GREAT BRITAIN . . . . . . . . . SUPPORTED 307
The Independent Labour Party feels that he ought to have been dealt with long ago by the Powers who have now come forward to oppose him.
By their being ready to buy peace from Germany by sacrificing the life and liberty of smaller and weaker nations a great deal of the moral basis of this Call to Arms is lost.
The Independent Labour Party feels that wars are fought without and sincere desire to establish peace on just and lasting terms and to preserve the terms of peace from being trampled upon after it is made.
Three Essential Conditions
Great Britain and France never realized that while collective security is good it is not enough. In the 1914 war, there was nothing wanting in collective security. There was a great array of nations out to put down the aggressor and the aggressor was put down. But the aggressor rose again from his grave and is now on the top of every body.
This shows that mere victory is not enough to put down the aggressor. The Independent Labour Party feels that certain other precautions such as the following must be taken if war is to result in a lasting peace.
First:—Victory must result in a peace which is just.
Second :—Peace must be protected by collective action.
Third:—The Protagonists of peace must be prepared to vindicate any breach of the peace no matter where it occurs, near or far and no matter who is the victim of it.
Without these precautions it is not possible to put an end to war. Indeed, the Independent Labour Party is so strongly impressed by these considerations that it feels that as a preliminary step the Allies should forthwith establish a Council of the representatives of nations who are ready to fight on their side to determine the terms of peace and announce them to the world so that they may be known to all and also to the German people.
Nothing in the opinion of the Independent Labour Party can convince the world better of the justice of the Allies’ cause than such an announcement. It will assure every one that the Allies’