Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-01
Macponald's Plan For Peace
Farley

forces of war in Europe will grow in
strength and fierceness, the disarma-
ment side Of the Leagues activities will
wither like an orchid left out in the
frost and nothing Britain can say will
induce France, the chief advocate of the
ornaments policy, to clip single Sene-
galese rifiemar, an old airplane or a
baby submarine of her war machine.
Foundation of Universal Peace.
For he conceives an Anglo-American
naval understanding serving as the basis
of a naval conference to which Japan,
France and Italy would be invited, as a
beginning only, a means to a large
end, the imposing foundation Of the
structure of universal peace in which
the Kellogg pact, the Locarno treaties.
the League and its covenant are each
a huge buttreSs-but even together not
the whole structure.
The complete Macdonald idea en-
visages an all-in disarmament treaty,
binding on every nation which possesses
q navy, an army or an air force, or all
three, of size which counts. This
treaty would limit navies, air forces and
land forces, including the number Of
conscripts to be called up year by year.
It would limit permanent stores Of
arms and munitions, and the equipment
of standing armies in the way of tanks,
guns, machine guns and the like. 1t
would prohibit the use Of bacteria and
gas in war (although some experts think
gas a more humane method of warfare
than high explosive shells and swatheS
of machine gun bullets; but Macdonald
is thinking of gas bombs dropped on
crowded cities).
He would have national and interna-
tional supervision of arms manufacture
and transport-the League already seeks
to control the international traffic in
arms-and national and international
supervision of the enforcement of all
limitations and prohibitions.
A large order; and yet not so large If
men could begin to think in terms of
peace instead of In terms of war Which
is why he insists that mental disarma-
ment Is the first thing to be achieved.
1t is the only point of agreement he has
with the late Marshal Foch. After
which, of course, they Immediately split
away again, the pacifist thinking that
the miracle of mental disarmament can
be achieved, while the soldier always
opined that such an idea was childish
folly.
Establishes Record as Pacifist.
1t does not do to forget at any point
UIlaC macdonald Is ana always mas peeH
a pacifist. But he is not on the luna
tic fringe. Nor is he still the passionate
man who made speeches for the fighting
Dutchmen during Britain's war with
South Africa Gloyd George did like
wise), and who in the dark days of the
great war urged the British workers
and soldiers not to fight. refused Lloyd
Georges invitation to take a seat as
Labor's representative in the war cabi-
net, spoke openly about his German
friends" and risked limb and even life
in his advocacy Of what was then called
defeatism.
He is a quick learner, and since the
war ended he has had many strange les
sons, and in recent years he has &C
quired much wisdom. He has gagged
the underlying strength of nationalism
in the kingdom which he and his group
now govern.
He knows what would happen to him
if he played the part of the undiluted
nternationalist he Is at heart. He knows
that for four centuries the navy founded
by Henry VIII has been the idol of the
British people and the guardian of their
interests and their liberties; and he
knows that on four separate and dis
tinct occasions this navy has saved the
island from invasion and the British
power from destruction.
He knows that he has to go about the
Continued on Fifth Page)