The Daily News. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 19I4. THE NOBLEST CAUSE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 128, 23 October 1914, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1914. THE NOBLEST CAUSE.

Six members of the Oxford Faculty of Modern History have stated Great Britain's case os to vvJiy wo aro at war in a very able document just published in London. These historians writo not as politicians. "We have gome experience ia the handling of historic evidence, and we have endeavoured to treat this subject historically." Their analysis of thj facts which led up to the war is of high value, but especially to bo noted is the moral standard with wliieh these historians of to-day set up for tlio State, and by defying which Germany finds herself in a mortal danger. After giving a useful summary of the gospel of might as preached by Trietschke, Bernhardi, «nd the Prussian Government, they say that this doctrine "is not really the doctrine of Germany, but rather of Prussia." Then they make this lino statement of "The Caso for England":— ! "I» whatever way we may excuse Prus<im we must fight Prussia; and wo fighl .ft in the noblest causo for which man | can fight. That cause ia the public law of Europe, as a sure shield and bucklcl of all nations, great and small, and especially the small. To the doctrine ol l fte'- almightiness of tho State—to the doctrino that all means are justified 'which are, or seem, necessary to its self-preservation, we oppose the doctrine of a European society, or at lea it ft European comity o£ nations, within which all states stand; we oppose the doctrino of a public law in Europe, by which, all states aro bound to respect the covenants they have made. We will 'not and cannot tolerate the view that nations are in 'the state and posture of > gladiators' in their relations with onj another; we stand for tho reign of law. Our cause, as one would expect from a people that has fought out its own internal troubles under the forms of law, ia a legal cause. We are a people in whose blood the cause of law is a' vital , element. It is no new thing in our his- j tory that we should fight for that cause. When England and Revolutionary France went to war in 1793, the causo, on the side of England, was a legal cause. We fought for tho public law of Kuropo, *s 'it had stood since the peace of Westphalia in 1648. Wo did not fight in 1870, because neither Franco nor Germany had infringed the public law of Europe, by atacking the neutrality of Belgium, but we were ready to fight if they did. A fine cartoon in Punch, of August, 1870, shows armed England encouraging Belgium, who stands ready with spear and shield, with the words, 'Trust me! Let us hope that they won't trouble you, dear friend. But if they 3« • 'To-day they have and England has drawn her sword. To Germans our defence of moral law may seem part of the moral hypocrisy of which, in their view, wo arc full. What wc are doing, they fear, is to strike at Germany, our 'competitor for the 'world empire,' with its dangerous navy, while Germany is 'engaged in a life and death struggle with Franco and Russia. We too, they reel, are Michiavellicns; but wo have put on what Machiavelli called 'the mantle of superstition,' the pretanco of morality and law, to cover our craft. It is true that we are fighting for our own inter est. But what is our interest? We arc fighting for Right, because Right ia . our supreme interest. The German :colitical theory enunciates that 'our interest is our right.' The old— the very old—English political theory is, 'Tho Right is our interest.' It is true that we have everything to gain by defending the cause of international law. Shnubl that prevent lis ironi defending | that cauße? What do we not lose of j precious lives in tho defence? This is i the cause, of England l . England stands for the idea of a public law of Europe, and for the small nations which it protects. She. stands for her own preservation, which is menaced when public law is brokpn, and the 'ages' slowbought 'gain' imperilled. What England not only desires but needs, and needs imperatively, is, first, restitution to Belgium of her former status and whatever else can be restored of all that she has sacrificed. This is tho indispeusiWe preliminary to any form of settlement. The next essential i* an adequate ciiiirantee that she shall never experience Rich another invasion as we have seen in August, 1014; without :\ France which is prosperous, secure and independent European civilisation would be irreparably maimed and stunted. The

third essential, as essential as the other two, is the consecration of those other nations which can only exist on sufferance so Ions; as 'Kealpolitik' is pysicti3?<l with impunity. To minor nationaHties it should lie clear that England is their friend, and cannot choose, hut stand their friend. Three times in ber history sho has made war upon a would-be despot of the Continent, treating the 'Balance of Power' a-i a principle for which 'no sacrifice could he too great. In these struggles she assisted the. small Powers, less from altruism than because their interest was her own. She. supported Holland against Philip 11. of Spain an I against Loui'i XVI.; against Napoleon she supporter" Hot Hol'and only, but also Portugal, ana to the. best of her power, Switzerland and Piedmont. We do not argue—it would be absurd to arguethat England has always been freo from reproach in her dealings with the smaller states. England cannot afford that her weaker neighbors should become less prosperous or less independent than they are. So far as the long arm of naval power reaches. England is bound to give them whatever help she can. From motives of self-preservation, if on no other ground, she could not tolerate their subordination to such a Power as Ormany aspires to found. Her quarrel is not with the. German people, but with the political system for which tho Germaa Empire, in its present temper, stands. That system Eng'and is bound to resist, no matter ny what power it is adopted. Eng'ish sympathies and Enclish traditions are liere at onco with I English interests. England is proud ': recollect how she befriended struggling nationalities in the nineteenth century. She did not suimnrt Hrecee and Ita'v for the sake of any belli thnt thov eon''' give her. The goodwill of England *• Holland, to Switzerland, to the Scandinavian States, is largely based upon their achievements in science, and art and literature. The.? have )K-<>v,-d that tliev enn serve the higher interests of humanity. They have contributed to the growth of that common civilisation which links top-ether the small powers, and the great with bonds more sacred and more durablo than those of ra.ee, of government, of material interest.

REVOLTING CONDITIONS. J Tha disclosures mado in the Magistrate's Court at New Plymouth yesterday regarding the pestilential conditions obtaining in the tery heart of the town will come aa a .surprise and a shock to citieens. It was shown that a restaur-ant-keeper had been in the iiabit of burying the most offensive rubbish imaginable in his small back-yard. How bad the conditions were may be imagined from the evidence of the inspector that in going over the ground he had sunk nearly up to his knee into "a seething mass of corruption, in which fish entrails played a prominent part." A constable who was called in beat a hasty retreat for fresh air, the smell being so overpowering. Flies in thousands were feasting on tho festering heap—all of them potential typhoid or other diseasecarriers. The town is lucky that with such a source of pollution in its midst it hag escaped a serious fever outbreak in the. past. For over eighteen months tho owner had been using his back yard to bury the offensive rubbish that comes from a fish restaurant, yet it is only now that the discovery has been made and action taken. What had the inspector been doing during this time ? He can find time enough to set traps for those riding bicycles without lights or Irells or riding on footpaths and committing other slight breaches of the bylaws, but in tho very important matter of the public health he has evidently had no time to carry out his manifest duties. There aTo other pestilential spots in the town that have so far escaped his attention, though we could conceivo nothing bo vile or menacing as the case ventilated yesterday. We hope tho Council will take prompt action to have a thorough inspection, and a regular inspection, made of the whole of the back premises of tha centre of tho town, and, what is more important, instal without further delay an up-to-date rubbish cart and havo tho rubbish carted away from all premises regularly, the whole of the cost being borne by the borough funds, as is dono in other parts. At present the system, or lack of system, permits a man, where tho inspection is lax, to call in the rubbish contractor just when it suits him, which, is not often in the case of those who are indifferent to the health and general welfare of the town. Tho revolting disclosures yesterday should stimulate the Council into taking energetic action, and once and for all settle what lias for years been a menace to the health of the community and one to which* we have frequently rp.lled attention.