1939-10-10 — Page 11

-THE CHINA MAIL, OCTOBER 10, 1939

WHY ARE WE IN THE WAR?

By Sir Norman Angell

IT IS OF COURSE the duty of civilised men everywhere to try to understand the nature of this conflict if only be- cause all peoples will sooner or later be called upon to give vital decisions arising from it; to sanction or oppose action by their governments in respect of it.

|

If such understanding is to

} be against others. It was pointed out that achieved we must face facts which | Japan's impunity in its violation of both the British and the French show law in Manchuria was largely account- adenosition to ignore or even hide. {able for Italian violation in Abyssinia;. Yet they are facts which if brought for German occupation of the Rhine- land: for German-Italian invasion of Spain; for the annexation of Austria,. Memel, the Sudetenland, Slovakia, Moravia, and Bohemia The general policy of saying to states like Japan, Italy, and Germany: "We don't care what you do to others so long as you leave us alone" was declared by this school to be morally contemptible and politically short-sighted. The principle underlying such a view will be more fully defined in a moment.

, more clearly into light and their signi- Acance more fully revealed, would show the cause for which France and Britain fight as the greatest for which nations ever took up arms. And by a curious paradox It is a cause which will be betrayed unless the facts we now seem to desife to hide are square- ly faced and their significance realised. Neither Britain nor France has been attacked by Germany. The demo- cracies are not fighting to repel attacks upon their own soil, upon themselves, or even upon a democracy, and most of the democratic states of the Con- tinent-Switzerland, the Low Coun- tries, and the Scandinavian States are neutral.

¦

VIEWS OF RIVAL SCHOOLS

As against the view that Britain should resist aggression as such, de- tend law as such, the rival school argued that this principle would turn every local dispute into a world war: that to give undertakings to defend this, that, or the other state was to

Britain and France are fighting to defend the independence of a state on the other side of Europe which is hard-place control of British foreign policy ly a democracy, if a democracy at all, whose frontiers represent a status quo which many Britons and French-and Americans-have in the past declared to be in some respects unjust, at best the least evil of bad alternatives. Those facts do not weaken the case of the allies. They strengthen it.

in the hands of a lot of foreign na- tions," as Sir John Simon put it re- cently in the House of Commons; that Eritain could be neither kn'ght errant nor policeman of man. ind and should confine its intervention to those cases in which it had direct strategic inter- est: Belgium, France, Egypt, Iraq, cer- tain points of the Far East; that-most powerful argument of all-British public opinion would never for an in- stant sanction war on behalf of strange (nations on the other side of Europe.

CHANGE IN PLEDGE POLICIES Moreover the guarantees to Poland which now bring Britain into the war are guarantees which for years the present British Government and its predecessor had again and This last was for years the really de- again declared ought never on any cisive argument of the noninterven- account to be assumed by a British tionist. About a year ago this write government. They are undertakings was predent at a small gathering of which, as the chief newspaper sup-members of Parliament, former Ca- porter of the Government at the tine | binet ministers, a present Cabinet they were given pointed out, we had Minister, a newspaper proprietor, and heretofore refused even to France, our next-door neighbour and political ally. One of the chief spokesmen of the Cabinet as late as March last was arguing in the House of Commons that such commitments were wrong in prin- ciple and unworkable in practice-an | tria, or Czechoslovakia; that isolation- almost certain road to war.

Other supporters of the Government had repeatedly argued that particularly ought Britain to refrain from giving such undertakings in eastern Europe and should as alternative policy tacitly -acquiesce in German expansion in the east in return for German guarantees to respect the status quo in western Europe-anticipating in this the offer actually made by Herr Hitler to the British Government on Aug. 25 and again on Aug. 28.

writers. An overwhelming majority took strongly the view that no British Government could ever face the risk of war in order to resist Japan in Man- churia or China, Italy' in Abyssinia, or Germany in the Rhineland, or Aus-

ist opinion in British would simply have destroyed a British Government proposing to go to war on behalf of a small state on the other side of Europe. On this point the whole group, with possible two exceptions, had no doubts whatever; it was completely positive, certain, dogmatic.

