Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 24 August 1921, Page 2

It is announced by the cable now tb’i* American official opinion agrees with the TH. Hon. D. Lloyd George that a settlement of Pacific affairs must precede the disarmament question. This seems to lie so rather obviously, for the Pacific question is first and last mainly a question of navies. Britain is ready to come to terms on both ‘smes in th 0 most friendly manner with both United States and Japan, the two Great Powers chiefly concerned with Great Britain in the future of the’ Pacific At the time of the opening of the late Imperial Conference, the British Prime , Minister put forward th ( , noliey of his Government very frankly when he said : “There is no quarter of the world where we desire more greatly to maintain pence and fair play for all nations and to avoid a competition of armament than in the Pacific and in the Far East. , Our alliance with Japan has been n | valuable factor in that direction in the past. We have found Japan a fnith- ; fill Ally who rendered us valuable nsi sistanee in an hour of serious and [very critical need. The B’itish Empire will not easily forget that Japanese men-of-war escorted the transports, which brought the Australian and New Zealand forces to Europe at a time when German cruisers were still it large in the Indian and Pacific oceans. We desire to preserve that well-tried friendship which has stood r« liotli i> good stead, and to apply it to the solution of all questions in the Far East, where Japan lifts Special interests and where we ourselves like the United States desire equal opportunities and the open door. Not least among these questions is the future of China, which looks to' us, as to the United States for sympathetic treatment and fair play. No greater calamity could overtake the world than any further accentuation of the world’s divisions upon the lines of race.” Mr Lloyd Georg'' has repeated the same sentiments o—and over again, so that it <nn he take" for granted Britain has well settled ideas on the issue and a most earnest desire to reach a settlement which will ensure lasting pacification in the Pacific and Far East. | Mu Li.ovo Groan k has the gift of dor expression, mid his speeches during the last few months have been clearly definite, whether dealing with European issues, Home subjects, Irish affairs, or the foreign policy. His pronouncements read almost like the declaration of a creed so clear and distinct does he define the issues which might happen to he at stake. For instance, at the Imperial Conference in his opening speech lie laid down the policy the Government had in mind in the following throe terse paragraphs: We are ready to discuss with American statesmen any proposal for the limitation or armaments which they may wish to set out, and we can undertake that no such overtures will find a lack of willingness on our part to meet them. Friendly co-operation with the United States is for us a cardinal principle. We desire to work with the great .Republic in all parts of the world. We desire to avoid the growth of armaments, whether in die Pacific or elsewhere, and we rejoice that American opinion should he showing so much earnestness in that, direction m I e present time. In elaborating these three cardinal views on the disarmament question, he frankly reviewed lhe basis on which Ho British Empire stands, particularly in relation to its foreign policy, and he reduced the matter to the following three succinct paragraphs:

We cannot forget that sea-power is the basis of the whole Empire’s existence, t We have to look to the measures which our security requires; we aim ,| at nothing more; we cannot possibly be content with less. We desire to preserve that well-tried friendship with Japan which has stood ' us both in good stead and to apply il < to the solution of all questions in the Far East, where Japan has special interests and where we ourselves, like 1 the United States, desire equal oppor- i •trinities and the open door. Our foreign policy can never range it- , self in any sense upon the difference of race and civilisation between East and West. It would be fatal to the Empire. There we have a model of the complete foreign policy of Great Britain as affecting the important issues bound up in the Pacific question and the Far East, and it must be admitted while being a fair statement of the position, il is likewise entirely a moderate view of the complex situation involved in all the great issues surrounding the questions.