can so often find the wrong way of doing things is amply demonstrated bythe resolution it has adopted on the subject of the hostilities between China and Japan. That portion of the resolution which expresses sympathy for China in her present predicament cannot be criticised, except to state that it constitutes no valuable contribu-ion to the ultimate settlement of the dispute When, however, the Council continties in. its So resolution to state "The Council recalls that the use of toxic gas is condemned by International Law, and cannot fail to meet with the reprobation of the civilized world," it is on entirely different ground, and calls for the sever-fest criticism. For some reason or other which is mot at all clear, save, perhaps, that it is Another By-Election With the elevation of Mr. William Ormsby-Gore, Colonial Secretary, to the peerage follow-Ing the death of his father, Lord Harlech, another by-election will be necessary as well as a change in the Colonial Secretaryship, Of the two facts the frst is the more important, for While it Is easy for the Government to find a hew Colonial Secretary, it is not, apparently, Oulle s0 easy to fight a by-election successfully nowadays. Since Mr, Eden resigned from the Foreign OMice there have been three by-clec~ tions and in each instance the Government candidate has been defeated,—West Fulham, Ipswich and Lichfield. From the figures it would seem that in each instance the reverse that mot been due so much to the accession of strength by the opposition candidates as by 0 Feluctance to vote on the part of those who would normally be the supporters of the Gove ernment, and all this i {0 be attributed to the large amount of support which Me. den and the policy for which he stood are stil able to command. in. the country. Mr. Chamberlain already achieved much' in the understand which he has reached with Signor Mussolini, it he has not yet secured such striking. proof of the correctness of his policy as will turn present support for Ins Eden in his own direc tion, The British public is still suspicious of Mahan protestations: it requires {0 see words. translated into deeds, and until it has seen that there will not be that whole-hearted support for Mr. Chamberlain which be undoubtedly desires, He has plenty of time to go before the next general election comes round, and, by the time does, it is likely,—should he by that time have obtained proofs of the wisdom of his statecratt—that the National. Government will again be tetumed. If, by some unlucky reason, Mr, Eden's estimate of the European situation should have. been proved to be correct, then there is every possibility of the present government being defeated and Labour regaining power. It is one of those queer turns in interna tional' polities that the "ultimate fate of the present Government depends entirely upon the degree of good faith which the Italian Government shows in the implification of the present Anglo-Italian accord, More Moscow Trials So Moscow is preparing to stage another of {ts state trials, and this time the prisoners who have already' been arrested will be charged with having by their conduct "destroyed the reputation of Soviet justice," and with having made excessive application of the death sent fence. Amongst the accused is Krylonko, almost as relentless a judge as Vyshinsky Isa prosecutor. He, having hounded a large number of persons to their deaths through the farcteal trials of Moscow, is now to be subjected to the same process, and' apparently the work is {o be entrusted Vyshinsky. It will be interesting to watch Krylenko's reaction to the merciless prosecution of Vyshinsky, receiving a dose of that same medicine which he prescribed for others, while there will naturally' be some speculation as to how Vyshinsky himself will feel with the realization that he, in his term, may one day be found guilty of the same' offences as those alleged against the latest prisoners. 'The grave danger for any politician in Moscow arises from being too prominent, or even too enthusiastic the performance of his duty, and as Krylenko has risen to his fall, so also' may Vyshinsky. There has been much too much of the old cry of the Queen in "Alice in Wonderland" of "Of with their heads," and the men who have obeyed that injunction with the greatest eMelfeeney stand in grave danger of the same remark being sooner or later directed against them. The charge of having by their conduct "destroyed the reputation of Soviet Justice," will undoubtedly seem strange to foreign observers, so many of whom are convinced. that jet justice hus no reputation and could not, therefore, have it destroyed. Tt may be safely forecast that when the prisoners do stand their trial none of them will offer such a plea, unless they wish {o make perfectly sure of committing suicide. They will be fairly sure to die in any event, but the very obvious plea will undoubtedly contribute to the certainty of their end.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.