THE EUROPEAN CRISIS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22517, 27 September 1938, Page 15

THE EUROPEAN CRISIS

rO TBI EDITOR <J» TUB PRESS Sir. —Kinglake. in his "Invasion of 'the Crimea," writes: "When the world believes that England will be firm, ther? is peace, it is the hope of her •poning weak or irresolute which tends to breed war." Those words are as true to-day as when they were written, and there can be no doubt that the weakness and irresolution shown during the last few years by the British Government in its conduct of foreign affairs, especially in relation to Germany and Italy, is the cause of the present terrible crisis. I "If a ruler." continues Kingslake.! "sees that any preat nation which ought j to be foremost to resist him is in a j state of exceptional weakness, or under , the Government ot incapable rulers,; or is distracted by some whim or sen- j timent interfering with her accustomed ! policy, then, perhaps, he allows himself to entertain a hope that she may not have the spirit or the wisdom to oerform her duty. . . . To frustrate this hope, or in other words to keep alive the dread of a just and avenging war, should be the care of every statesman who would faithfully labour to preserve the peace of Europe. It is a poor use of time to urge a ruler to restrain his ambition and his covetousness, for these are passions eternal, always to be looked for and always be combated. For such a ruler the only good bridle is the fear of war." Forgetfulness of those principles by Mr Chamberlain and his immediate predecessors has brought us to our present perilous position. Hitler and Mussolini have counted on England not having "the spirit or the wisdom to perform her duty." and the result has been Italy's aggression in Abyssinia, Germany's militarisation of the Rhine, the annexation of Austria, and now the threatened invasion of Czechoslovakia. Firmness must be shown to these dictators. Hitler and Mussolini. The lost sense of duty towards the weaker nations and to our own Empire must be recovered by our rulers, if we are not to suffer the degradation of sinking to a second-rate power, our very independence but a sham, till some cynical despot stamps even that sham into nothingness.—Yours, etc.. H. IRWIN. Tikokino. Hawke's Bay. September 22. 1938.

TO THE EDITOK OJ THE PKBSS. Sir —I suppose one can say that we are now in the thrdes of the General Election campaign; and no doubt it is all very interesting and very important. But events are occurring in Central Europe which are at least as vital for the future of New Zealand. Where does New Zealand stand in the matter of the integrity of Czechoslovakia, another small nation and a democracy like our own? I think New Zealanders have a right to know. The British, French, and Czechslovak Governments have jointlv and severally attempted -to betray the Czechoslovak nation: but the Czechoslovak people refuse to accept betrayal. How far was New Zealand committed before the Judas act' It would be sad to think that we were being dragged along behind Mr Chamberlain. There has been no possibility of a full' Cabinet meeting since the crisis developed, and before that we had Mr Savage's statement that when England is at war New Zea"land is at war. Cabinet Ministers appear certain that they will not be called \jto Wellington before the election, so New Zealand's policy has Ibeen decided some time ago. What is it? Like many thousands of others I should like an -answer to this question.—Yours, 'etc., „*.„,,„,*. C. F. SAT/NDERS. September 23. 1938.

TO THK EDITOR OF THE PflESti. Sir.—The present course of events to Europe, disastrous as it seems, may have the effect of awakening European nations to the dangers of selfish nationalism. The unification of Europe, and especially of South-Eastern Europe, on a basis of local variety of administration and uniform justice is a goal towards which it should be worth while to strive. The alternative would seem to be, if history can be trusted, the emergence of some Power capable of welding the peoples of Europe into one big force. This •will be a painful and expensive proce«s and may result in merely raking the ashes together. In Kipling's poem "The Anvil he ■peaks of William the Conqueror hammering England into one; but there arc other and better Implements for producing solidarity than the hammer. Who will venture to say, for example, that there is less solidarity between Britain and Ireland to-day than there has been in past times, or that this has not been achieved by a better method than the insistence on sovereign rights by Britain? But if a measure of agreement is to be attained in Europe itowill be necessary to provide permanent machinery for constant adjustment and readjustment. It will be necessary for States to realise that their, very existr ence depends upon their willingness to accept decisions by an independent commission, even if these should be of a temporary nature. The attempt which was made at Versailles to "settle" things by hard and fast decisions has ended in failure. Only continual watchfulness and continual removal of causes of friction can meet the case. And along with this must go a readiness to use every possible means to obtain mutual and collective security, not only from military attack; but from commercial exploitation. It may seem rather futile in this distant Dominion and at this late hour to make suggestions; but as New Zealand may be called upon to support a policy to which Britain may be Pledged, there can be no harm in giving what thought we may to these problems. That some kind of European code cannot be regarded as fantastic is demonstrated by the success with which Turkey has adopted the •wiss system.—Yours, etc., EUROPEAN. September 24, 1938.