Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-22
LEAGUE AND KELLOGG PACT
FUTTLITY SHOWN in ASIA
Supposed New Spirit on Which They
Were Based Is Revealed to Be Non
Existent i'm Crisis i'm Manchuria.

IN DISAGREEMENT Inc Assumption OF
q world opinion with moral force has
been clearly demonstrated to have been
unfounded. Thus the Sino-Japanese
episode throws us straight back upon
the conditions which existed in July,
| 1914, when another single crisis led
to the World War.
This retrogresSion comes, too, at the
precise moment when the world Is
talking about a disarmament confer
ence. 1t is obvious that, since all dis
armament must be based upon conf
| dence. upon the conviction that there
is no danger of war, the Sino-Japanese
affair in the British phrase, puts the
lid on" all disarmament discussion.
The nations in Europe-France, Po-
land, Czechoslovakia. Jugoslavia, Ru-
mania-who feel their security or in
tegrity is menaced by German, Aus
TRAN and Hungarian programs of
treaty revision, must necessarily see in
the ASiatic incidents q flaming warn
ing for European attention.
Advocate World Police.
It has been the contention Of France
| and her allies that both the Kellogg
pact and the covenant Of the League
were, In themselves, no more than
pious resolutions: that to be effective
these resolutions had to have behind
them the solid force Of guarantees.
They have commended that the first
step in effective organization of peace
must be the creation Of an interna-
tional police force. Ever since the
Paris Peace Conference they have been
trying to persuade the Anglo-Saxon
peoples to agree to join them in action
against any future aggressor.
The Anglo-Saxon nations, on the
other haoY1 In r
ing that it was morally wrong and
physically impossible to preserve peace
by agreements to make war against any
nation resorting to violence. The
American Senate refused. to ratify the
treaty of Versailles because of the COM
mitmentS Of the covenant. The British
refused to accept the Geneva protocol
for the same reason. Both countries
have looked with unconcealed disap-
prevail at the system Of alliances which
France has constructed to insure force
to maintain the Paris settlement.
Evan casual reading Of the current
French press discloses the "I told you
so" spirit in all the comment. The
failure Of the League to rally world
support to any movement of economic
coercion, the failure of world opinion
to act as moral coercion, these two
circumstances have combined to give
French opinion an enormous reinforce
ment.
Face Armed Aid Demand.
And that means in simple terms that
when the American delegation goes to
the disarmament conference in Febru-
airy, carrying with it the President s
policy, which Is arms reduction, it IS
going to be met by demands for far
more complete commitment than ever
before. We shall not be asked merely
to promise to come and talk it over II
there is European crisis, but to come
and help with force to straighten 1t
out.
Not since its birth has the League
suffered so great blow es through this
Manchurian episode. Its moral au-
thority has been almost totally wrecked
and it had nothing but moral au-
thority. AS to the Kellogg pact, Eu-
rope never took that very seriously
beyond recognizing the fact that it
between the League powers and the
United States Now this cooperation
has taken place, with no real results.
With this disaster to its prestige dis
closed to the whole world, the League
Is faced with the hardly less dangerous
test Of o disarmament conference.
Moreover, events in Asia have fortified
the play Of all the states which wish
to give the League the character Of an
alliance and the mission to maintain
the existing order. Thus the disarma-
ment conference is bound TO constitute
not only crisis in the political situa-
ton of Europe, but the supreme crisis
| III the affairs OF the League itself
There is no Disgusting the degree of
pessimism which is disclosed by the
| friends of the Geneva institution
Without exception, these would well
come q postponemert Of a conference
which promises to be even more dis
astrous than the many failures Of the
| (Copyright, 1912