July 29.
'The general line of foreign policy to be followed by His Majesty's Government in facing the present. perplexities of Europe was lucidly' expounded to the House of Com~ mons by Mr. Anthony Eden on Monday. It received an emphatic, endorsement in the lobby. Critics of the Government have been vocal and diffuse. By a small section of the Conservatives Mr, Stanley Bald~ win has been acidly reminded of their sustained hostility to the League and all its works. By the Opposition he is accused of dragging the name of Great Britain in the dust by a shameful surrender Signor Mussolini. Fervent pacifists who have not hesitated to obstruct and oppose the strengthening of the national defences, are indignant at the removal of "sane~ tions" and, indeed, appear—without any very clear idea of the method of procedure required—to insist that by some means or other Great Britain should lead the League in the recovery of Ethiopia foe the exiled Emperor. The events in the Rhineland have, apparently, not! convinced these critics of the danger of giving hostages to fortune in the Mediterranean. The startling proof, of the overwhelming might of mechanized armaments and. aerial bombardment which has enabled Italy to conquer Abyssinia with the Joss of ess life than accrued from what would have been termed a skirmish in the late War, does not. make them realize the terrible consequences against which provision has to be made in contemplating: warfare between two modern states. However much emphasis; may be laid on the solidarity of the fifty "sanctionist" powers, it doos not dispose of the fact that military action by the League would have thrown nearly the whole burden on France and Great Britain, Can it be wondered at that Mr, Baldwin' and his colleagues—fortified by the attitude of the other nations concerned—took for their guidance the aphorism of Burke: "it is a great art of wisdom to know how much of an evil it is necessary to tolerate"?
'Mr. Eden has~put this view' forcibly by arguing that no-one at, this time would desire to introduce further causes of serious differences. between nations. Great Britain, in.
of the natural feeling of embarrassment at the sight of the plight of Abyssinia and the Emperor: Haile Selassie, has no reason to be: ashamed of "her loyally to the League or of the practical decision with her fellow-members to recede from an untenable position. The Covenant and the League are part of the modern equipment for the consolidation of the world on the basis of international peace. That, they have not achieved an immodiate abolition of the dangers against which they are expected to provide is merely to admit that they are human institutions, The lessons in 1815 and by the Trealy of Versailles in 1910—endeavours to maintain the principles of freedom, combined with healthy" discipline, which have so long marked the {genius of her polity. With the rag-ug heat around her, itis not surprising that some of the more agegressive flames seem to stray over her borders and disturb the serenity. of her Government. Thus fo Soviet Tearnt in the last fw years help rather than destroy the understanding of the problem. Ancillary supports have to be secured for an organization which is not all-m-bracing and cannot yet stand alone. Recognition of this fundamental fact has been in the minds of states~ men for some time. It found expression in the Kellogg Pact and the Locarno Treaty. It now is Russia on one side and to Fascism! given further encouragement in! diplomacy can surmount the dif culties inherent in the problem—should lead to the collaboration of Germany and Italy with Belgium, France and Great Britain in the creation of a real bulwark of European stability. Mr. Eden took occasion rightly to point out that the "Montreux Conference by establishing the efficacy of legal methods of treaty revision and their greater beneficence to all concerned than that to be attained by unifloral repudiation. It was.a timely reminder to the House that the Jaw of the jungle has not yet as~ serted itself in Europe beyond repair. In approaching the task of securing German anid Italian. collaboration Great Britain socks to build a bridge to span the gulf of enmity which lies between Gor-many and France. By virtue of her friendly relations with the two neighbouring powers, she hopes that she will be privileged to perform that salutary service, Not otherwise can Europe view the prospect without apprehension, Economic causes have so disturbed the political equilibrium of Europe that violent measures have naturally been devised to remedy desperate situations. Whether the violence has taken the form of the fascist or Nazi state or developed the communism of Soviet Russia, it has been inspired by the same sense of helplessness. In itself as the normal interpreter of relations between man and man, it cannot last human nature cannot indefinitely jzuffer such a vehement violation of its spiritual integrity. Mx. Eden's exhortation to the democratic countries did not imply any pharisaical {gesture of reproof to nations which, for the time being, have repudiated democratic ideals.' It rather might be taken to insist that the responsibility resting on democracies. for ensuring the preservation of Iiberties was all the greater and required all the more careful treatment. The comment is specially pertinent, for, Jat the moment, the course of events in tortured Spain is being anxiously watched, It would seem that the excessive eagerness of democracy its reckless belief in itself por~ chance—has given rise to abominable cruelties t6 which the retort has inevitably come in the shape no less abominable repres With this and previous examples before them liberals of all shades of opinion would do well to themselves how far they might gullly of contributory negligence, Liberalism—in the broad sense of the torm—is not the highest good in itself, (Its virtue lies in the benefits which it can confer on the general body politic. If it allows Itself to administer remedies which fare too potent for the patient's frame to stand, it is lable to invite the very negation of liberty as the lonly process whereby complete di solution can be avoided, Nations to-day cannot avoid the ce Jquenees of their interdependence, Joven though extreme isolation may temporarily be adopted as the way of relief. Their duty is to seek international concord and co-opera tion by the exercise of a supreme {tolerance toward the individ idiosyncrasies of their fellows. That the keynote of the policy which Mr. Eden commended fo the House of Commons. It demands, not the repudiation "of principles, but, rather, the diligent search' for a common basis of concerted action,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.