Evening Post THURSDAY'DECEMBER 31,1931 1931

Evening Post, Volume CXII, Issue 157, 31 December 1931, Page 6

Evening Post THURSDAY'DECEMBER 31,1931 1931

New Zealand's obligations to the unity of the Empire and her dependence upon the attempts which are being made to promote the cause of international unity are briefly. but effectively touched by the Prime Minister in his New Year message. A potent factor for • us in world affairs is, ho says, the stability of tho British Empire, and recent events have indicated that the British■ riicfi,. as in the past,, faces a real erisia with determination "and solidarity.: -■;'• The stability of the British Empire depends in the main upon the stability of Britain, and from the standpoint of the Empire, if not from that of the..World, the most, astonishing .thing; of 1931.is the.contrast betweenthe xtoubts which had for the. first time been thrown: upon the stabilityof Britain during the" first seven months of the year and the magnificent recQvery which she made just; when a crash seemed inevitable. The resignation of -Mr— Mac Donald's Labour Government on the 24th August, the formation of his National Government on the. following day, the enthusiasm with which the drastic economies and crushing taxation of Mr. Snowden's supplementary Budget were received by the House of Commons and the nation on the 10th September, the tranquillity with which, ten days later they . received the decision to suspend 'the gold Standard, and tlie majority of 553 to 62 by which on the 28th October the electors honoured the Government that, had done all these unpleasant things and gave it a free, hand to do as. many more as it liked-r-here was a wonderful revolution, or. series of revolutions, to accomplish by perfectly peaceful and constitutional methods in- a. period of two months and four days! ■-'-.-.•■. :If Britain had'a wonderful .war. record, so had spttiQ other .nai\qns, and there is no need to make comparisons.: But .between .■ the:: :24th August and.the.2Bth- October; of this year she had established a;peace record which none of them had ever approached, and which .they, were unanimous in welcoming -with grati-" tude and admiration. They saw J Britain, as Emerson saw, her-.-in the Crimean War/- ' :..=•.■■.• .•-.-. ;vf; ; not dispirited, ijot. weak, .but we'll.■remembering 'that she had ' seen . ;dark ; days before; indeed, with a'"kind of instinct that she sees a little better in a cloudy day, and that in storm of battle and: calamity she has. a secrot vigour and a pulse like cannon. Britain had faced the most; perilous ordeal of the kind in her history in such a spirit as to inspire even those foreign nations .whose..troubles, were less acute than hers with new courage arid hope, and when strangers could feel that way it would have been a discredit to .her children- if they had remained,unmoved..- With less alarm? jilg. but nevertheless, very grave, aejsponsibJlitieV to^ carry. New Zealand was encouraged by-: Britain's..example to face a General Election and to make the right use of it; Under far more difficult conditions than ours, Australia also has since shown herself a chip of the old block. "The stability of the British Empire" depends in the last resort on tlie stability of the British character, and we should be proud rind thankful.thai on both sides of the world it is showing itself equal to an unprecedented strain. In the dark days that are still to come the contemplation of | the example of Britain should from j time to time suffice to renew our resolution. " The-malady froni "which "we are suffering is, however, not merely an Empire malady.. It, is a- world malady, and..unfortunately we cannot look to the other nations for a help- j ing. hfind and an inspiring lead with (he same certainty with which we can i look to Britain. If the British, rally in the hour of danger was' not- the greatest event of the year; hot merely for the Empire but for the world, the

reason is that ihe honour must be awarded lo ihe oilier great Englishspeaking Power. .The.intervention ot President Hoover on the 20lh June with his proposal for the suspension during one year of all payments of inter-Governmental debts, reparations, and relief debts was obviously an event of immense importance both as an offer of relief from the great creditor nation which, holds the key of. the war debts problem, and as marking a striking departure from the reaction in favour of isolation which resulted in the defeat of President Wilson's League of Nations policy. It may be that those who regarded President Hoover's proposal as the best thing that had happened since the Armistice may be confirmed by the verdict of history, but so far the hopes of six months .ago have not been fulfilled. The complete execu- . tion of- the Hoover Plan was blocked by Francei and it remains to be seen lo what extent France '. will again block/the further relief of Germany which appears to be urgently needed for the protection not merely of Germany but of the. world. It was the. unanimous finding of the Advisory Committee which reported a few days ago that the troubles- of Germany must be treated as a world problem, but the concurrence of the French.delegation in that finding does not mean that the intransigent. attitude of the French Government which narrowed the scope of the Hoover. Plan wiir not prevent its extension oi" the adoption of any adequate substitute. And on the eve of the momentous conference to which the w.orld is .looking for. the relief "not so much of Germany as of itself, Washington send 3us a very chilly, not to say sharp, reminder that we need not expect any more help from that quarter just now. Mr. Ogden Mills, t/nder-Soerotary of the Treasury, said to-aay that the United States had not "been asked to. git, even unofficially, at the European Reparations Conference in January, and would not attend if asked. We do not. pretend to understand either why President Hoover's latest proposal of a ten-year moratorium seems to be ignored in Europe,, or why he should be afraid that sending even an "observer" to the. Reparations Conference would involve a more serious entanglement than the action he has already taken. But as to the second point at must be remembered that the President has to keep a watchful eye on the domes.-, tic reactions to his foreign policy^ and that there is no reason to sup-, pose that he will not push the policy of his June proposal still further when he thinks that it can be safely, done. . In the meantime it is comforting to find the French Press insisting that in view of America's attitude Franco and Britain must pursue an agreed policy. Tho tvvo Powers unitedly wielding tho surest international influonea should' act co-operatively, says the nowßpaper. The solution has been easy, wherever a groat international discus-, sion'lias beeiv approached after a preliminary "■ Anglo-French agreement,- but | when this- is -lacking tho difficulties; have-.been insuperable and half-mcastircs i have resulted. Germany's creditors-anil j : America's debtors, should-, present.- ,ii. i.united front, v JJetween, the Basle -flud,-: j ings- antj tho Ame.rican stubbornness the European nations must present America .with a concerted scheme, thus making; her responsible :.for the chaos: -.whjch-would follow its rejection. T ■";''. That the possibility of Anglo-French co-operation on such an issue should be seriously contemplated in Paris: seems almost too good to be true^ If it can be realised the nightmare of European politics will be at an end, the reparations conference of. 1932 will mark the. dawn of a new hope. ... ./.'.'.,'."..'...