PEACE OF WORLD

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 200, 22 May 1944, Page 4

PEACE OF WORLD

Structure Of League Of Nations REASON FOR FAILURE The opinion, that there was no inherent weakness in the structure of the League of Nations that nree.-sarily led to its failure was expressed by Mr. C. A. Berendsen, New Zealand designate to Washington, in an address, last night. Mr. Berendsen. who is in the Dominion for a short period before taking up his new appointment, has for the past 14 months been High Commissioner for New Zealand in Australia, He also expressed the opinion that the new organization to be established at the end <:f this conflict to achieve a similar purpose would not and could not differ very materially from that which was set up at the end of the last war. “The nations of the British Commonwealth, with the great Republic of the United States, and their Allies, are now engaged in a life and death stiug&ie to nrpservp the very principles of freedom and justice upon which the British Commonwealth is based and without which life itself would not be worth living, said Mr. Berendsen. “Whether the cud ot that struggle is yet in sight or not, it is now happily completely certain unless of course we should make the incredible mistake of slackening our eltorts at tue last moment, that the aggressors will in the end be beaten to their knees. And once again we shall have an opportunity of shaping a new and a better world. What will we do witli this opportunity. That is the fundamental question that will face all of us in the very near future, and upon the solution of this problem w ill depend the peace and the happiness ot tue world and of the millions yet to be born. Such an opportunity is very rare indeed in the history of miin, and such an opportunity may never occur again it is a sobering thought, and one which I would wish to emphasize with all possible earnestness that we had an exactly similar opportunity a quarter of a century ago. Millions who are still alive will remember the high hopes, the firm determination the almost religious enthusiasm with which we entered, then, upon that high and pregnant enterprise, and countless millions today have only to look about them in this world of battle and misery, of oppression and cruelty, this world ot anguish and tears, of struggle man with - man such as would disgrace.the beasts of the jungle, to realize, to its lull extent the tragic results of our failure to solve this problem in the years that have gone. Preservation of Peace. “If every decade ot ’two the world is to be plunged into the chaos of war; it every decade or two the flower of our youth are to be doomed to torture and destruction; if every decade or two vve are to sacrifice on the altar of Mars the material treasure man has toiled so hard to produce, then everything that we are trying to do to better the lot of man is futile. How to preserve the peace — how to prevent aggression—that is the first and the fundamental problem. I have some qualifications for forming and expressing a view on this great and cardinal question. For the past 20 years I have been professionally engaged m the study and the business of what is known as foreign affairs—the relations of nation with nation —and I have had every possible opportunity of forming .a considered judgment on what was in fact tne cause of our failure after the last w«r of 1914-18 which was known as and believed to be the war to end war. “It has, I am afraid, become .the fashion to sneer or smile at the organization—the League of Nations—that was established in 19-19 to protect and preserve the peace of the world, but I give vou my considered opinion that this was one of the noblest ideas ever to emanate from the mind of man. It is easy now to point out weaknesses in the construetion of the League and in its administration ; hut, despite all its weaknesses, despite its reluctance to grapple, with the energy and the determination. that tne situation required, with its main tasks the rectification of international injustices and the prevention of aggression, if necessary by force —I am convinced that the League could have succeeded, that in fact it very nearly did . succeed, and that, but for one factor, it would have succeeded, in preventing war in preventing this war. Reason for Failure. “Speaking as a practical man, not at all an idealist or a visionary, I am convinced that I know the cause of tne League's failure. I nm convinced that what I nm now about to say to you is the cause of that failure and may well be the cause of another failure. The reason for the League’s failure was in my opinion a moral one. As Mr. Churchill has said, and he has been quoted with approval by many distinguished men throughout the world, ‘The League del not let’its members down—its members let the League down.’ “In the last two decades there has grown up among far too many nations a school of thought which believes that international morality is in some way different from individual morality ; that in international relations expediency pays better dividends than principle; that if a nation's pledged word should subsequently appear to be inconvenient it need not necessarily be honoured ; that if one group of people can save their own babies by throwing somebody else’s babies t.» the wolves then that is a wise and proper course to adopt; that if one group ,of men and women can purchase a temporary immunity from attack and plunder by selling another group of men and women down the river then it is not in.proper to adopt, that course; that v.e need not worry very much about out neighbours so long as we arc all right. Analysed by the test of conscience or by the test of logic these principles are revolting to all. They are consonant with no law of God or man. None of us, not. even the lowest of us, conducts ilis individual life on these principles, and how can any international society be built up on such u false and pagan foundation? Funadmental Problem. ‘'Here is the kernel of the fundamental problem that the world must solve and must solve now. If war is to remain with us then nothing I hat we can achieve can possibly be permanent. Indeed, it is not too much to/say that if the world lias to face another war such us this, it may well lead Go the lilial destruction of civilization itself and of everything that man has won for man in his upward struggle from the apes. But if war can be exorcised, then there is nothing that man cannot hope to achieve. “May I commend Io you, with nil the' earnestness at my command, a simple proposition but a .profound truth—that nothing can be politically wise unless it is morally right,” Mr. Berendsen continued. “There is nothing new in this principle—the only thing that might be new about it would be its practical application. There are many who will smile on it ns simple and childish or platitudinous, but I say to you that it is Ihc essence of what 1 have learnt in 20 years of hard and practical experience. Muy 1 add also that, it is in fact that principle on which the foreign policy of our own Dominion has been based for many years past.” “If the nations of Ihc British Commonwealth, side by side with the great and powerful United States of America and our other Allies, can give a load to the world in the adoption of this principle at the peace table, and afterward, long afterward, because a lengthy period will die required before the world can settle down after this turmoil ; if they are prepared to found their policies upon the immutable laws of right and justice and not upon a short-sighted view of self-interest or expediencey; if they are determined in all eases and at all Costs, through a system of collective security, to oppose the wrong and resist and punish the wrongdoer, wherever necessary by the application of armed force, then I am convinced that success is within the power of mini, and that with a settled peace the prospect for our children and their children should be a happy and promising one. If wc depart from'this simple truth wc shall. I fear, fail again just as miserably as we failed last time—and wc shall deserve to fail.”