A RECIPE FOR RIGHTING THE WORLD'S WRONGS

New Zealand Listener, Volume 2, Issue 39, 21 March 1940, Page 15

A RECIPE FOR RIGHTING THE WORLD'S WRONGS

(Contributed )

"Why Britain is at War," the Penguin Special by Harold Nicolson, was recommended as a book for soldiers in "The Listener" of March 8. After an historical survey, admirably concise, Mr. Nicolson advances his ideas on war aims and peace settlements. This is a summary-not an actual reproduc-tion-of the final chapter. "Ts British Government may be right in refusing to formulate detailed peace terms when the duration and- nature of the war is uncertain. But if they cannot say what they do mean to do, they can certainly say what they do not mean to do. They should announce at once that from this war, we, for our own part, desire not one inch of anybody else’s territory. That we have no desire.to ruin the German people either economically or politically. That all. we desire is to fashion a new system in which all peaceful countries shall have an equitable and creative share. Armistice First, Treaty After Before the negotiators enter any future Peace Conference they must be clear in advance what kind of new world it is they wish to create. They must draw a sharp distinction between the Preliminary Treaty which must be imposed upon the enemy and the Final Treaty’ which must be negotiated with the enemy. The -first should deal only with the physical facts of the situation,.such as the withdrawal of troops, the surrender of* arms, etc. The -negotiations for. the Final Treaty should. not begin before one. year has elapsed since the conclusion of. the war. Even prolonged uncertainty is preferable to decisions come ‘to in a mood of hatred and without sufficient: consideration and calm. The Preliminary Treaty should be a Diktat. The«Final Treaty should be wholly different.’The vanquished should be represented ‘and. given every consideration. The» Conference should be held in the capital of a neutral state, preferably Washington. Each Power represented at the Conference should have-as ‘delegates leaders both of the Government and Opposition parties. They ‘should .have attached to them men and women who are outside politics. Full publicify. should: be: given the proceedings. The Settlement The League of, Nations did not possess armed forces such as could enable it to impose its own decisions upon a recalcitrant member. And none of the member States made any sacrifice of its national sovereignty. These two defects might now be remedied. _.. The armed force at the disposal of League must be more powerful than the combined forces of, for instance, Germany, Russia, and Japan. An inter-

national army so vast would be beyond the bounds of sense. Is there no other way? In the first place it should not hg beyond the bounds of human commoh sense to agree upon quota figures for national armaments. Germany could be allowed a large army and Britain a large navy, for instance. Something more would be needed. : The air weapon provides for something more. It could be laid down that no country in Europe should be allowed to possess any aeroplanes at all, whether civil or military. Only the League would be permitted to possess aeroplanes. Great international air routes would be operated as a general utility undertaking. The League would also possess a highly trained fighting air force with pilots drawn only from the smaller countries. There would be no false sentimentality about ruthless and immediate punishment to any State which, after submitting its case to League arbitration, either refused to accept the award or started aggressive action against any of its neighbours. United States of Europe Force would not be enough. There is the question of sovereignty. I am cone vinced that Europe will become a prose perous continent only if each of the present Nation States surrenders something of its independence for the good of the whole. We must create the United States of Europe. _We should find that the interests of each member fell into three general categories: local interests, public. utility undertakings, federal interests. By local interests I mean housing, unemployment, social services, education. . « « By public utilities I mean transport, posts and telegraphs, broadcasting. ... By federal interests I mean the vast problems of finance and commerce, foreign policy, control of armaments. Would that, in fact, be so terrible a sacrifice? Would the man or woman at Leicester. or Maidstone really suffer loss of pride or property if the rubber of the Malay States or the copper of Rhodesia were placed in some common pool for the benefit of all nations? We should notice little change. A World Worth Fighting For And: in return for this we should achieve. a world which is worth fighting for. If Hitler triumphs, then such a world will be impossible for many generations. Did I believe that this war were no more than a ghastly episode provoked by the unstable vanity of a single man, then indeed I should surrender to despair, knowing that the ensuing peace would also be no more than an episode. It is because I am convinced that this war, as it develops, will assume gigantic proportions that I believe that the final settlement will also be gigantic. Because of that faith I face the future with sorrow, with resolution, but without fear.