PEACE OF THE NATIONS

Evening Star, Issue 19796, 21 February 1928, Page 5

PEACE OF THE NATIONS

ARBITRATION AND SECURITY THE GENEVA MEETING TWENTY-TWO COUNTRIES REPRESENTED. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. ■ GENEVA, February 20. (Received February 21, at 11.5 a.m.) Twenty-two States attended the opening of the Committee on Anhitiation and Security. The Soviet was represented by an observer. Dr Bencs, presiding, declared that it was abundantly apparent that security was not realisable by any single* uniform project, but rather by a series of political and juridical measures meeting the divergent situations of the various countries. . Lord Cushendun emphasised that Britain’s view was that the League Covenant had given a measure of security. The committee should stress this fundamental principle. Britain favored the Finnish proposal to assist victims of aggression. Ho recalled that Britain had a century’s experience of arbitration, notably Anglo-American. Britain would freely support treaties for arbitration and conciliation, for which Locarno was the best model, although a modification might bo necessary for special cases. The committee should realise that unless the session achieved a practical measure giving the nations a greater sense of security there was little hope of doing anything useful, and unless the League Covenant alfordod such security against a recurrence of war failure must he admitted. He was not prepared to make such admission.

The Soviet submitted (he League draft convention on general disarmament, based on iho proposals M. Litvin oft submitted on November 30. Jho draft will bo considered at the coming meetings of the Disarmament tory Commission.—A. and N.Z. and ‘Sun’ Cable.