Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1939. REAL AND SHAM PEACE.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 October 1939, Page 6

Wairarapa Times-Age SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1939. REAL AND SHAM PEACE.

TN broad essentials, Mr Chamberlain’s declaration in the House of Commons of the conditions on'which Britain is prepared to make peace was admirably clear. Having sau that it was impossible for Britain to accept « upon a recognition of Herr Hitler’s conquests without 1 o Leiting honour and abandoning the claim that internationa disput s should be settled by discussion and not by force, he added, in a later passage:—

The oeace which we are determined to secure . . . must be a real and settled peace, not an uneasy truce interrupted by constant alarms and repeated threats. What stands ™ J of such a peace? It is the German Government and the Ge man Government alone, for' it is they who, by lc P^ ed . aggression, have robbed all Europe of tranquillity and implant in the hearts of all their neighbours an ever-present sense 1 insecurity and fear.

As to the statement, no doubt made with due forethought that only the German Government stands in the way of a real ant settled peace, it must be hoped that the British f rime Minister is right. Some people are of opinion, that other governments than that of Germany—for example those of Italy and Russia —are -also standing in the way of the .establishment ot genuine peace. The position at large will only be tested-finally when it is seen whether nations constituting an effective majority are prepared to co-operate in supporting peace based on justice.

With that great question of necessity left m abeyance for the time being, it is clear I hat Mr Chainberlam drew an all-important distinction between a real and settled peace and the alleged peace that Herr Hitler offers. The British 1 rime Minister answered conclusively the assertion of the Fuehrer that, the Western democracies have made war on Germany lor ridiculous reasons and that nothing stands in the way 01. immediate peace but the foolishness and obstinacy of the democracies.

There can be no peace bet ween unrepentant criminals, laden with booty and people who desire to obey and to enforce a rule of law. 'Die obstacles to peace which Ilerr Hitler professes himself unable to see exist, and are glaringly apparent, in the insolent demand of the Nazi dictatorship that the crimes it has committed, notably against Czechoslovakia and Poland, not onlv should not be righted, but should be condoned. I 4 at liom having taken any step towards peace, Herr Hitler is really demanding that international villainy and brigandage should be declared to be legitimate and respectable. His so-called peace proposals are either the talk ot a madman or that ol one who is cynically and deliberately intent on undermining every principle of justice and therefore of destroying the only foundation on which peace can be based.

One of yesterday’s news messages from London stated that approval of Mr Chamberlain’s statement was qualified only by some suggestions that there should be a more explicit and detailed enunciation “of the principles for which the Allies are fighting and of the contribution which Britain would herself be willing to make, in common with other nations, lor their realisation.” It has to be considered, however, that while hopes of future world peace most certainly depend upon international understanding and co-operation, taking shape in practical measures of disarmament, and the establishment of a system of collective security, the Allies are concerned at the moment with Germany and the German Government.

So long as Germany adheres Io the policy to which her present Government is committed, no approach can be made to the treatment of international problems which would be practicable if that policy were discredited and abandoned. Mr Chamberlain probably went quite as far as he was justified in going when he said, in the course of Ins speech:—

It is no part of our policy to exclude from her rightful place in Europe a Germany which will live in amity and confidence with other nations. On the contrary, we believe that no effective remedy can be found for the world’s ills that does not tpke account of the just claims and needs of all countries, and whenever the time may come to draw the lines of a new peace settlement, his Majesty’s Government would feel that the future would hold out little hope unless such a settlement could be reached through the method of negotiation and agreement.

Before there can be any approach Io real and sell led peace Germany must give proof of her ability and desire to live in amity and eoididenec with other nations. II is for Germany, as Mr Chamberlain said, Io choose between that policy and Ihe policy to which she is committed under Herr Hitler s leadership. The Allies can and will resist German ayyression, but it is not their business, but that of the German people, to shape the better and worthier policy that must be shaped if international justice and peace are to be established in Europe.