Common Men and Peace The Peace Conference organised by Lord
Cecil and M. Pierre Cot, Air Minister in M. Blum's. Cabinet, at Brussels last week was by no means a negligible event, though little attention was paid to it by British daily papers. The attendance was large, and included a.detach- merit of six hundred from this country, the trade union element being prominent. The purpose of the conference was broadly to reaffirm the obligations of the:League of Nations Covenant, and an international organisation to that end is to be set up. It is difficult to estimate the probable value of that, but Lord Cecil's faith in his Peace Ballot was 'so remarkably justified by resulta"that his new project must command considerable respect. The passionate desire of common men for peace is universal, but peace is almost fatally menaced 'by the Willingness of common men in various European countries to acquiesce in policies that must inevitably plunge the world in war. That is the problem every peace Movement has to faCe, and the weakness of 'the BrUssels Conferenee, notable as the conferenee was, is that it repreSented so largely Left opinion. As Lord Lytton Obkrved at the closing meeting, where peaceis concerned there should be no difference between Right and Left. There is no reason on earth why the organisation of peace should be regarded as a prerogative of the Left.
Previous page
