Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-03
Editorial Digest
German Comment on Argentina's
Action.

0CtAV0s
The league of nations is taken seri-
ously in Germany. No doubt Germans
see in the league the one hope of get
ting out of the exclusive control of
the entente powers.
The following comment on the Ar
gentine withdrawal in the Frank
furter Zeitung is fairly typical.
when the committee of the league
of nations began it's work, we wrote
it would be as well not to be too opti-
mistic about it. 1t needed no very
great power of prophecy to see that
the deliberations in Geneva would not
yet fulfill all the hopes which are
connected with the idea of a league
of nations, for the league is suffering
from natural defects which can only
be done away with by decisive &C
ton. The behavior of the Argentine
seems to be the first signal for a gen
eral movement against the policy OF
the great powers which are hinderinG
the serious and important reforms.
The Argentine belongs to the states
which accepted the invitation to join
the league within the first two
months. consequently, according to the
rules. she has full right of member
ship. The fact of joining included the
acknowledgment of the statutes of
the league. which were made in Yer
sailles. But in practice this does not
mean that the statutes cannot be al
tered. On the contrary. the last ar
ticle determines especially that alter
atoms will have to be ratified by the
whole of the council and the ma
pority of the representative mem
bers of the league. The possibility of
a change is. therefore. provided for
''The resolute behavior of the Ar
gentine representative brings the
heart of the problem once more be-
fore the eyes of the world. The
of losing itself in the work of the
commission. These small details are
certainly necessary. But they must
not lead to secret diplomacy where
no one dares to step forward for fear
of slipping down. 1t might be feared
means of compromise. The Argen-
tine has now called the attention of
the general public, from whom alone
fresh breath of air can be expect
ed. The question about changing the
statutes has been asked. This will,
however. not be settled at the pres
ent sitting of the assembly. but it
must take the first and most i'm
portant place in the next meeting.
It will be matter for the people
to see that the interests of the great
powers do not again put it in the
background. The league of nations
suffered from the beginning from the
fact that all new members. conse-
quently all neutrals. had accepted
as BASH the statutes of Versailles
states were convinced that to save
the idea of the league of nations
they must agree with the one-sided-
ness and defects Of the statutes and
await its perfection. This idea Is
doubtless right because it makes al
lowances for the needs of practical
policy. For that, also has been proved
in Geneva-that no agreement would
ever have been possible if the stat
utes had only been made there. The
Versailles fragment in any case forms
base on which to build up the
statutes. The misfortune is that this
basis forms a part Of the Versailles
treaty"
The Morgenpost of Berlin takes
much the same view, and even more
forcefully:
Argentine is the most considerable
and economically the most important
Of the South American states and
was the only one of all the neigh
boring states which did not take part
great moral Importance. The Argen.
tine showed from the beginning that
it, saw in the league of nations a
possibility Of making war impossible
in the future, but only If the league
developed in the direction of making
real peace. and not merely division
of power in the world. The retire
ment of this state from the league
is the greatest proof Of the inef-
fciency of this institution, which was
greeted with so much hope. 1t is a
proof of it's utter worthlessness. for
now nearly the whole of the Ameri-
do with it. It is scarcely possible
still to speak Of society of ma
tions. especially when the largest
states in Europe, Germany and Rus
STA are also not included.
1.-THE near future will show whether
the Argentine will really retire from
will be patched up. but in any case
a decision will have to be made
whether the society Of nations Is to
be real league or not"