Northern Weekly Gazette. — 1915-05-29 (Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland, England)

PEACE TERMS.  -Sir,—When sooner or later a Congress is COll vened to settle the conditions of peace, it, will be 1. confronted by problems and difficulties more complex than usual on Such occasions.* Apart from the claohing of interests as between the Allies, compensation, indemnities, etc., there will be the declared endeavour to prevent all and any European wars in the future, the delimitation and settlement of new states according to race and nationality, and lastly the knowledge that with Germany and Austria (populations of 90,000,000) solemn treatiee are no longer effective, being now regarded by them as so much waste paper. We know how Prussia In 1809 secretly evaded Napoleon's imposed Limitation of her army to 30,000 men by devising her present system of universal military training, thus compelling all Continental Europe to become an armed camp, and it now rests with Europe to provide by persuasion, pressure, or force, for the complete and permanent de-nrildtarisa don of the Aggressor Countries, which should, on the attic:- hand, be jointly and effectively guaranteed from the risk of attack from the outside.  The true solution lies in the forming of a stan.ding international Gendarmerie, a peace force under a single corailland, and recruited from the allied and neutral countries, whose sole mandate it ahall be to patrol the Aggressor States, and there to  -(1) Disallow the resumption of armaments in in a,ny form, and i 2) While in no way interfering with the internal politics of the guaranteed countr:es, to a.seist their tooal police, When celled upon, and when sanctione(l by the Conunission (see below) in protect Mg life and property from destruction. . _  appointn-letit of -commander, officers, and recruits for this peace constabulary, and the code of instructions directing them, would be in the hands of an imerliational coinmiseion, every measure. being taken to establish discipline and esprit de corps in the force. Failing such a permanent force it is self-evident that history will repeat itself; preparations for a War of rexanche will forthwith be recommenced, and all our fearful sacrifices will have been in vain.  This anti, of course, the evacuation of the invaded territories, should now be openly proclaimed by the Alii&t . as the first and the second of the peace conditions which will be demanded by them, outweighing as they would in permanent value all of the punitive and retaliative claims and penalties it may be attempted to impose. Relgitun, Alsace Loraine, the new Poland. Constantinople, and the sorely afflicted Balkan. States, might with erachr: mons advantage voluntarily adopt the same peacefut regime safeguarded by the same guarazetee,e Can any alternative form of peace settlement be suggested that would be effective and permanent? There would 6.011 remain one standing danger to peace, but with the disappearance of the vokda monopoly in R!essia. and the coneequent improvement in the mental and physical standard of its population we may look forward with confidence to the advent of constitutionalism, and to an abatein.nt of its over Ingh birth-rate, that eonataht ineraee to Western Europe. Milian the other European States shall one by one deem it advantageous to adopt. for themselves the same po!icing regime, the earite disarmament, and the same guarantees; and when. aitee a definite (neither of years, subjects of the present Aggreeecir States shall have been admitted to the international force, these States, gradually recovering from their present fit of murderoue and predatory madness!, wouhl, before half a century was passed, certee to entertain. any senseo galling lnuniliation.. And when the system Shall have been adopted generally, a cri.ck and Nvell-paid Constabulary of 11, million strength would be substituted for the pre.iect al:pament chaos, whieh wastes the early years of nearly e.:x million European conscripts, and costs over £400,000,000 annually in money. It would be disastrous to Europe if, at the end of the present struggle, the allies in war should cease to be allies in peace, and their forces permitted to .sepa.rate to their respective countries, there to re-commence the fatal process of coinpetlion in armaments one against the other. Rather let their troops unite and become the nucleus of a joint armainent-preventing and peace-preserving Gendenteerie.—Yours, etc., A.B.M.  Speech is to thought what gold is to the diiuioud. It i‘ needed as a Set ting , but toil;s: a little le required.-I'oltaile.