Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1935-01-24
INTERNATIONAL
NEWS REVIEW
CONTINUED from Page -

Continued from Page u
the long-feared menaces to Central
European peace.
A few days after the paebiscite had
taken place the League Of Nations
council at Geneva voted unanimously
to restore the Saar to Germany on
March 1, and on March 3, Adolf Hitler.
chief executive of the German Reich,
will officially and triumphaptly take
possession of the territory.
Unfortunately, the beauty Of the
plebiscite victory has been marred
by acts of revenge against those Saar
Germans who voted against return
to the motherland; Jews, Com
munists and Socialists are said to
be victims of Nazist persecution,
and, according to reports from var
ious sources, about 5000 of these dis
senters have fled across the French
border. Those who remain are pun
ished in various ways. for instance.
by being deprived of employment. and
as much as possible of their propa-
ganda material has been confiscated
and burned at public bonf1res. Nazist
Germany would, in the eyes of the
world, have been a better sport by
having acted in a more dignif1ed and
less sordidly revengeful way; much
of the praise which Hitler's calm and
level-headed foreign policy has earned
him, has been toned down sonsider-
ably as a result of the excuses now
either authorized or, at least, per-
mitted in the Saar to the extreme
disadvantage of those who felt that
they could not entrust their future to
Germany-with Hitler as the govern
ment head.
League Successes.
At the present moment American
antagonism to the League of Nations
is being re-intensified as a result of
the senatorial discussion concerning
the entry of the United States into
the World Court at The Hague; OPP
ponents of the World Court plan main
tain that its acceptance will simply
mean that the United States will soon
join the League and that, from the
viewpoint of many persons, would be
lust simply awful"
few days ago Michigan clergy
man who has built up a radio net
work of his own, broadcast an i'm
passioned appeal to America to stay
way from the World Court and the
League; the League, he said, had done
nothing good; had simply perpetuated
the fear of coming wars; had sue
ceeded in stopping no wars.
Such a statement comes with ill
grace when one considers that quite
recently the League most certainly
stopped seriously threatening war
between Jugo-Slavia and Hungary; it
eliminated serious trouble between
Germany and France because of the
Saar plebiscite, and, in general, it
must be remembered that since the
League began its activities just fif-
teen years ago there has not been
one major war between nations any
where.
1t is true that there have been SER
ious International clashes. such as
between Japan and China, and the
Gran Chaco war between Bolivia and
Paraguay, but it is equally true that
when the League was powerless to
prevent them, principal reason for
its failure was the very fact Of the
United States refusing to join.
Pressure on Paraguay.
A good case in point is the Gran
Chaco war, last year stigmatized by
the League as one of the most I'M
necessary, one Of the most relentless,
on record. Many attempts have been
made to stop it, and they have all
failed.
A few weeks ago the League once
more demanded that hostilities cease.
Il had the right to make that demand
since both belligerent nations are
League members. Bolivia was willing
to stop warfare and enter into peace
negotiations. Paraguay definitely re-
fused.
Then last week the League Council
took drastic step: 1t decreed that
ehC CilUdi 90 dSdlIlSl tApOTldt1On OF
arms and munitions to Bolivia should
be raised, but that such export alton
to Paraguay should be sternly pre-
vented. Had the United States been
a League member, this arrangement
would have been effective at once.
But now the talk goes in Washington
that the American government is ex-
pected to declare its inability to thus,
as it is considered. help Bolivia and
to assume a hostile attitude to Para
quay. In other words. If League ma
tions decide to resort to the penaliz-
ing measure, stipulated by the Coun-
Gil. it will be absolutely ineffective
for the reason that such a boycott
means nothing without one hundred
per cent adherence So. as it looks
at present, the Gran Chaco war will
go bloodily on.