The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1927. AN ASPECT OF PEACE.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 November 1927, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 1927. AN ASPECT OF PEACE.

Aritoros tlif world situation in regard to the trend towards peace, the Soviet Government has created something of a. sensation in diplomatic circles b.v notifying the League ol Nations that ■‘Russia is prepared to participate in the proceedings of the Preparatory Commission on Disarmament.” This statement is so completely at variance with the declared policy of the Soviet State and with tho line of action which the Bolsheviks have hitherto followed in regard to the League of Nations that the world at large may he forgiven for hesitating to accept it at its face value. Moreover, the Soviet Foreign Minister, Tchitcherin, has made himself so notorious by his persistent intrigue and by his denunciation of “capitalistic” States and statesmen that it is rather difficult to persuade oneself, says a contemporary, to take his sudden conversion to the gospel of “world peace” quite seriously. So lar as the League of Nations is concerned, the spokesmen of the Soviet llepuhlic have never attempted to conceal their contempt for it, and the policy that it represents. And this, is, in the nature of tilings, inevitable. For the Soviet system is based on the Marxist conception of the “class war,” and the Bolsheviks hold that this great struggle can he carried to its logical conclusion, the destruction of capitalism, only by the use of armed force. That the rulers of Soviet Russia accept this view of things is established clearly enough by their constant predictions of a vio- I lent struggle .with all other States and Powers and the assiduous preparations that they have been making for years past by land and air to equip themselves for the conflict. "Why. then, should Russia think it worth her while to attach herself, even in a partial and provisional way, to the League of Nations? It is difficult to "believe that Tchitcherin and his colleagues would change their tactics now unless they believed that they had something to gain by so doing, and the interesting question is. what precise purpose do they expect their new policy to serve? In view of all the circumstances we may reasonably suspect- that, whatever else they may have in mind, the Bolsheviks hope by this fresh and unexpected manoeuvre to embarrass their opponents and more especially in some way obstruct and injure their arch-enemy Britain. The importance of Britain as a member of the League and a factor in international affairs suggests at least a plausible reason for Russia’s action. Though Britain has undoubtedly given the world a lead in the reduction of armaments that- was chiefly instrumental in causing the failure of the recent. Naval Conference, and the resignation of Viscount Cecil as a protest against Britain’s official naval policy has given the enemies of Britain a very convenient nretext for misrepresenting and decrying iier. Probably Russia is prepared to exploit this opportunity to tho utmost. It is pos-

sible that the mere presence of Russian delegates at Geneva may serve a useful purpose )>v enabling the rest of the world to criticise the Soviet preparations for war, and permitting the smaller States adjoining Russia to justify their own defensive programmes. But it seems very doubtful whether any results likely to promote world peace may be expected from the intervention of a .State which has based its existence and its policy upon the violent and sanguinary prosecution of the class war.