Evening star., 1932-10-02

* this year marks one of the low
ID est points in the still brief his
tory of the League Of Nations
The explanation. of course, is discover
able in the fact that today the Worlo
situation is more complex and TROUBLING
than at any moment since the close o.
the war The renaissance of national
ism in Germany and the explosion OF
imperialism in Japan have put strain
of unexplained severity upon the Whole
postwar peace machinery.
Within the league. too. there mas
been sharp cleavage which was fully
disclosed during the Arms Conference
last Winter. This cleavage had its
origin in the Sino-Japanese events
which eliminated in the Shanghai
fighting. Then, and even before, when
the Manchurian affair developed, the
smaller states, for whom the league
represents the only real promise OF Sc
curity, clamored for some drastic action
which might vindicate the authority OF
the League. itself.
The representatives of these smaller
states and the permanent officials OF
the League secretariat as well. from
the very outset identified the Manchu-
rian issue as direct challenge to the
prompt and far-going action. 1t was.
moreover, due to this pressure that the
Council embarked upon its ill-advised
course and served what amounted to
an ultimatum upon ApAn calling for
. withdrawal before med date.
Despair Follows Elation.
For the moment. too, Geneva was
heartened b the decision of the United
States to cooperate and the presence
of Prentiss Gilbert as an American
representative in the conferences. Ella
tion was, however, followed very quickly
by something approximating despair,
which has lasted ever since and exer-
cised very depressing influence upon
the Arms Conference itself. For in no
long time 1t was clear that the great
powers. and Britain. France and Italy
in particular. had no stomach for the
task Of evicting Japan from Man
ehuria.
Idealism and practical craftsmanship
came to sharp collision because
craftsmanship recognized that onlv war
could get Japan out of Manchuria
and no country was ready to bear the
burdens of new conflict in the face
of the present world depression In
fact, it is not difficult to see that there
was considerable sympathy both in
France and in Britain for the japanese,
while the Italians made no disguise of
their sentiments, which were markedly
pro-Japanese.
The effort of Washington to mobilize
world opinion, and particularly British
and French, behind the League ma
chinery and, on the basis of the coven-
ant and the Kellogg pact. bring moral
pressure upon Japan therefore failed
The final evidence of the failure was
the still recent recognition of the state
OF Manchukuo by the japanese govern
nent. With this japanese action the
League machinery for preventing war
was at least temporarily compromised.
The parallel rise of German ma
tionalism has similarly served to arouse
the apprehensions of the states adjoin-
ing the Reich whose security or terri
torial integrity is menaced by German
purposes. And the fact that the Japa-
nese episode had disclosed the present
inefficacy of the League machinery to
restrain an aggressor served to accen-
tuate the anxiety and unrest which is
now patent in Warsaw, Prague and
Paris
Meantime. for full year the eco
nomlc disintegration in Europe and
particularly in the Danubian area has
continued and even increased. This
disintegration has. too. brought further
weakening to the League-frst, because
1t has been unable to take any effective
steps to arrest the decline, and secondly.
because in many states the interna-
tional loans. guaranteed by the League.
have been defaulted and the loss par
ticularly to the British has been very
considerable
The present session of the Assembly.
too, must be notable as the first in
nearly a decade in which BRAND has
not been the dominating figure and the
most powerful influence for conciliation
and cooperation. Neither at home nor
abroad has Herriot the influence or
prestige OF BRAND, although his course
during and since Lausanne has earned
him respect abroad and particularly in
the Anglo-Saxon countries. For he has
shown moderation and patience,
which alone made possible the agree
ments at Lausanne and thus elimi-
mated reparations as cause of con-
temporary agitation