In the House of Commons on. Monday Mr. Ramsay MacDonald,
in a speech of great eloquence, asserted • that the time had come for the House to-insist on the Govern- ment pursuing-an unbroken and sleepless policy of peace— Part of which policy was, of course, the procuring of Disarmament.. Butthough _the Leader of the Opposition was eloquent and expressed an.almost universal'aspiration, he failed to suggest 'any -practical method of inducing the nations to disarm. Mr. Asquith, with. gravity .and power, pointed-out -that, disarmament. largelp depended4 on security. It could natrest on a mere paper stipulation. There.mustbe some sanction, some collectiveiand effective guarantee, to which recalcitrant and.unreasonable nations would be obliged to bowr Here-is the ernx of the whole matter. Can we find that sanction ? What is to be our - instrument for making effectual the decree that men shall:not, make war certain by preparing , for war? The answer is that we should make a pact among the nations that any resort to force of arms, without at least a year's notice, will be met by- making; the offending Stateian outlaw with whom the -whole of the rest-of-the world will holdsma.intercourse. Ekeommunication, .eom- mercial- and social, is a_potent weapon. - *
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