July 6.
Uncertainty and disillusionment are betrayed by the raggedness of the by-play at Geneva. Unseemly demonstrations in the press gallery have been followed by tragedy and an indecorous interchange of com-piiments' between actual particupants in the League's proceedings and those who, by parliamentary tradition, are invisible to the assemblage itself. When it is reported that, besides the press, the spectators in the galleries permitted themselves to indulge in vocal demonstrations, it is obvious that the League's officials would do well to consider the speedy reform of regulations governing the conduct of those who—to use the language of—Westminster—are behind the Speaker's Chair and, therefore, without the cognizance of the House. These ebullitions are, of course, symptomatic of the League's mood of failure. The Assembly hag lifted "sanctions" and relieved the League of a dangerous burden. It has _sidetracked the Ethiopian request for Joan and, to make matters even, avoided explicit recognition of! Italy's annexation. Steps have been taken to keep reinforcement of the Covenant's provisions on the agenda of the League and there is general feeling that the lessons} of the Inst few years must be applied to some radical reform of the system by which the Covenant is made to work. The failure of the League's members to act according to the principles of that] Covenant has culminated in disaster which has enabled aggression to score 2 definite triumph. The breakdown is so complete that the: pretence that the League, in present. conditions, can be moved in defence. of some fresh victim of aggression' will hardly be entertained by any' competent observer. Yet before: the members can proceed to the! actual task of deciding. the right, method of approach to recon struction of the League itself, other and more urgent issues have to be tackled, Both the British and the French Governments seem to be agreed that the League must be mended not ended. Indeed it is difficult to look upon the present tragic restiveness of a rearmed and rearming world without realizing the imperative necessity of maintaining some organization which can offer a reasonable scope for international discussion leading ' to eventual consolidation of peace. The paradox of the situation is revealed in the fact that, before any move can be made toward a real rehabilitation of the League, each individual nation has to devote its energy to the strengthening of its defences. Great Britain is deeply concerned with that problem. Her Tong-maintained reluctance rearm has brought her to a position which has partly contributed to the League's recent fiasco and to the complexity of the European problem, Before the reform of the League can be seriously taken in hand it seems desirable that the defections from+the League should be repaired, if in any way possible, The permanent members. of the Council of the League in 1034 France, Germany, Great]
Moly, Japan. Germany and Japan have withdrawn. The USSR. has been elected a permanent member. The Council thus has four permanent members instead of five, but in the last year the League has narrowly run the! isk of losing another permanent Germany and Japan, Therein is clearly indicated the weakness which assails it.
It docs not require much study of the international situation" to arrive at the conclusion that, apart from the non-membership of the United States of America, the absence of Germany and Japan from the League, radically diminishes the significance of decisions taken under its auspices. If the struggle with Italy within the framework of the Covenant had ended in favour of the League, then a renewal of relations with the former members might have been regarded as an carly pos sibility. M. van Zeeland graphically defined the League's dilemma: in "closing" the Italo-Ethiopian issue it may abandon hope of preserving world-peace; it might ignore the failure and persist in the arid attempt to wield an__ empty authority.
Mr. Anthony Eden, as Leon Blum, has shown ter error will not be committed; indeed the lifting of sanctions determines that point. The declarations firmly made by the representatives of France and Great Britain show that there is no present intention to commit the other folly of abandoning all hope of recovery of the League equllibrim. It is obvious that much depends on the attitude of Italy, still within, and Germany, without, the League. Conflicting impressions emerge from recent statements in Rome, Nor is it at all clear that Italy's resumption of ce-operation in the settlement of European problems will carry the same authority as before the fatal defiance of the Covenant las autumn, Germany's attitude obscure, giving rise to renewed anxiety and by no means encouraging to hopes of an early solution of the issues between her and the two great Western powers, The internal conditions which face the new French Government prevent excessive confidence in the ability of M, Blum's administration to give full attention to foreign affairs, The British Government is als undergoing certain processes. of change to which the reactions of the country at large have not yet entirely declared themselves, An acute difference of opinion on the removal of the sanctions, an intense resentment—against. Italy and a growing impatience at the slowness of the German response to the British questionnaire are all factors in British public opinion of which Mr. Stanley Baldwin has to ake due "note. Great Britain is sadly disillusioned, but in no way Gisposed to be outwitted or over= borne. Yet it is not easy to decide in what form this attitude will find coherent expression. In the light of Mr. Baldwin's known opinions it is probable that British foreign policy will now concentrate on consolidating relations with France with the firm intention to make a special effort to include Germany in the understanding, and thereby bring Germany back to the League, Mu, Wang Keh-min, former acting rman of the now defunct Pel-ping Political Affairs Readjustment Committee, "arrived in Nanking on July 4 and is proceeding to. Peling to assume his ofice as Chalrman of the Economic Affairs Committee of the Political Council, Whiy suffer the ex.
cruciating pain of when a few of GETS-IT bring instant relief. Afewdays later the corn will peel off and your corn.
troubles are
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.