Abstract
THE correspondence columns of the leading lay journals have given ample evidence of the lively concern felt by thoughtful men everywhere as to the ultimate goal towards which Great Britain and France are striving through the present conflict. A noteworthy pronouncement in the form of a manifesto signed by no fewer than fifty-seven men of science, all of whom are fellows of the Royal Society, appears in the Manchester Guardian of October 13. The names of the signatories represent many branches of scientific investigation, but in the covering letter sent with the manifesto and signed by the Bishop of Birmingham, Sir Richard Gregory, Prof. Lancelot Hogben, Sir John Orr, Prof. A. J. Clark and Sir Peter Chalmers Mitchell, it is pointed out that they “do not claim to speak for their scientific colleagues as a body”. The manifesto points out that the “progress of science and its application to human well-being are threatened by the prevailing anarchy of international relations”, and states that a new international order, going far beyond the provisions of the Covenant of the League of Nations in its claims on individual States, should be set up when the war ends. All nations prepared to renounce war between themselves should be invited to unite under a federal Government, which would have power to use armed force against aggression, would control the raw materials of undeveloped territories in the possession of member States, and would undertake the education of backward communities without racial discrimination. Although experience of the League of Nations shows that these provisions are bristling with practical difficulties, there will be general agreement that a new world order based upon them would command the support of a considerable body of informed opinion.
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Peace Aims. Nature 144, 701 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/144701a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/144701a0