"Seek Justice, not Appeasement

A Reply to the Peace Council

Rev. Dr. M. Mulcahy, Catholic Students' Guild chaplain, was the chief speaker at the Guild's last meeting of the first term. He dealt mainly with the responsibility of Australia and New Zealand as outposts of Christian civilisation in the South-West Pacific and as a bridge between the West and Asia.

In passing, he referred to the "Appeasers," one of whom. Rev. F J. Harley, had spoken at V.U.C. before Easter, was reported at length in the last issue of "Salient." Dr. Mulcahy stressed the importance for the peacemaker of seeking Justice. "Seek for peace and all you get is appeasement. Seek for Justice—to have the rights of individuals and of nations respected—and you will get real peace.

"Of course, every international difference should be settled by negotiation, and not by force. So should every difference between individuals, between families, and so on. But the purpose behind such negotiations should be right. There might be a genuine desire to find a basis of agreement in some just and fair compromise. There might be, on the contrary, merely a desire to keep the other side talking, while the time gained was being put to use in consolidating strength. For that side, peace was merely a weapon. Such was the Kremlin's motive throughout the four-year negotiations period after World War II. That period ended with the balance of power quite altered in the Soviet favour . . ."

The speaker held that the only way to make sure of at least some sort of just bargain being struck now was some equality of power between the disputants, and that meant a solid front of [unclear: firmriess] from the West. Strong regional alliances, such as Nato and Anzus, were an aid to justice being achieved, and so, to peace. If they really desired peace, the "Peace Council People" should not be so constantly working to have the West weaken itself unconditionally. That was precisely what the Reds wanted. He hoped that the free world would take a positive stand, not with the flabby Peace Council plea of "cease-fire."' but in the truly Christian demand for "Justice"—Justice for individuals and for peoples, including free elections and the recognition of all personal, family and national rights. The pre-requisite of peace was the elimination of injustice everywhere, and that included the Soviet system, too, which was directly causing such overwhelming misery among the eight hundred millions now in its grip.

Dr. Mulcahy thought that unless the Peace Council gave up its appeasement tactics and took up the fight for justice everywhere, it revealed itself as just another fifth-column movement, and its Australian and New Zealand branches merely parts of that legion of fellow-travelers and undercover agents working industriously (up to last month under the direction of V. M. Petrov, from Canberra) to implement the Kremlin plan of softening up Australia and New Zealand for the advance of the Red Armies down the line of the Moscow-Sydney axis, which is the aim of Communist global strategy.