As President of the Norwegian Storting, as heir to Nansen's
love for the League, and as the disciple at least of Bjornson in his sympathy for the historic oppressed peoples of Central Europe, Mr. Hambro n well qualified to expound what he terms " a striking agreement of opinion on a number of points among those who have made publicly known their ideas about the peace to come." Three concern procedure—the need for a transition period between the war and the peace, for an occupation of the totalitarian countries by the forces of the United Nations, and for conferences of experts to pre- pare the ground thoroughly before the codifying Peace Conference. The fourth point (less clearly expressed) is that there shall be no reparations, but only " what restitution is possible for wanton de- struction of property." There are two territorial provisions, for a general re-establishment of national boundaries, and for an inter- national mandates commission and colonial office. Lastly, Mr. Hambro discerns " a very strong feeling in favour of some system of enforced adjudication of international disputes and a strengthening of Article 19 of the League Covenant. So short a summary may give a false impression of dogmatism, whereas the author's long stay in America has, in fact, made him increasingly critical of panaceas— witness his penultimate chapter on: "What no peace conference can do."
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