Evening star., 1935-12-01

AS a matter of fact, there never was
any Council vote. The functions of
the Council as well as of the Assem-
bly, have become relatively humble,
although they remain important.
Their task does not extend beyond the
coordination Of the steps which the
national governments, every one of
them acting under its unimpaired SOW
ereignty, are to enforce. But at this
juncture a vital point must be noted.
Grope Way In Dark.
The leaders of the League in the
present crisis, the men who cleverly
worked out a practical solution of its
constitutional difficulties, have had to
grope their way in the dark Many
problems that may arise any day have
been deliberately left aside. What
would happen, for instance, if the
Leagues Council were far from unani-
nous, and were rent asunder by rival
opinions and policies, so that only a
small majority of powers could be
brought together about plan of CO.
ordination?
Moreover, I am not sure that the
subtle reaSonings and devices Of the
present leaders of the League have
been thoroughly understood, in all
their implications, by the London for
eign Office and by the Paris quai
dOrsay Notes and memoranda from
both places daily indicate that the
real significance of the Geneva revo-
luton is not being graSped there.
Finally, it must be said that the re-
awakening Of the League and the dis
play of unexpected energy by which it
has made itself conspicuous. are due,
in the last resort, to the drastic resolu-
tion independently arrived at by the
British government last Augustine
mobilization Of the feet in the Medi-
terranean. That is, it is due to an act
Of force and to the feeling which devel-
oped everywhere that such a policy
would be followed up-in short, that
great power had made up its mind
to enlist all its strength in the service
Of international law.
The soul of coalition directed
against the aggressor was abroad
not only the soul, but a supply of
physical resources. Instantly the
League was impelled to join with it
and to contribute to the association
its framework, its body.
Opportunity for Laval.
Premier Laval of France had a won-
derful opportunity within his grasp
one of those rare opportunities that
make a real statesman gasp with
pleasure: He haG a chance to make
use of the Italo Ethiopian con =
f1ict to get the League out of what
seemed to many congenital helpless
ness. The factors which in past
crises had increasingly striven against
France-the uncertainty of British
policy and the fear of German might
that pervades many of the member
states-these were not at work on this
occasion.
Unfortunately, Laval has not seized
that great chance His main preoccu-
patton has not been to make the most
OF the present circumstances to bring
AAAtO bNAAA6 nAldh nave UC6Il,
practice, an Anglo-French alliance
against all agresSors with the Gene
va organism at its back Instead.
he has sedulously avoided taking the
smallest risk as far as Italy is con-
cerned and has disturbed and dis
couraged the British government. It
ought not to surprise anybody if, as
the outcome of Lavals action. both
England and the League were, in the
long run, to turn back toward their
former theology.
But should such development oc-
cur in the future, France might be
faced by a very disagreeable prospect:
the prospect of fast rearming Eng
land disguised with Geneva and with
the fickleneSs of the French people.
insisting on revision of the peace
treaties to be brought about more or
less on German terms.