LAW AND ORDER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 October 1938, Page 2

LAW AND ORDER

PROMOTION OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE STATEMENT ON AIMS OF NEW SOCIETY. TWO CONCRETE PROPOSALS. A statement on the aims of the New Commonwealth Society, for the promotion of international law and order through the creation of a tribunal in equity and an international police force, appears hereunder. The statement is signed by Mr Winston Churchill (president of the British section) and Lord Davies (chairman). “The grave deterioration which has taken place within the last few years has undoubtedly been the cause of profound anxiety among millions of men and women throughout the British Empire. These feelings of anxiety are probably most acutely felt by those whose understanding of the position compels them to reject as impracticable such policies as isolation and ultrapacifism. It is probably true to say that the vast majority of our compatriots, no matter in what quarter of the Empire they may reside, recognise in the development of the collective system the only practical method of safeguarding world peace and thus of ensuring the welfare and security of the British Commonwealth. They realise that only by the inauguration of the reign of law and order in the international sphere can inter-State relationships be satisfactorily regulated. They remain loyal to the fundamental principles enshrined in the League of Nations Covenant. Unfortunately, however, they are compelled to admit that so far the League has completely failed to fulfil the major functions which it was hoped it would be able to carry out, and this failure has given rise to a natural tendency to discount the prospects of establishing an effective collective system.

PROBLEM OF PEACE. “In the belief that this brief statement correctly interprets the feelings of the preponderating majority of British men and women, we venture to direct attention to the activities of an organisation which, we submit, approaches the problem of world peace from a practical and constructive angle. The purpose of the New Commonwealth Society can be simply stated. The society advocates the development of the League of Nations from a mere debating society into an effective international authority. Its programme is confined to two concrete proposals: (1) The submission of all disputes between nations, which cannot be settled by the processes of negotiation and conciliation, to the adjudication of an impartial tribunal charged with the duty of pronouncing a decision in accordance with the principles of justice and equity; (2) the creation of an International Police Force to restrain aggression, and, if need be, to enforce the decisions of the tribunal. Thus the New Commonwealth programme contains provision for both peaceful change and collective security—the two essential requirements in any system of ordered government. WIDESPREAD INTEREST. “Unfortunately space prevents in your columns a more detailed exposition of these proposals',,. .We should, however, be grateful if yoti would allow us to emphasise that the New Commonwealth movement is already arousing widespread interest. More than fifty different nationalities are represented in its membership, and sections of the society have been brought into existence in no less than sixteen countries. Considerable numbers of men and women, prominent in their respective spheres, are co-operating in its educational and research activities, and its programme has been endorsed by many important organisations. Preparations are now being made to form groups of the society in the British Dominions and Colonies. We would, therefore, urge those of your readers who recognise in the programme of the New Commonwealth the only constructive means of establishing the peace of the world on a' sound and enduring basis, to communicate with the General Secretary, the New Commonwealth, Thorney House, Smith Square, London, S.W.I.

“To those who may feel that the proposals which we have so briefly outlined are Utopian and idealistic, we would point out that they represent nothing more than the application in the realm of inter-State relationships of those principles upon which the peaceful development of every civilised national community has been based. We submit that the future of every unit of the British Commonwealth depends upon the inauguration of a new era of law and order in international affairs. For this reason alone we are confident that the programme of the movement which it is our privilege to represent will call forth overwhelming support from among our compatriots overseas.