Evening star., 1926-04-02

GENEVA. April 1T lies beyond
the capacity OF any pen to describe
what were the days of turmoil. OF
ira gedy. of comedy. which separated
the beginning from the end of the
session of the Leag OF Nations al
Geneva. Secret diplomacy at its very
height never exceeded the activities
OF the great powers. The Big Four
and the Big Five at Paris were but
ma rdy pioneers by comparison with
the Big Four at Geneva.
From the beginning to the end
there was no such thing as league
in the American sense. There was no
body which. possessing authority Of
its own. speaking for the public
opinion of the world, could bring
pressure upon France or upon Ger
many to moderate their claims in the
interests of world peace. Instead.
there were the prime ministers of
the great powers directly affected,
who were also members of the coun-
ell, who talked. argued and acted. not
as members of the league. but as
Representative of their own countries
and as agents of the national policies
of each.
As for world opinion. which again in
theory was expected to act upon the
to make concessions. not only did 1t
not exist hut in Fra nee and Germany.
for example. the press and public
opinion passionately demanded of
their respective prime ministers that
they refuse all concessions on penalty
OF political extinction. At all times
Stresemann. Luther and BRAND were
vastly more reasonable than their
peoples and In more than one ca Sc
were checked in making concessions
they believed essential by home
conditions.
wish / could make perfectly clear
the real significance of these two
facts. In America there has been a
steady belief that the league is an in
stitution possessing authority OF it's
own. able to act upon rival nations
and influence quarreling nationalisms.
There has been tendency to think of
the league as an entity outside of the
foreign offices Of member nations.
But the outstanding fact has been
that members of the council from first
to la st have acted. not as members of q
league, but as representatives of their
nations. The league has never been
able to act: ii has not even existed as
a force duTins any time save the last
fatal moments when Brazil making
use Of the machinery of the league.
blocked the whole adjustment.
Thus the breakdown Of the lea que
has been utter and complete. This is
not the assertion Of its critics only; it
has been the sorrowful admission OF
it's friends. How many Germans for
example. have said to me that, having
for q long time fought within their
country press for German entrance
to the league. they now find them
selves utterly stupefied and helpless
in the presence OF reality. wholly un-
able to see how they could meet the
inevitable reaction in Germany itself.
The abortive solution reached in the
first crisis consisted simply in the
sacrifice of the small powers TO meet
necessities of the great. Because
France had promised Poland q seat in
the council and Germany had opposed
the creation of new seat, Sweden
and Czechosioyakia had to become vol
untary sacrifices to the necessities and
the prestige of the French and Ger
man cabinets. This ira nsa ction in it.
self is a total violation of every hit OF
justice er even 81 decency. and it will
have repercussions within the lea que
for an indefinite period Of time. or
course, 1t is an absurdity that one