Welsh Journals

different ways in which men think it might be attained, could be discussed. It will not be easy, we all say, for the nations to find the true path to this' great good and there are many perilous bye-ways. But the Press usually finds inspiration in difficulties; and wisdom issues from colliding views. That the question bristles with difficulties for statesmen and international lawyers" is quite true; but, so far, the public Press has not been conspicuously ready to trust experts." If, in this case, it puts on the new garb of reticent modesty, it will not be from a habitual reluctance to step in where angels fear to tread," but for some less charming reason. WHY AN ASSOCIATION IS NECESSARY. By Major David Davies, M.P. Every Citizen affected by Foreign Affairs. ONE lesson which we ought to have learnt during the war is that every citizen in this country is personally affected by the conduct of our foreign affairs. By foreign affairs I mean the relationships which exist between the British people and the peoples of other countries. Before the war we used to regard foreign affairs as a special sub- ject to be dealt with by the expert officials' of the Foreign Office. Ordinary people were not expected to know any- thing about these matters. They were wrapped up in mystery and silence. Most members of Parliament did not bother their heads about these questions, and the empty benches in the House when the Foreign Office Vote was under discussion is a proof of this assertion. In fact, most members were so immersed in domestic politics that they had scarcely a thought for the graver issues which concerned our foreign policy. The sudden outbreak of war came as a rude awakening. The ordinary citizen found himself irresistibly impelled to go to the assistance of a small and helpless nation. The brutal invasion, of Belgium left him no choice in the matter. Compara- tively few people realised at that moment that not only was the existence of Belgium in peril, but that also the freedom of this country was at stake. Had it not been for the flagrant and cynical disregard of treaties and of national sentiment displayed by the Prussian Bureaucracy, it is doubtful whether we should have been alive to our own danger. Any Gain for Past Losses? Four years have passed by since then. Year after year our manhood' has passed through Hell. Hundreds of thousands of our bravest and best have given up their lives for the cause of liberty and right. Thousands of others have returned home maimed and disabled. In fac- tory and workshop men have toiled day in and day out to Provide the munitions of war for their kinsmen at the front, Women have shouldered the tasks of men they The Duty to Enforce Peace by the Ways of Peace, and to Co-operate with our Army and Navy-NOW. But why should I linger longer? Will not the Press take this matter up with new energy, and resolve that it will not stand under the responsibility of leaving the public mind uninterested and uninformed, or its will too slack to enforce peace by the ways of peace, even as our suffering and slaughtered youths are striving to enforce it on the fields of blood it is delay that brings danger it is delay that the wise fear. We must form the League of Nations now. have gone into the fields and factories: they have dis- played a patriotism which before the war would never have been dreamed of. For all this sacrifice is there to be any positive gain? Is civilization to be advanced, or is it to be retarded Have we learnt any lesson during the crisis of our fate? Are we determined that out of this great misery and bloodshed humanity is to reap the fruits- of victory? This is the question I address to those who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. How are they going to ensure that, so far as it is humanly possible, the institution of war as a method of settling disputes between the- peoples of the world is to be scrapped? How is militarism to be completely over- thrown in every quarter of the globe? How are we to endure to the end until the German people have been per- suaded or compelled to disown the Prussian system, which has landed them and the other nations in this cataclysm. How is the world to be made safe for the unfettered devel- opment of free peoples who believe in and practise the system of representative government? These are ques- tions which every honest citizen, every true patriot, cannot afford to leave unanswered. He must make it his business to understand the problems concerning his relationship with other peoples. He owes it to his children, he owes it to his- country, he owes it to civilisation, he owes it to humanity, he owes it to religion, that he will use his poli- tical power to ensure that war as an institution is finally abolished from off the face of God's earth. How can this be accomplished? The Peoples must Save Themselves. I venture to say that the only hope of salvation must come from the people of all the Allied countries. The peoples must save themselves. In the words of Viscount Grey, they must learn or perish. Let them not put their trust in expert diplomatists let them not lean upon the lawyers; let them not listen to the dicta of those generals-