Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-15
GENEVA A BATTLE-GROUND
OF PICKERING NATIONS
Statesmen Continue CIasIning Over Yer
cailles Boundaries-Impatient Peoples
Looking to League to Construct Peace.

/ peace actually made was rejected by
the losers of the war as unjust. Thence
! forward the League was inevitably con-
demned to be for the losers a means
of obtaining revision of the peace
treaties and for the winners an instru-
ment to preserve the Status quo Of the
treaties.
German Revision Aims.
The difficulty was not felt in the first
year of the League. when the Germans
were not yet members. It was not
even felt seriously after German en-
trance following the Locarno pacts,
because Stresemann confined his efforts
to accomplishing various things, like the
Fastening of the evacuation of German
territory and the modification of the
Dawes plan.
When. however, evacuation had been
accomplished. the Dawes plan modified
and the temporary handicaHS Of defeat
removed Germany. at last recovering
her freedom, turned to Geneva to &C
compliSh the modification of the treaty,
permanent circumstances of the treaty,
above all the revision of the territorial
clauses of the Treaty of Versailles as
they affect the eastern frontiers Of the
Reich. And Hungary, Bulgaria and
Lithuania for similar reasons followed
the German lead.
Against any such move, however, the
Germans found the French, backed by
the Poles, CZechs, Rumanians and
JugoSlavs. standing firmly at Geneva.
And in the face of such opposition it
was impossible to bring the question up.
In the matter of ornaments, on the con-
trary, the issue was pending and Ger
many sought to obtain through the
disarmament conference either the re-
duction of the ornaments Of her neigh
bors or the cancellation of the clauses
of the peace treaty that set limit to
her own military and naval establish
ments.
But here, again, she found the same
powers opposed this time measurably
backed by Great Britain. The result
of the double disappointment was that
there grew up a strong demand in Ger
many for Withdrawal from the League,
and in the Foreign Relations Commit
tee of the Reichstag a resolution for
withdrawal was recently defeated by
the vote of 13 to II; that Is. the
change of one vote would probably have
led to parliamentary majority for
withdrawal.
Postponed Until 1882.
AS it stands the issue has been post
poned until the Disarmament Confer
ence Of 1892, but all my German
friends of all parties and ranks are
unanimous in forecasting that If Ger
many does not get her way as to dis
armament-namely, proportionate re-
duction by her neighbors or equality
in ornaments for herself-she will go
out next year.
All signs point therefore TO a dead
lcck in the conference, following a
battle in which disarmament will nom
inally be the subject under discussion,
but relative positions and prestiges
will be actually involved. And for the
League it is clear that such deadlock,
followed not improbably by the with
drawal Of one and even of several ma
tons, will prove disaster Of the first
magnitude. Here is the fundamental
reason for the present demand for an
American presiding officer-and Chief
Justice Hughes is most favored today
An admirable mechanism for pre-
serving peace. once it has been estab-
lished through the voluntary acceptance
of peoples, the League has as yet de-
veloped no resources as a constructive
agency for creating peace. But moth
ing is clearer in the Europe of today
than the fact that while no people
wants a war, there are at least hun
bred million of people who believe the
existing circumstances, territorial and
otherwise, insure a new conflict. while
an equal number are satisfied that an
attempt to change spells war.
Place of Collision.
More and more the collision between
these views is coming to dominate all
else in Europe, as it has now arrived
at Transforming Geneva from a home
Of tranquility TO a place Of collision.
Meantime at home, in all the countries
at odds, the publics are beginning to
lose confidence in the League either
because they resent its failure to pro-
duce a change or are indignant over
the possibility that it may undertake
such change.
In a word, Europe has not yet made
peace Actual war is out of the ques-
ton now, and probably for some years.
But by every other means save arms,
European states and peoples are quar-
reling over armament and territorial
questions and these quarrels, transferred
TO Geneva, are doing the League an in
calculable amount Of damage. Today
alike in council and assembly, represent
atives of opposing theses get together
and try to score of each other and help
themselves at home. Obviously the
fault is not League but European,
but it is the League that Is now pay
ing for the broken windows Of reckless
statesmen.
(Copyrirht. 1917