"REVOLUTION" CAME QUICKLY

And that overwhelming majority of representative, informed Englishmen, so positive, so certain, so dogmatic, were of course completely wrong, or the British public did not really know how. it would feel and act when ag-

For when Prime Minister Chamber- lain gave his guarantee to Poland-so infinitely more dangerous than any guarantee he could have given to Manchuria or Abyssinia-the whole nation accepted it without demur. "The revolution" of polley was accom- plished from one day to another.

Mr. Anthony Eden has described this sudden decision to guarantee states at the other end of Europe as a "pro-gression had ached a certain stage. found revolution in British foreign policy." It could perhaps be better de- scribed as a definite triumph of one school of thought in the Cabinet and the country over a rival school in a long contest which had been going on for years an incident of that contest having been the resignation of Mr. Eden himself in February of last year.

AGGRESSION PIECE BY PIECE The issue in that debate was quite simple: On one side were those who argued that Britain's policy should aim at checking aggression as such, anywhere, whether it appeared for the moment Britain was directly concern- ed or not; the British Commonwealth & collection of virtually independent -states scattered over the whole world could never be secure if aggressor states could with impunity pick off one by one Britain's potential allies, until finally it would find Itself in the words of Mr. Winston Churchill, "facing its fate naked and alone?”

In his statement of Aug. 24 the For- eign Secretary, Viscount Halifax said: "We have tried to make it clear by word and deed that we, are pre- pared to assist those countries which feel their Independence immediately threatened and are ready to defend their freedom...that is why we gave our undertaknig to Poland ... In fall- ing to uphold the Uberties of others we run great risks of betraying the principle of liberty itself, and with it our own freedom and independence."

The principle of conduct to which Lord Halifax has referred is one which this present writer has often attempt- ed to define in some such terins as

Brjain should therefore, ran the these: argüment. base its defence upon the That unless we are prepared to de- Integrity of the law against aggression, fend the law, against violence when against violence, against war, irres-others are the victims it will be im- pective of whether defiance of the law possible to defend ourselves when we was directed against the British or

(Continued on Page 14)

+

NEW AUTUMN SHIRTS

FOR STYLE AND QUALITY 1

The selection is complete. The colour range, the styles, the fabrics, the patterns are so numer- ous you won't have a bit of trouble in finding exactly the type you prefer. Each shirt is fully pre- shrunk and colourfast, full cut and exceptionally well tailored

"ROCOLA❞ SHIRTS.

In fancy stelpos.

With two collars,

Open coat front,

From $6.75 ea.

“BANNER” SHIRTS

Fancy or Plain. Coat front style. Collars

attached or separate.

From $4.25 ea.

YEE SANG FAT

& CO., LTD.

PETROL

COSTS

DOWN

VAUXHALL-engines get 20% more power out of every drop of petrol used. That is why recent R-A.C.official trials over 1000 milea of public roads, produced these extraordinary results :---

23 b.p.

14 b.p.

10 bp.

22.40 -p-8-

30.31 m...

43.4 m.p.8.

Compare these figures with those obtain. able on cars of similar power. And them compare general performance. We will provide an adequate trial run on Bay Vauxhall model and prove im potrei SORCERY,

VAUXHALL

SEE & TRY THE 10 & 12 H.P.

HONGKONG HOTEL

GARAGE

Stubbe Road.

Tel. 27778-9.

KAIPING COAL

HOME,

FACTORY

AND

BUNKERS

FOR ALL PURPOSES

POWER

HOUSE,

TUGS &

LOCOS

THE KAILAN MINING ADMINISTRATION

Agents:

Head Office: · TIENTSIN,

·DODWELL & CO., LTD., Hong Kong.