for the Kaiser Wilhelm. .But parties of all types and colours at Home are at one in applauding his mission and showering good wishes upon him, and so far as can be judged at present these feelings of goodwill are fully j reciprocated by the people of the United States. Curiously enough, the leading American journals are apparently inclined to take Mr. Mac Donald's mission even more seriously than the British newspapers. The "New York Times" talks of the benefits of a closer "rapprochement" between Britain ;mul the United.* States, and the "World" emphasises the "profound community of interest" which underlies the superficial disputes and differences of opinion by which the two nations have been sometimes estranged. • But it is important to note that Mr. Mac Donald himself has given no colour to this interpretation of his purposes. On the contrary, he has laid stress upon the tentative and limited character of his project. All that he proposes to do is "to devise means for terminating the deadlock" which has hitherto prevented disarmament conferences from reaching any effective conclusion. He intends, if possible, to reach a definite understanding with the American Government in regard to shipbuilding and the limitation of armaments, and thus to prepare the way for a general Disarmament Conference to be summoned later by the League cf Nations.

No doubt this is a strictly accurate exposition of Mr. Mac Donald's intentions. And he has shown sound judgment in. emphasising this view of his tour, so as to prevent false impressions from being disseminated in political and diplomatic circles at home or abroad. The vague and spacious rhetoric about the "Anglo-Saxon" aspect of Mr. Mac Donald's mission in which many newspapers have indulged has aroused suspicions on the Continent, and especially in Trance, that this visit may be the initiation of a deep-laid scheme to secure for Britain and the United States the domination of the seas and the control of the world's commerce as well. If these alarmist conjectures were confirmed, the tour would do far more harm than good, and Mr. Mac Donald has done wisely in insisting that he has not undertaken an ordinary diplomatic mission, but has simply embarked on "a voyage of exploration" of which the goal is World Peace.