Evening star., 1935-01-20
British to Decide Result.

Beyond much doubt it is going to
take a lot of time and bargaining to
achieve adjustment of these conflict
ing interests and programs OF the
great powers. In the end, too, success
or failure is likely to turn primarily
upon the course pursued by the Brit
ish. If they revert to their old bal
ance of power tactics and try to stand
aside and enjoy cheap security, leaving
Germany face to face with France,
Italy and the Soviets, then the old
deadlock is likely to be prolonged
Germany will go on arming and re-
fuse all pledges in the matter OF
Austria
Bv contrast, if Great Britain joins
the Roman Locarno at least to the
extent of promising to come into con-
sultation with Italy and France in
case of a threat to the independence
of Austria, then the way will be
cleared for further negotiations. And
the next step would logically be to in
vite Germany to adhere to the new
Locarno as she did to the old, thus
guaranteeing to respect the status quo
on the Danube as she has promised to
respect that on the Rhine After that
would come the question of the East
ern Locarno and then the armament
and Geneva issues.
Nominally all of these pacts, once
they were framed, would be registered
at Geneva and the French and Brit
1sh, probably with Russian support
would try to use the machinery of the
League as the instrument of their
great power policies. In the United
States, too, great efforts would doubt
less be made by the champions of the
League to portray the return of Ger
many to Geneva, if it took place. as a
victory for the League. But the fact
which all objective minds must recog-
nize is that what is really taking place
in Europe is the substitution of the
old system of the concert for the new
technique of the League.
European League Aim.
The League of Nations-as Wilson
dreamed twas universal aSSocla-
ton of nations to assure world peace
and international cooperation. The
concert which the French and the
Italians have been working out recent
ly is European League of great pow
ers to preserve the status quo of the
Paris Peace Conference by restraining
the nations which suffered by those
treaties and have been resolved to
seek revision by force if no other
means we're available. Thus, in a
sense, what is happening is turning a
church into a barracks; outWardly
the situation remains unchanged-ac-
tually the interior of the building is
occupied not by worshippers but by
armed forces.
Already it is possible to see evi-
dences of realization and resentment
of this development in Geneva itself.
For amongst the secretariat there is
perception of the fact that leader
ship has passed from the League and
the important decisions are being
made beside the Tiber, the Seine and
the Thames and not on the shore of
Lake Leman. Already things have
moved very far since the time only
three years ago when the League
itself issued an ultimatum to Japan
and then vainly waited for the men,
ber nations to back up that ulti-
matum.
Once the great powers of Europe
agree on a common policy they can
use Geneva as a means of applica-
ton, employing the League Council
as they used to employ the various
councils of ambassadors which func-
toned between the Congress of
Berlin and the World War. But that
role will be subordinate and the mis-
sion that of applying, not initiating
Thus, Europe is reverting to tradi-
ton with the great powers striving
to recover control and restore order.
Wilsonian Concept Dead.
If the great powers of Europe can
so reconstruct the League as to make
it another holy alliance and in the
process can bring together enough
force to make a challenge to peace
by Germany impossible, as the origi-
nal holy alliance prevented similar
challenge by France after 1915, the
result may prove an indefinite post
ponement of conflict. But it would
be absurd to confuse the thing the
League ,has been transformed into
with the original Wilsonian concep-
ton. The original conception dis
appeared when the United States and
Great Britain refused to assume re-
sponsibilities for peace outside of the
areas in which their interests were
at stake.
What the continental powers are
trying to do now is to discover some
way in which they can use Geneva
to serve their interests and satisfy
their several ambitions. And for
France, Italy and the Soviet Union
the first consideration is to make the
League the basis Of an association
calculated to restrain Germany within
her present frontiers. Success or
failure in this attempt will depend
in no small degree upon the extent
to which the British consent to share
= L. -l-n d