The Dominion. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1919? THE BASE OF THE TREATY

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 193, 10 May 1919, Page 6

The Dominion. SATURDAY, MAY 10, 1919? THE BASE OF THE TREATY

It is observed by » Mn- Massey, in the course of a critical survey of the Peace Treaty, that_ the greatest danger of an unsatisfactory outcome is tho number of experiments it embodies. The line of reasoning which inspires this attitude may be readily enough understood. Nothing is more obvious from a perusal of the Treaty than that its enforcement is. very largely, contingent upon the. success o.f a series of the boldest experiments upon which men and nations ever embarked. At, the same time the view that the Treaty is faulty because it does not _ embody more, definite and explicit guarantees cannot be accepted without-,iccrtain material reservations. If there had been free and unfettered choice in the matter of imposing such guarantees, there would be better reason for looking with doubt -upon the untried- experiments which in some cases are relied upon instead. In actual fact, however, these experiments: .seem to represent the only possible hope of bringing about such conditions of national and international life as the Treaty seeks to establish, or which can be regarded as consistent with- peace and 1 security in years to come. It is. perhaps more clearly evident to thoso who, have followed the Peace proceedings from a distance than to some who have assisted in shaping the Treaty that a "'point has been reached at which the progressive nations of the world have no other choice than to go. boldly forward on new lines of development. It may offend men of practical bent that the Treaty is not more definitely a settlement with Germany than .an to eliminate the causes of war. but it is not easy to imagine how such men, any. more than those who are frankly idealists, would justify these causes being left in operation. All sorts of complex issues arc involved, but there is a great deal to be said for tho view that the settlement with Germany, like every other step now projected for the welfare and security of humanity, will ho stable and enduring precisely in the degree in which the moral conscience of the World is permanently awaEcned, . and nations everywhei'e show callable of a broader and more' enlightened outlook than has hitherto prevailed. These considerations apply not only to the central and commanding experiment of the League of Nations, but to sundry detail extensions, of the principles upon which it is based. Nowhere is the application more complete than to the measures by which it is proposed to bring about an international regulation of Labour conditions. Reiving upon detail arguments it wpuld be particularly easy to subject 'fhis project to a_ fire of criticism, or even of ridicule, but this would be a pettifogging way of approaching a problem which touches the roots of human welfare. Mr. Massky observes that, like the League of Nations covenant, the Labour convention is well based' upon hi?h principles. He might have added that it constitutes an attempt to move towards conditions which arc even more vital to future peace' and security in the world than any guarantee, that can now lie. exacted, from Germany. ..It is to ho seen, in great and little things tn'at no problem to-day more insistently demands the exci'cisc of collective human intelligence than that of satisfactorily adjusting labour conditions and the general economic conditions in which they bulk so large. In any individual country sound labour conditions, the elimination of_ injustice and oppression, and fair and - open dealing as between workers and employers, are a- first and essential condition of national health and welfare. •_ It, of course, follows that where industrial strife and friction arc the rule—and this,, unfortunately, is true of • a great ■part of the world, to-day—the wel-fare-of nations is undermined. It is equally true that in some, though not all, of its asnects labour unrest is a standing threat to the peace of the world. Where, even in embittered strife, a better and more enlightened industrial order is being hammered out, there is no cause for uneasiness. But where industrial unrest is the outcome of irresponsible petulance and represents the alternative to an intelligent effort to 'better material conditions, it is not only fatally inimical to national welfare, but constitutes a deadly menacc to the peace of the world. Such conditions mean wtiere they exist that man is losing that loyalty to clan, tribe, and nation which is a condition of his evolution on the earth and of _ his existence in modern civilisation, and is in danger of relapsing into .primitive barbarism. Developing logically, the overthrow of efficient organisation, towards which acute industrial strife represents at least an initial step, would entail inevitably famine, war, and hopeless catastrophe. It is not. more evident that continued and widespread industrial strife would hold deadly dangers for the world than that the correction of such conditions offers the most hopeful line of effort towards laying linn and enduring foundations of future peace. As Mu. Massey has said, much is ex-' pceted of the Labour convention, in oringing up nations that are backward in labour conditions. In this way much gofd may be done, but the full purpose of the convention is or should be vastly wider. Itcreates machinery under which I he best brains of all nations will combine to eonsidcr the problems by | which man is faced in dealing with

his material environment and in living in harmony with his fellows while so engaged. The most advanced nations as well as those that arc '.backward _ arc* likely to benefit in their individual circumstances from such an international pooling of intelligence and effort, and undoubtedly every forward step in the effective development of such an organisation will establish a new guarantee of world peace. As in regard to some other experiments embodied in the Treaty, success in bringing about the international regulation oE labour conditions is not assured, but it is essential if really stable and adequate guarantees of future peace in the world are to be established.