Could any admission be much more frank? M. Briand did not stop there, but continued his attack on the old conceptions of diplomacy and {national prestige. In fact, the most interesting part of hig speech was} his analysis of the spirit in which international gatherings should be conducted he may spirit or 'League appears tourney, and if, under the stimulus of heated' debates, or actuated by an excessive sense of ational pride. we come here an charh-Sur succeaten of prestige: then all pions to fight, eager to gal eri: spoilt. Victories of prestige are indeed Lat hollow! 'Think of the. Mavoe they have wrought in the past! Prestige Htimulates the imagination, aggravates clash interests, urges nations onto feverish demonstrations of national pride, and leads them to oppose. ey thole' own statesmen, who then the guiding rein of Teaton, the power of reaching moderate solutions. Under such "conditions it is. impossible for Statesmen to work la a spirit of con: Cilintion. They face' one another like wrestlers in the ring, with their countries eagerly looking' on and. wende {ing which will come out on top. That isthe spirit of ware ft ie. a. spirit Which must not exist, least of all. in this Assembly "Henceforth our path is one peace and progress. "We shall. win Teal greatness for our countries if "we induce them to lay aside their pride and persuade them' to sncrifee cereal ccf their own desires in' the interest, The cynic will doubtless sneer at} the words of M. Briand, while the superficial observer bubbles over ith ecstasies of optimism and d light. Tt ig certain that neither one nor the other is to be taken serian: ly, for the truth does not lie with either.
Time Will Tell It would be easy to toss the whole speech aside with the remark that any Frenchman has a born facility for saying the right thing at tae right time. No one knows better than the delegates here at Geneva that M. Briand is a diplomat of the olg school, and no one will be mare sceptical until he gives tangible evidence of the change of heart which he professes. Whether a diplomat can shift overnight from shrewd poli bargaining ts truly democratic cooperation is, to be sure, somewhat open to question. The French Foreign Minister will probably have opportunity before long of indicating the depth of his sincerity. But at least he has spoken, and to certain extent he is bound by his own words!
Who shall say that we have made no progress? Thirty years ago a (French Foreign Minister would never have dreamed of announcing such Principles, and even seven years ago ave had no world platform from which to do 20, Frank Jeonfession is always good for the soul, even though high-sounding resolves are Sometimes difficult to put into practice.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.