national aspirations, in favour of a general world-wide well- being.
To deal with his contentions : I quite agree with him as to the value of allies on occasions ; in fact, our Prussian allies at Waterloo, with Blucher at their head, had more to do with our victory over Napoleon than is usually allowed in English history books. Still, the fact remains that the possession of allies proved the " Achilles heel " of the German cause in 1918, and the cracking of Turkey, followed by Bulgaria and Austria, forced the senior partner to realize " the game was up."
My contention is that, although the idea of an international police force is excellent in theory, it is unlikely to succeed in practice. I cannot picture the German contingent firing on " Sons of the Fatherland " should trouble arise over the treatment of Germans, by Poles, in Silesia—nor should I care to vouch for the behaviour of the French contingent, if determined action by the " Nazis " called forth the conviction that La Pattie was being betrayed. These are, of course, hypothetical conditions. We have a very good example of this sort much nearer home. In 1914, when it became clear that armed action was contemplated over Home Rule, a number of Army officers at the Curragh resigned, rather than order their men to fire on loyal Ulstermen ; and I can assure Captain Powell that equally strong feeling existed in the Royal Navy. The matter was dropped. If this could happen when the deciding authority was the properly constituted Government of this country, how much less likely are national feelings to be put aside at the behest of a heterogeneous committee, which, after all, is how the League of Nations might easily be described by people whose tempers were aroused ?
I will not yield an inch to 'Captain Powell as far as his sincere hopes and wishes are concerned. Any man who served in " Gallipoli " in 1915 has probably had enough of the " horrors of war " ; but I still maintain that, as human nature is at present, an international police force is not within the bounds of practical politics.—I am, Sir, &c.,
R. N. WHITE, Tower House, Southsea.. Major, Royal Marines (retired).
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