WAR IN THE FUTURE.

Taihape Daily Times, 17 July 1919, Page 5

WAR IN THE FUTURE.

QUESTION OF PREVELNTION.

SIR 'D. HAIG’S VIEWS.

“WE MUST BE PREPARED.”

No more i_ll’€~el‘C’Sting rhetorical address has ever been made than that of sir Douglas"Haig, On ‘his installing as Reeqor of St." Anjdl'ew‘§’=.Univ.ersity. Sir Douglas’ record in the war entitles him above most men to look forward to the possibilities of "wars in the future, and to means of preventing such wars. “If we wish to avoid a, repetition of such catastrophes,” said «the Ereat soldier, “we must be prepared actively to prevent. them, and must kll'o'W What course to pursue. “Although for .a. while they may lie dormant, the passiyns from which War spring are not yétficaged in the heart of man. The seeds of future conflict are to be found inegevery quzTl'ter of the globe. “Unequal standards of living, wide differences of.‘ civilisation in different parts ‘of the globe, and the economic pressure which must result therefrom; racial and colour antipathies—all these force me to the conclusion that struggles still more terrible are in store for this earth unless wide and decisive action is taken to remove the causes.

“Among possibilities of strife there is the problem which newspaper and novel-writers have called the ‘Yellow Peril,’ and thereby, ‘in the interests of sensationalism have robbed it of its very real claims to serious consideration.

“Our experience with the Chinese labour in France has shown us that Chinamen can labour »a.s efficiently as, if not more cfliciently, that «the best European workmen, and with 9. persistence without rival. They are content with a far smaller_wa»ge, accustomed to less flood, ~.-al'ld, expect__£§aw4er. comforfs. '

‘ ‘ The. ‘fact. :that,. properly handled, they "can veasily.;_b.o led and ,t.railj.ed to new tasks. makes, theni the more fiorziiidabge ja;scompeti’tors, pmvided that the direeting brains can be found. {o} organise their-work. A . - China, too, vast__coa_lflelds ex: pist, Lsuffieient to provide with ease eloal "Ito meet.«€he needs of athe.whole.world for a thousand years. I have seen it stated that in parts of China the cost of a ton ofi coal at the pit mouth is 1/6. ‘ ‘ The Chinese must eventually demand a place in the European labour market, competing wi't.ll our highlypaid labour and our infinitely higher standaildsi ozf living. Hpw is 11ha.‘f‘a problem to be solved? , . “Then, again, there is India, with a. population of over 300,000,000 souls, dependent upon us for their future, and already beginning ‘to turn towards social, industrial‘ and political" development.

“How are the natives of India to be controlled when the educational "systenrin that country has expanded and emried t.hem a s-tage further on the upward road, along which, ‘even now, weiare endeavouring to guide-'theln‘Z':‘ ~ “I hold _that this ti'emen‘dous problem is only ca.pable‘of solution by giving to all races, hiowever insignificant, what we proudly regard as British freedom and justice, and thereby‘ in the course «of many lyezirsflevelling them up to our own standards of life“. “Only by raising all other Civilisations to the level of ours can we make it possible for us and them to live side by side in peace. Only in this way can the international rivalry be brought and confined within the limits _'o*sf peace. Only thus can the terrible'p‘l-essure of economic eo.mpje.titions be preventied. from driving whole continents into war. “It is, I imagine. with something of this idea that an economic and industrial side has been woven into the; League of Nations. If so, I Welcome it as 2. step in the right right dil'ec.ti.on, but the League of Nations dun never absolve usifrom. the mission that is laid upon us, as members of the British Empire, to use for the betterment of mankind the unequalled opportunitioS that God has given us.”