The Sun FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 1928 STIRRING RACIAL BROTH

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 423, 3 August 1928, Page 8

The Sun FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 1928 STIRRING RACIAL BROTH

THERE is “'no sick person” as the god of war, but if the ■t mythical deity or devil that fills the role be possessed of the sense of humour, he must be laughing sardonically at the situation in Europe and the ways of politicians and political parties all over the world. The position is tragically ludicrous, while at least 15 different nations make preparations for signing a treaty or warrant for the death of war, four other States are deep in the clamour of the explosive opinion that provokes conflict. The most important news of the day is four-sided. There is acutp tension along the Baltic littoral, where a highlyinflammable situation exists between Poland and Lithuania; the outlawry of war pact, with discouraging reservations, is creeping forward to final approval; racial and political conditions are critical in the Balkans and provocative of civil war and possibly worse, and the League of Nations at Geneva is flushed with hope over the prospect of a? greater measure of disarmament. As a make-weight in the cause of peace, it may be mentioned incidentally (though incurring the risk of toppling from the sublime to the ridiculous) that the Labour Opposition in our own Parliament is so convinced that war has disappeared from politics for ever that it seeks to abolish compulsory military training in favour of some slacker system, or, worse still, allowing the nation’s boys to lounge at street corners, indifferent to discipline and wholesome physical drill. Though conflict of any kind between nations must be deplored, it is at least satisfactory to observe on the eve of the fourteenth anniversary of the British Empire’s entry into the greatest of all wars, there is no likelihood of history repeating itself in Europe on this occasion. The situation in the Balkans may be highly inflammable, but even should the temperamental stuff burst into a conflagration, the fire will not spread and overrun Europe. Both in North-West Europe and in the Balkans the inflammable nature of politics is attributable to the jealousies that were created rather than composed by the world-war settlement and subsequent treaties between nations. The idealistic doctrine of self-determination, as laid down so dogmatically by the Woodrow Wilson, has raised a rank crop of racial difficulties. The smaller nations to whom independence was restoi’ed want something more if they can get it, particularly in the form of strategic towns, territory and ports, while the communities of subject races within independent States demand nothing less than independence. So there has been a long trail of riots and violent anti-racial demonstrations ever since the Council of Ambassadors, which succeeded the Supreme Allied Council of the Paris Peace Congress, parcelled out lands and peoples in the Baltic States and in the Balkans. The danger of war is therefore real and imminent. As Signor Mussolini frankly reminded Yugoslavia a month or so ago “States with a common frontier must be friends or enemies.” Italy asserts a desire to be friends with Yugoslavia, but has not concealed its determination to be a firm enemy, if friendship is rejected in a provocative manner. It appears clear that the Belgrade Government is not strong enough to maintain harmonious relations between Yugoslavia and Italy. Many efforts have been made to secure harmony, but so far all have failed. One of the exasperating features of all this strife, and certainly the most regrettable feature, is the fact that the League of Nations, which was designed for the purpose of composing such international disputes, has not been called upon to arbitrate. What is to be the use of the League if its services are to be ignored in these and similar circumstances?