Towards an enduring peace : $b A symposium of peace proposals and programs 1914-1916
History
Towards an enduring peace : $b A symposium of peace proposals and programs 1914-1916
Peace; World War, 1914-1918 -- Peace
Disputes arising from these economic causes are even deeper seated and
more dangerous than those connected with the claims of nationality and
autonomy. Indeed, political autonomy is shorn of most of its value
unless it is accompanied by a large measure of economic liberty as
regards commercial relations with the outside world. The case of Serbia,
liable at any moment to be denied access to the sea, or to be cut off
by Austria from her chief land markets, is a case in point. Or once
again, would the autonomy of such a country as Hungary, Bohemia, or
Poland, however valid its political guarantees, satisfy the legitimate
aspirations of its population if high tariff-walls encompassed it on
every frontier? Such instances make it evident that no settlement of “the
map of Europe” on lines of nationality can suffice to establish peace.
The effective liberty of every people demands freedom of commercial
intercourse with other peoples. A refusal or a hindrance of such
intercourse deprives a people of its fair share of the common fruits of
the earth, and deprives the other peoples of the world of any special
fruits which it is able to contribute to the common stock.
If any international Government existed, representing the commonwealth of
nations, it would seek to remove all commercial restrictions which impair
the freedom of economic intercourse between nations.
These restrictions are placed by the Reform Club Memorandum under the
four following categories:—
First. There is the restriction of tariffs imposed by nations.
Second. There are restrictions upon the best uses of
International commerce, of the terminal and land transfer
facilities of the great trade routes and seaports of the
world. A few such ports command entrance to and exit from vast
continental hinterlands. It is vital to these interior regions
that their natural communications with the outside world should
be kept widely open, and this is equally vital to the rest of
the world. Obstructive control of such ports and routes to the
detriment of the world’s commerce cannot and should not be
tolerated by states whose interests are adversely affected.
But routes and ports are needed for use, not government; and
port rivalries constantly tend towards offering the best and
equal facilities to all. The swelling tides of commerce are
clearing their own channels, and mutual interests will more and
more prompt the states through which the principal trade routes
pass to facilitate the movement of commerce.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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