INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 127, 22 February 1919, Page 8

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

A GEXEROUS OFFER,

Major David Davies, M.F., in a letter to Sir John Williams, president of the University College of- Wales, offers i£20,000, on behalf of his sisters and himself, to found a Chair of International Politics at Aberystwyth, "in memory of tho fallen students of our University, for tho study of those related problems of law and politics, of ethics and economics, which are raised by tho ijroject of <i League of Nations, and fov the encouvagement of a truer understanding of civilisations other than our own." m "Major Davies's magnificent offer, says tho '"Daily Mail,". "is not to bo measured by its generosity, splendid as that is. . It is a noble thought, which is a rarer , and . more precious thing than much money. AVhnt is so particularly I happy about it is. the shining example ! which it affords of the part that small i nations may play in the new world., i "It is the fashion in some quarters to i regard, or affect to regard, the day of ] small nations as a day of small things. | It is an ignorant falsehood, as tho his- ! Tory of the tiny city States to which wo ! owe almost all that is fundamental in i our civilisation sufficiently proves. But i-Major David Davies has done not only i Wales, but the world, an incalculable • service in enforcing at so opportune a ! moment the old lesson that fiuenefl! of ! spirit and intellect count for iinmeasuri ably more than mere bigness." Major Davies, who has represented Montgomeryshire since 1906, and has been returned unopposed, is attached to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He is a member of the Prime Minister's secretariat. A vice-president of the University College of Wales, he is also 011 tho governing bodies of tho other Welsh University Colleges. . _ _ 111 making this gift Major Davies wrote:— ....

"We should be' glad, if onx proposal is accepted, that tho Chair should "be associated with the illustrious name of President "Wilson. "Tho plenipotentiaries at the Peace Conference," he continues, "can lay the foundations of the League of Freo Peoples, but they cannot rear the Temple of Peace. That is the task of the coming feneration, and for its achievement we shall need consecrated energy, goodwill, knowledge, and enlightened public opinion in' all countries. ,"01d problems must, be confronted in a new spirit; insular and vested prejudices must bo removed; understanding and toleration need to be greatly developed. It is an immense task, and a myriad agencies will bo required to discharge it."