Evening star., 1936-04-19
BY PERTINAX.
TWO great international con-
| flicts within six months have
put the League of Nations to

NWO great llICCI LIdG4OlloA wi
ficts within six months have
put the League of Nations to
Il the acid test: The Italo-Ethlo-
pian war, which broke out on october
(the first clear, unmistakable case
of territorial aggression since the
World War; and the violation and
unilateral reputation by Adolf Hitler,
on March Z, of the Rhineland pact
of Locarno-the pact that had created
a demilitariZed zone on German ter
ritory as a kind of artificial buffer
state between France and Germany.
During the years Immediately fol-
lowing the conference of Locarno,
when Germany was weak in a mill
tary sense, that buffer state was in
tended to make it impossible for
France to hold the Reich by the neck
through the forcible seizure of Ger
man territory. After German rear
mament began to be more and more
feverishly conducted, by 1888, it acted
rather as a brake upon the newly
created warlike machinery.
With the existence of the demili-
tarized zone we're intimately connect
ed the guarantees of the Franco-Ger-
man frontier given by the British and
Italian governments and the part to
be played by the Leagues Council
in case of infringement. In short,
the Locarno pact was the only appli-
cation of the principle OF collective
security which thus far had been
10 70 nf E11rnnn
How many times, in past years, have
We heard clamorings for the extension
of that system to other dangerous
spots on the continent! Saint Lo-
carno! In the popular mind, canoni-
cation had taken place on the very
day Of baptism.
The Test for Geneva.
Well, in the two junctures cited
above-Ethiopia and the Rhineland
the League has accepted the chal-
lenge. And, so far, the trial OF
strength has already turned or is
likely to turn against it. I wish
with all my heart that, in forthcom-
ing weeks, the main trend of events
could be reversed. But there are
already unfavorable indications at
hand that no hope-except, perhaps,
a very f1imsy one-can reasonably
be entertained. Let US draw the bal
ance sheet and from it make some
differences about the fate of Geneva.
AS regards the talo-Ethiopian war,
success appeared, at the outset, to be
within the easy grasp of the interna-
tional institution. Its promoters, who
had kept hands off the Sino-Japanese
conflict of 1881 on account of its OBJ
scurities and special difficulties, seized
the opportunity afforded by the con-
flict between Rome and Adds Ababa.
Here, they felt, was chance to vim
dicate their ideal, because they speed
lily realized that never again would the
task prove so light.
The material facts did not leave any
room for controversy. Mussolini him
self boasted of having launched the
attack. The biggest maritime power
in the world was willing to assume re-
sponsibility for repressive action and
had already concentrated the major
part of its fleet in the Mediterranean
as precautionary measure. That
maritime power had around it numer-
GUS retinue of secondary states, and
all indications were that it could rely
upon the cooperation of France, be-
cause the latter badly needed its sup
port on the continent, and for 16
years had continuously begged for 1t.
The neutrals in the World War
such as Sweden and Holland, which,
as q rule hesitate to interfere in dis
putes between great powers-this time
showed much more determination to
commit themselves than is their wont
Rightly or wrongly, they did not be-
lieve that there would be any serious
risk in disciplining Italy, country
deprived of all the raw materials
needed in waging war and painfully
handicapped by a very shaky financial
and economic structure. Moreover,
against the dictator who holds su-
preme power in Rome, an effective ap-
peal could be made to the democratic
feeling throughout the world.
Success Anticipated.
Such were the exceptionally strong
factors which helped the League. Ur
until November % it seemed that the
Geneva organization would be shaped
into an irresistible weapon, and that
the economic pressure brought to beai