The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1922. TWO GREAT FORCES.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 August 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 7, 1922. TWO GREAT FORCES.

In the preface that he has written to the history of the Genoa Conference, Mr. Lloyd George has evidently been inspired by the philosophy usually associated with the ancient wise men of the East, only brought up to date by the heritage of the welter of passion and economic chaos arising out of the Great, War. Throughout all time, so far as this world is concerned, the two great forces which have been in cqaseless conflict are those generally known as good and evil, and although the British Premier uses the more picturesque reality of an old Adam and a new, yet, in effect, his homily concerns good and evil just as certainly as it embraces the more modern idea of barbarism andcivil isation. At the same time there is that special note of modernity in the contrast presented by the old world and the new as regards human thought and action, which shows how far the process of civilisation has travelled since the time of Adam, and how liable human nature is to relapse into primitive instincts, especially under the influence of an exceptional upheaval. “Like dramas of old,” remarks Mr. Lloyd George, “Genoa showed a conflict between two great forces, and two current states of feeling and states of mind—l might almost say two worlds, the old and the new.” He describes the old world as one of national blindness, jealousy, fear, suspicion and prejudice—a world of evil thoughts and evil intentions —while the new world is referred to as having a different faith and point of view, wherein the welfare of every nation depends on peace, together with cooperation and the extension of the helping hand from the strong to the weak. Presumably, Genoa is regarded as the parting of the ways between these two worlds, the starting point of a new and better era, so that after. nearly two thousand years of Christianity, the nations have only ■ bivouacked on the field of peace , and goodwill, and the campaign therefor has only just begun. At I this rate those who are of the new world may well be amazed at the i period which must elapse before the campaign has ended in com-, plete victory. National blindness, ■ jealousy, fear, suspicion and pre-. judiee 'are, if anything, more in I evidence to-day than ever before, I and the demand for the full pound j of flesh is just as-insistent as in: the pre-historic ag’e. It is only j necessary to take even a cursory i glance at what events are trans- I piring throughout the world in > ord?i’ to be convinced that the na- ; tions have no common bond ofsympathy, no desire for eo-opera- i tion unless they are too weak to j resist their stronger neighbors. It | is not a question of two forces, but of armed force. If we turn from Mr. Lloyd George’s academical exposition of the two worlds, and note the preparations that are being made to manufacture engines of destruction to be used in warfare of the future, it is there I that can be found a convincing [ commentary on the campaign 101 peace. The development of wire- | less steering of aircraft and torpe- : does opens up a vision of destroy- j ing agencies that will sweep land - and sea with unerring precision, so that, according to an Air Ministry expert, the nation with the largest air force will control ocean traffic in the next war, besides dealing out terrible destruction on land It is hard to reconcile hopes of victory for a peace campaign while these preparations for the “next war” are proceeding apace, or to have any appreciable measure of faith in any scheme, no matter how perfectly devised, lor : weaning the nations from war to peace. Democratising the world | would be some help, but even de- I moeracies are given to strife and ■ industrial warfare, which is only j another phase of the old Adam. , The most that can be hoped for is the growth of a better and more friendlv spirit among the peoples | of the various countries, and the | spread of the principles of coneili- ! ation. Such as the people are. so , is the nation, and until the people r are prepared to co-operate m small ( things for the sake of peace and | prosperity, they will assuredly; not be amenable to arbitration m i international affairs. It must be remembered there are centuries of j strife and warfare that have made their impress on the nations, and that impress cannot be obliterated : in manv years, though it is onH right to do all that is possible to foster peace and goodwill.