Evening star., 1926-09-26
BY FRANK SIMONDS.

- ENEVA.-"Now, what Of the future of
the League? The effect within and
L without Of German entrance?" This
is the single question which rose on
all lips when the dramatic and slightly over
emottonalzed moment of Brands welcome to
Stresemann had passed. I put the question
squarely to one of the most distinguished fig
ures In the whole history of the League, and
his reply was little startling.
He said: Last March I told tou that the
League was at full crisis. The crisis has not
been resolved 1t continues; perhaps it is
little aggravated. You tell me that you have
an impression that the League has submitted
to an internal shock totally different from the
outside success which has momentariy caught
attention I agree. The. small nations have
suffered profound shock. The League itself
has lost not a little of Its democratic character;
it has become more like a concert of Europe
than like the original conception.
II Will 60 farther and say that, in my judg-
ment. the heroic period Of the League is over.
BY that mean the period in which the small
powers played great roles and representatives
Of the small powers strove rather to be Euro
pean than nationalistic That time is over.
Brantng is dead Benes Is going: Spain, which
played a very real role, has retired. In my
opinion. the League is destined to enter
period Of real decline.
Today one knows what has happened. All
waiting; all not little anxious. The
coming OF Ictfn1nN mas nfought with II n
shock to everything. I mean sense OF
change. We are going to the national
game here played very intensively. But no
knows what combinations will come. Yes
terday perhaps today, italian feelings We're
very bitter toward Germany but 1t may al
ready have changed overnight; it may change
instantly. For myself believe the League will
regain much 1t Is now bound to lose. am
not pessimist. but I do see change, a de-
cline for the next few years In A sense. as |
have said the passing Of heroic period"
I talked with some most distinguished Ger
man representatives. One of them said to me:
Before we came here found main OBJ
lection that the great powers exercised con-
trolling influence over the snall-that In real
ity the small powers were more or less servants
Of the large but. coming here. first i'm
preston Is more strongly confirmed than
we expected. We had hope that the League
was a democratic institution made up Of great
powers and small which were independent but
shall I say to you that first impression
confirms our fears rather than our hopes?'
Moreover. following the first sentimental
stage nothing Is more significant than the in
stant reaction Of pessimism both In French
and German quarters, the rather abrupt reall-
zatjon that all the kind words left everything
lust where 1t was-that now ealities had to he
dealt with by a system of rather sotN1d har-
gainings To the German the presence or
French armies Of occupation on German soil
after Iocarno and Geneva seemed a thing at
once unnecessary and to give a character or
hvpoc,1sv to Brands fervid words. To the
Frenchman the immediate opening Of this Quee
ton appeared no more than evidence that Ger
MANY had come into the League only to seek
to destroy agreements and peace treaties unner
more favorable circumstances. Both French