SOCIALISM AND PEACE.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20280, 24 August 1937, Page 3

SOCIALISM AND PEACE.

ECONOMICS OF PROBLEM. WAR AND CLABB WAR. FINAL EXTENSION LECTURE. A third and final lecture on the problem of peace, dealing with the Socialist approach to the problem, was given In Hamilton last evening by Mr W. T. G. Alrey, lecturer in history at Auckland University College.

The' lecture, at which Mr D. Croall presided, was the last of the season's series of university extension lectures which have been given by members of the staff of Auckland University College. Mr Alrey, who in his two previous lectures dealt first with the raw materials of the problem of peace and, second, with the Liberal and Conservative approaches to the problem, said in opening his remarks last evening that while he had been unable to strike a very hopeful note when dealing with the Liberal and Conservative attitudes of the problem, he felt more optimistic when dealing with the Socialist approach which, he considered, was much more scientific as well as much more realistic. To the Socialist peace constituted merely a particular problem within the general social problem and his approach to it was systematised by his development of a science of history and society, on an economic basis. For him pea n e would come with the evolution from a society of classes to a classless and peaceful society, or what Engels hail j termed “man’s leap from the realm of necessity into the realm of freedom.” If that development were to take place in orderly fashion it could only do so through an understanding of the laws of environment such as was to be obtained from a study of history from the economic viewpoint. Socialist View of History. “I use the term Socialist to mean those people who believe in that economic interpretation of history evolved by Marx and further developed by Engels and Lenin,” said Mr Airev. “The Labour Party in general to-day, from that point of view, Is not Socialist."

Man’s fundamental relation, lie ;ontlnued, was to his environment, ’rom which he derived his means of ivelihood, and no matter how he developed spiritually and intellectually ie was still tied to the physical environment by his need for the things >y which he existed and by which he ived more fully. The means of promotion constituted this link between nan and his environment, and while darx paid due regard to other influences he laid particular emphasis lpon this factor, which was conidered by Socialists as the most Jm>ortant of those determining social realionships. The Socialist believed hat the existing class-structure was hat which was most appropriate for itilising the existing means of proluction. Tlie forms of thought and leas obtaining were also those which PndPfl to ni'nn nn tho j _..

i i-ciiued to prop up the existing - order of things and give it the colour of , justice and reasonableness. Changing Class Relationships. Dealin.f with the manner in which changes in class relationships aid social equilibrium occurred, the lecturer pointed out that a period of reasonable stability tended to produce greater leisure, from which, in turn, improvements in production were likely to occur. Again, these changes in tfce mode of production tended to upset the existing class structure by bringing new people to key positions*.

Tlic modern age, for example, ha been characterised by the rise of th middle class, as the Middle Ages ha been marked by the rise of the feud, nobility. Large-scale production In th modern world had transformed chs relationships and provided man with

stronger weapon against envlronmcn than ever before. Large-scale pro duction, to the Socialist, had als greatly simplified the structure o society, and this opinion inclined on to the belief that the next clas struggle would be the last of at] | With the emergence of an organise! working class, characterised by laol of property, there did not seem tin same danger of the development of ; new ruling class, and the road to th* classless, peaceful State seemed reasonably clear. Capitalist Road to Peace. There had been a belief, continue.' Mr AI rey, held by such men as Cobdtv and Bright, that the capitalist system would lead to universal peace by th£ extension throughout the world oi free trade and laissez-faire principle*. By freedom of enterprise and the ru’e of price the capitalist had believed I hat the would would become linked economically in a world market. It was believed that by thus demonstrating the absence of utility in war, DOnce w °uld be assured. Capitalism's great, expectations bad. of course, failed io materialise. There had been a brief period of free trade, but though it had existed longer, as a policy, in Great Britain than elsewhere, it had finally given way to tariffs. With the development of protection had come the development of imperialism, and wilh, the latter camp the threat of war and finally wr itself. The Socialist Solution. For the Socialist the solution of the problem of war lay in the solution of Ihe great problem of society in general. Capitalism (ended to create aver-capitalisation and over-produe-ivhich meant an improvement in production In Nic short run. but which ended to gc| ahead of consumption md precipitate slumps. Capitalism, Im Socialist believed, tended to make hesn booms and slumps—the trar.e •voles —more and more intense. To the Socialist, war was rooted In tie capilalisl system, and the'dominant dement in the menace of war was the onlrol of Ihe Stale machine by the ‘■Nit Mist group. For these reasons the olulion of the problem of peace lay or the Socialist in the elimination of lie capitalist system. Whether the* o vas violence in the transition or not voutd depend on the attitude adopted »' tho owning class and whether hey realised that there would he. no iltimate profit, in opposing the change. Though Socialists had not been pa. - i <*i ila ply successful in resisting war in and though the majority had iinied and supported their national iu veriinieiits, much had happened \ (Continued in next column.)

j o o hi otn J" uoisnjouoo a in 1* s>|uuqi .1 1 ’ a-jo a XjUßaq u papaooas sbav aq l' n » S'Sa.ipp B BUI JO 9SO|J Ol| I | B .l,)>|BO»Is O'll A, l pa.IOAVSUB a.IJAV SUU| JSOIIO •sauii TupqaoS no jo uohbs|ubji.io - ju oi| | qrinoaqi aiuoa ppioa aaaail ji aajUßUßna oans a[uo a in ibiu .C|[buij paiuaas p pua •dinajaop jsqßiaos Jt UOUL'IdOOO'B lIH paßA\U| PiaOA\ |B!>| -..c||d|ii! oil| oaoiu paauiiou •cad b uaaq osqu pei| aaaqj, Bouoaqi H'o a uaoq puq ppioA\ isnßpdß.) aqi »q spiJAa pub ijujaq o|ui aiuoa | yq uopi.i aqj. uaqj dJU|s