Evening star., 1935-12-29
.LEAGUE'SFUTURE
:. PROSPECTS BRIGHT
Geneva Body Finds Proper
Place, Keeping Peace
in Europe.
BY ALBIN E. JOHNSON.


::political manhood in 1896 with stark
realism as its dominating credo. IN
sthe IL months which have just passed
the so-called idealistic international
cooperative organization that has Its
home on the shores of peaceful Lake
Geneva has heard its obituary pro-
5-nounced in three different languages
-. .a.Japanese. German and Italian. To-
:, kio buried it with respect when
iSJapans withdrawal became official
'Hiast March; Germany dismissed the
League from the Nazi scheme in Oc-
tober but not without paying up all
back dues to keep the record clear.
n Mussolini, who several years ago put
g the League in the same category with
II personal and political liberty-a rot
=, ting carcass"-is still pronouncing its
-, funeral grafton.
~ Yet, with all due respect to those
II who can see only what the League
a hasn't done, and the shortcomings
N of those who direct its destinies from
9, time to time, it can truthfully be
q said that never, since the halcyon
\, days of the BRAND Chamberlain
/. Stressemann Locarno era, have there
\, been such basic reasons for optimism
Z, about the Leagues future as there
n exist today.
4 After many starts and misstartS
1.-The Geneva organization appears to
have found its political niche, namely,
: a European League of Nations charged
: with preserving world peace on the
! one continent where world wars are
= brewed. The League failed to prevent
8 war in the Far East ana South Amer
, lea, although it may have mitigated
=. its consequences both in Manchuria
: and the Chaco. But while it is still
= = too soon to make an unqualified state
y ment, there is every reason for saying
: that in its handling of the Italian
. Ethiopian British controversy it has
> been sans reproche.'
3 Facing Fundamental Issues.
= One reason why the League starts
= 1886 with renewed hope is that its
; members are up against realities
2 political, economic and social Fun
. damental issues, such as were involved
: in the dispute among its South Amer
g ican members and the war between
= lodged The danger has come too
near home. Either the covenant OF
: the Geneva rganization-which, in
= effect, is an alliance among So ma
! tions-continues binding and becomes
: strengthened, or the League, as at
; present constituted, collapses. There
: is no middle course. If Germany re-
: mains outside the League and Italy
: Joins her as an outlaw nation, the
Z League will constitute an offensive and
! defensive alliance in Europe against
{ those two powers and any other
= states which may in the future affil-
: late with them. AS far as can be
: seen there are no other states which
2 want to join the anti-League group,
. unless possibly Austria and Hungary.
The redeeming feature of the situa-
ton is that both Nazi Germany and
Fascist Italy are destructive dictator
. ships-destructive in the international
: solidarity sense of the word. And, as
= relationships, they will not endure.
: The League ideal will persist long
e after Mussolini and Hitler are dead
: and gone and their spectacular re-
: girnes have become history.
The year of 1885 has been lucky for
: the League because for the first time
Great Britain's vital interests" CO.
5 incided with the vital ideals" of the
9 covenant, namely the settlement of
z an international controversy by peace
Z full means Neither Britain nor the
: League considers the maintenance OF
: the territorial status quo of Europe
: or the world as inviolate. But both
' consider a change in the territorial
: status quo by force as unpermissable.
: Every nation in the world-except
( possibly Brazil-is pledged under the
: Kellogg pact or the League covenant,
: or both, not to use war as an instru-
= ment of national policy Both Japan
! and Italy have deliberately broken
z their pledges. The fact that Germany
: hasn't simply means that she Is not
= prepared to risk war.
Moral Force Sufficed.
: In the past, particularly when the
= League dealth with the Corfu bonn
bardment by Italy and Greece's in
: vasion of Bulgaria, only moral force
y has been invoked by the members of
: the League. In both instances it was
y sufficient, especially as it was backed
! up with threats of physical force. In
S handling the Manchurian incident the
League used moral force to the limit.
q 1t failed because any threat of physical
force against Japan, without the col
! laboration of her two most feared
: neighbors, Soviet Russia and the
z United States, was ineffective Neither
: Moscow nor Washington were men,
) bers of the League at the time For
2 tunately in handling the Manchurian
= and Chaco disputes the League knew
I its limitations and recognized them
I despite the taunts of well-meaning
zealots. Until the League becomes
Z universal its applicability cannot be
universally applied. There must al
G ways be exceptions" Rome and
: Toxic pleaded exceptional circum-
6 stances" as their excuses for violating
: the covenant. Had diplomatic cards
been played differently by Japan, i.e.,
: had the foreign Office and Liberal
Z Shidehara group been in control in
stead Of the militarists (which con-
stitute the Mussolini and Hitler of
3 Japan things might have turned out
z differently. Rome has no such alibi.
Her violation of the covenant was de-
= liberate and fragrant.
Mussolini also counted too much on
his ability to stretch the Inch" that
Z Premier Laval gave him into yard"
In his determination to preserve a
united front (the Stresa 'front.' against
Germany and thereby postpone war on
the European continent. Laval was
too conciliatory with II Duce. With
the almost cruel realism of French
diplomacy he was willing to see back
ward Ethiopia victimized in order that
? advanced France be spared bloody
struggle. But Laval had not counted