THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 3, 1913 THE PEACE PALACE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 3 September 1913, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 3, 1913 THE PEACE PALACE.

The opening of the Palace of Peace at The Hague, in the presence of a distinguished assemblage, at a time when the construction of larmaments is being pursued with relentless vigour, would seem to be almost a mockery. For years, we were going to say for centuries past, the dream has been entertained that by mutual concession and compromise it might be possible to establish an universal peace among the nations. Conference after conference has been held at The Hague. Proposal after proposal has been submitted for the consideration of the Great Powers: But no practicable scheme has yet been evolved by which great national issues can be determined without recourse to arms. It ia significant that at the opening of the Palace of Peace, upon which thousands of pounds have been lavished, the Czar should have telegraphed that the movement for establishing universal peace has been near to his heart for years. It is also significant that Mr Andrew Carnegie, who is spending millions of money on peace institutions of various kinds, should have declared that the torch is in the hands of the Kaiser, and that upon this potentate depends the fate of the nations. The obvious deduction is that Russia feels her weakness, and' Germany realises her strength. If it be true that the race, of necessity, goes to the strong, is there any real ground for hope that the Kaiser would, at the present stage, fall in with a proposal to disarm? Sir Edward Grey, who is reoognised as the most sagacious diplomat of the age, does not appear to be impressed with the possibility of even a temporary cessation of naval construction. Me Winston Churchill, the First Lord of the British Admiralty, threw out the hint that a year's relaxation in shipbuilding effort would be acceptable; but this seema to tore served only as an inspiration

to Germany to redouble her efforts to secure a supremacy on the sea. The fact of the matter is that the great nations do not trust each other. Every movement made by Great Britain is treated by Germany with suspicion. Every statement of the Kaiser serves to emphasise his ambition to rule the world. "While this is so; while the destinies of nations are in the hands of ambitious autocrats, the talk of establishing universal peace is downright hypocrisy. Keir Hardie, the English Labour leader, made the suggestion at a recent international conference that the only way to prevent war was for the workers throughout the world to refuse to ibuild warships or to manufacture munitions of war. This is quite as rational a proposal as that peace envoys should assemble, in a luxurious palace and discuss impracticable theories. It is true that during the last few years Britain and other nations have been enabled to settle minor questions by arbitration. But no means other than by actual hostilities has yet been discovered by which international disputes of great moment can be determined. Even the United States, which .manages to live peaceably wifeb-fliost nations, found it necessary lo resort to arms in the Philippines, and the fear of a more serious conflict is causing it to strengthen its navy. Britain has had to sacrifice thousands of valuable lives in maintaining its prestige in Africa. Russia and Japan have been at each other's throats. China has not escaped j Italy and Turkey haveibeen at war, and the blood of the victims of the Balkan horrors is hardly yet dry. Only Germany and France, among, the great Powers, have avoided national disa/sters during the last couple of decades. But these have been employed in repairing the damage wrought in the bitter conflict of 1870. To-day the great statesmen of the world confess to feelings of uneasiness. They see in the frenzied rush for armaments a cataclysm that will paralyse the world. They hope, almost against hope, that the crisis may not be reached by the present generation. But that it will oome, and with awful results, nobody in authority can deny. There ia a deep-rooted conviction in the minds of British people that a clash with Germany is inevitable. The only question to be determined is, whea ? Diplomacy may stave off the evil moment, and alliances between the nations may cause Germany to hesitate. But there can be only one culmination to it. all—and that is a struggle at sea tmparalleled in the history of the world. The London Standard may regard Dreadnoughts as the real defenders of the world's peace. As well might it argue that the training of athletes is going to secure supremacy "at the Olympic games; or that the building of ai yacht is going to win the, American Cup. The preparation is merely the aot-preceednt to the struggle itself.