June 13.
Recent correspondence to the columns of! this journal has been critical of British policy in the Far East as well as in Spain, and the further sinking of British vessels at Alicante would on the face of it seem to support the contentions which have been. made that! drastic action on the part of the British Government has become imperative. That is the contention of the critics and judged by standards of the past there is much to justify their point of view. But those standards can no longer be applied; world affairs have to be measured by a different yardstick and what was good in the days of old, what passed for' firm action may in these times prove to be the height of recklessness, The policy of pacifism, which Great Britain has followed since the end of the Great War until quite recently, was born of war weariness, and the belief that the rest of the world was just as tired. It Is possible that, had the Treaty of Versailles! been" drafted more in accordance with] President Wilson's famous fourteen points, those nations, which profess to find only in another war the sole means of readjustment, would still be just as reluctant to embaric upon another huge military struggle. The inequity of that Treaty is largely responsible for present conditions in Europe. In its endeavour to set the world a good example Great Britain allowed her fighting forces to diminish to a point which but a few years ago gave her advisers cause for the gravest anxiety. Realization of what was going on in other countries. came lamentably late to} the British Government, for it will be remembered that it is only a very few years ago that Earl Baldwin, then Prime Minister, con fessed that his Government had been sadly misinformed as to the extent of German Tearmament, Despite the gigantic efforts which have since been made, British rearmament is still lagging behind originally con~ ceived programmes, and, though enormous strides have already been taken, much, has still t0 be done before the strength of the! Empire will again be what it should be in relation to the developments which have been undertaken by other nations.
The authoritative manner in which the] British Government was able to intervene in the Czechoslovakian crisis was in the main. due to the growing strength of British arma~ ments and the realization abroad that the! nation is in a position now, more readily than in the past able to back representations! with force which is no longer inconsiderable. The time is not yet, however, for it to be sumed that Great Britain has accumulated all the backing necessary to give her that] authority which was hers and which she should never have lost, and until that time! has come there is much that Great Britain must perforce accept. That is the reason' why the bombing of the British vessels in Spanish Republican harbour, obviously by insurgent aeroplanes, is giving the Government so anxious a time. That jingo spirit upon which this journal has already commented is indicated in the desire of the! British seamen that the Government should undertake reprisals in the form of an aerial bombardment of Cadiz. It may be argued, that the German bombardment of Almeria would provide all the necessary precedent; that is to be doubted, for times and conditions have greatly changed in Europe since then, and any such action might bring about the collapse of the non-intervention _policy,' adherence to which seems to be at the moment the only means of preventing the outbreak' of general war in Europe. The question has, therefore, to be asked: "Have any or all the incidents which have occurred with such alarming frequency in Europe and the Far' East been such as to justify a declaration of war?" In other days some of them most certainly would. It is possible that an accumulation of them may bring about that] regrettable development even now, but wisdom from the British point "of view requires that she shall not be dragged into a war until her preparations are such ensure a reasonable chance of victory. Let] there be no mistake about it, if and when the next war comes there will be no breathing space in which to allow unpreparedness to muddle along until adequate strength is accumulated.. The tempo of the next war will be set from the very commencement and an unprepared nation will be given no opportunity to remedy its deficiencies.
'That is where the difference is to be found] in the policies of Mr, Neville Chamberlain and Mr. Anthony Eden, though both of them agree that there are limits beyond which Great Britain cannot be pushed. No matter' how much Mr. Eden may deny it there was fa danger that, if the policy which he supported had been persisted in, Great Britain might] have been plunged into war some time ag0. The endeavour to enforce sanctions against Italy nearly brought that catastrophe about.
the other hand since Mr. Chamberlain has been in control of foreign policy it would be idle to deny that there has been a change for the. better in Europe. Whether that betterment will continue until something more approximating a permanent peace has been reached remains to be seen, though the fact is clear that Europe is further from war at} the moment than it has been at any time for} the past two years. If statesmanlike caution is to be dubbed pusillanimity let it be so. By. whatever name it is called it will remain something better than mere braggadocio without sufficient strength to support it. A correspondent has been kind enough to comment favourably on the patriotic articles occasionally published in this journal. Whatever may be said about them they are inspired by no spirit of swashbuckling, but a realization that the greatest service can often be rendered to that ideal by the exercise of patience and caution, Neither of those attributes need necessarily be the qualities of cowardice, while undue rashness might prove to be the height of stupidity. No statesman worthy of hhis salt can afford in these days to be stupid: his duty to this generation and to posterity demands that he shall proceed with just that caution which the British Government is at the moment displaying, and if they ask their people to display the same degree of patience they are only demanding their proper dues. There is a point—and even Mr. Eden agrees with this—at which Britain may have to stand and refuse to make further concessions, and when that refusal has to be made it will not be inspired by a desire for war but by the realization that things are being carried too far and that the time has come for Britain to call a halt, If ever that time comes those who pretend to believe that the British are a decadent race may find them. selves more than a little surprised,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.