Feb. 12.
With all that is happening locally it is just possible that the Disarmament Conference will escape the attention of readers who have more than enough at their very doorsteps to engross their attention. But there have been early developments of which sight should not be lost. Not the least of these the proposal of France that a force should be formed to be at! the disposal of the League of Nations, to be contributed to by the various member purpose of applying of force to a code which at the present is to a very large extent inoperative. The present_situation in China is not the first in he history of the League where its rulings have lacked that degree of authority which only the possession of strength to back them up can_ possibly give, and while it is possible that even in this present Sino-Japanese imbroglio world opinion might eventually be made to tell, it becomes daily clearer that something more is wanted. This! France proposes to supply by' the formation of a potential army, her contribution to which she indicated when the subject Was broached at the Conference, The French proposal is that member nations should be prepared to supply either men or yj munitions or supplies for the purpose of giving the League of Nations a striking force with which its decisions may be enforced, as a means of producing that greater degree of security without which it is contended ithe nations represented at the Conference will be unable to proceed to that further disarm moment which is so earnestly desired, It has been' one of the reproaches levelled against the Teague of Nations that it unable to enforce its decisions; that public opinion is not always enough to place an_ effective restraint on nations or a nation' which desires to go to war: that! the world has not sufficiently advanced to be completely responsive to idealistic correetion when its constituents are! bounded by realities. It is no exaggeration to say that the rge_ is no further that section of which needs the sanctions of the law behind the prohibition of murder; for it a matter for sad reflection that! a large proportion of humanity' is restrained from felonious p: homicide, mot because it wrong per se, but because the present state of the law provides for vindication which takes upon. itself the nature of vengeance. The establishment of a fighting force to be at the disposal of the League is no better than saying, it shall have the power to wage war to prevent hostilities, and it necessarily follows that in order be as certain in-its operation ised system for the League would have to be equipped with forces sufficient to deal with the most powerful of delinquents, to be able to restrain' ithe ferocity of a giant as to intimidate a_ pygmy. It is! obvious that if the League were endowed with a fighting force fand in the attempt to carry out the dictates of the League that force were annihilated, the League would be smashed and its authority set at naught; for} leven if the nations of the world were prepared to make original contributions to such an army it is inconceivable that any] government would continue to foot the bill for reinforcements. iit is further believable that any government, which sought to go further in "such a matter than its original commitments, would Ihave short shrift at the hands of the electors... "International patriotism" to the astonishment lor, even, the dismay of few, has not yet reached that high pitch which would make the sacrifices more readily made to the less' expansive spirit, 'A more interesting side to the question arises from the fact that the means already placed fat the disposal of the League for the enforcement of its de-Jeisions have not been employed. There is reason to believe that application of certain [Articles calling for sanctions of non-military. character would be just as difficult, as those suggested by the French proposal. Obviously if the nations Twill not resort to economic and financial boycotts for the purpose of chastising a recaleitcant member because of the danger fof trade losses, it is leas likely that they will adopt ures, the consequences of whi Jestimable not only in terms of money but in life. It is clear, therefore, particularly from Jexamples, vivid enough at this moment, that the vations of the world are not prepared to follow the principle of flat justitia mat coetum for the beautiful eyes of the League. Public opinion has not yet reached that transcendental quality which would Jenconrage national immolation for the good of the world at large, aid for this and similar reasons it is more than a little possible that the proposal put forward on behalf of France will not be successful. Its repercussion is all the more regrettable for, if the League fails to provide that degree of security which France demands, the latter will take steps to secure ft for herself and the old evil of competitive armaments will continue. The proposal is Methods already pro-have not been applied. Until they have, and have failed, the construction of a war machine to prevent war is not likely to appeal to the world at large.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.