Evening star., 1926-09-05
League of Nations Is on Public Trial
In Session About to Begin in Geneva

| fed to such an extent that the Locarno
pacts have become unpopular or are
| in danger In Britain, one may say
| Justly that the demand for German
admission and the final consumma-
| ton of the Locarno settlement is just
as strong as ever.
AS to Italy, no one can be quite
sure. The Italians are hostile to the
league, they do not believe in 1t. they
suspect it as a possible means to be
employed by Britain and France in
blocking their hopes of ultimate ex-
pansion. They have. too, a continu-
| ing sense of bitterness toward Ger
many over the Upper Adige question
| and the firm resolve to block any
! union between Austria and Germany.
| Any development which lowered the
| prestige of the league would be popu-
lar in Italy. but on the other hand
| it is doubtful ii Mussolini would come
out into the open and force new
| failure at Geneva. What may be done
| behind the scenes is another matter
That France, Britain and Germany
are all agreed in desiring Germany
| in the league is not to be doubted and
there is not the smallest evidence to
justify the suspicion last Spring that
| French Influence was behind Brazil S
veto. With Brazil gone and Spain
absent it is not easy to see any new
veto among the remaining council
| members, who are Britain, France,
Italy. Belgium, Sweden, Czechosovakia
and Uruguay. One may suspect, too,
that, by contrast with last time, the
| situation has sheen we'll convassed in
advance.
Another FiascO Fatal.
A factor which makes for success
! this time is the universal recognition
| that a new fiasco would be of well
nigh fatal import for the league it
self and. whatever the various men,
ber nations, the great powers pri-
| marily, may think of the league pri-
| vately, their publics remain on the
whole, save in the Italian case, in
sistent' that the league experiment
| shall continue and would be highly
| critical of any failure of their repre-
Sentatives to support it.
Following the March failure, it was
universally acknowledged that the
league has suffered, had lost prestige
and would need some real success to
| restore it's position. The least pos
sible contribution to league prestige
would be sufficient preconvention
agreement to insure a smooth and
satisfactory session. And on the sur
| face this seems assured.
Another circumstance which makes
| for peace at Geneva Is the we'll nigh
universal concentration of national
attention upon national problems. In
| France 1t is the financial question: as
| it is in Belgium. In Britain 1t is an
economic crisis of enormous propor-
| tions. Germany faces an unemploy-
ment as great as British and an in
| dustrial depression almost as extern
sive. Italy is back on war bread as
one detail in meeting her own eco
| nomic and financial difficulties
Effect of BAD Session.
Failure in Geneva would not. of
course. have any immediate economic
| consequences, but it would certainly
add to the existing depression. It's
psychological effect within and with
| out Europe would be considered and
its American repercussions would be
serious. Here, again, is a sound rea-
son for expecting that the new ses-
sion will be quite different from the
previous spectacle and will have
brief and prosperous history.
OF course, II unforeseen quarrels
did arise and German admission
were again postponed it is hard to
believe that any German government
could again come to Geneva or risk
| Il third humiliation, then the whole
Locarno settlement would be put in
jeopardy and it would remain to drop
1t or seek In some way to preserve it
| without reference to the league. The
| powers concerned might amend the
! LOcarno pactS to exclude all reference