The Daily News. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1919. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

Taranaki Daily News, 30 January 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1919. THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

By the unanimous votes of the delegates at the Peace Congress a resolution was carried affirming the desirableness of establishing a league of nations "to promote international Co-operation, to ensure the fulfilment of accepted obligations, and to provide a safeguard against war," the league to lie open to every civilised nation which can be relied upon to promote its objects. This resolution, it will be noted, is an abstract enunciation of opinion, and follows the usual form of procedure when any new institution or organisation is considered necessary. In submitting the proposal' President Wilson emphasised that the delegates were bidden to make a peace such as would ensure to the peoples who had, suffered so heavily by the war both justice and security, His faith in the league fulfilling all his hopes and aspirations is illimitable, but it is based on very slender material, because of the weakest link in the chain which is to bind the nations together in a common determination to live at peace, that link being the value placed by the nations on their respective rights. No nation is more jealous of its rights and doctrines than the United States, and it needs no prescience to arrive at a fairly accurate forecast of America's action under circumstances which threatened violence to any of her cherished shibboleths. Evidently President Wilson has found that the alluring visions he conjured up when first propounding his scheme for the league were too ethereal, and so has come down to a more practical frame of mind. In the abstract the establishment of a league of nations charged with the high and noble mission of protecting humanity in general from the ravages of the oppressor, and enabling the world to live at peace, is a magnificent outcome of the war, and the opening up of a new era for the nations who live by the art of peace, and if the league comes into actual existence, as seems probable, it will at least be a testimony to the desire for a new order of international sanity, and an indication that both the great and small countries wish to live at peace. There still remains, however, the right to light, but if sufficient power is on the side of the league then that jjight will be only nominal; otherwise matters will be as heretofore. It is too much tt> expect that the Great Powers will consent to abrogate their sovereignty or limit their means of offensive or defensive to a negligible quantity. Force will still have to be met with force when reason and diplomacy fail to adjust quarrels. At the same time, with the experience of the past, it should be possible for a league of nations to be a bulwark ngainst aggression, but it will have 1o be constructed on practical lines that will stand the stress and strain of differences between the nations, and its success will entirely depend upon its strength, and it is upon the constructive details that difficulties are likely to arise. Britain can never give up her sea supremacy. It is vital to the exj#tenge fit Jth§ Emjnre; bow yitftl

the recent war has clearly demonstrated. Much will depend upon whether all the members of the league will be animated by a whole-hearted co-operative spirit, indicative of a determination to make all needful sacrifices in the cause of humanity, and placing their resources unreservedly at the disposal of the league in carrying out its great work of enforcing its decisions in the interests of peace, justice and security. That is the difference between the abstract idea and concrete action. There are so many ways in which national honor can be affected that the immensity of the task to be undertaken by the league can hardly be realised, for it will have to arbitrate on every conceivable form of injustice deemed to be injurious to national life and honor. Still the attempt is well worth making, and the time is particularly appropriate for launching a scheme designed to be the greatest boon that lias ever been conferred on civilisation. "While it would be unwise to expect impossibilities, yet it may be reasonably assumed that a league of nations, such as is now in the making, will be mor? likely to be acceptable than before the terrible experiences of the war made the people of the world take a new view of international morality. The growth of the influence of such a league may be slow, but therein is' its strength, for it should gradually gain world confidence, provided it is properly managed and backed by an armed force that will command obedience and respect. The machinery of the league has yet to be constructed, and when it is completed the nations will be better able to judge whether or not they can trust themselves to its arbitration. History records many failures in this direction, but the late war is developing new sentiments in which aversion to settlement of disputes by armed force is not the least in point of prominence. Peace has become very precious, so 'that, the league would start its career under favorable auspices, and its permanence must be left for the future to decide. Meanwhile we can hope for the best. The sacrifices made in the war will not have been in vain if the nations enter into a league for preserving peace and inculcating a new morality that will obviate the excuse for war. The small nations have acted wisely in giving their adherence to the scheme in spite of the fact that the greater part of the representation on the league will be in the hands of the Great Powers. A united front at the outset augurs well for the future of the organisation.