The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News The Echo and The Sun. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1933. THE WEAKENED LEAGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 245, 17 October 1933, Page 6

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News The Echo and The Sun.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 17, 1933. THE WEAKENED LEAGUE.

<7(c cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that «e can do

Four groat Powers — Germany, Japan, Russia ami the United States — are now standing apart from the League. This cannot fail to weaken its position in international affairs and still further undermine its prestige. The permanent members of the Council arc now reduced to three, and those three arc all European Powers. The failure of the League to deal effectively with the Sino-Japanese dispute weakened its influence in Asia, and quite possibly strengthened Hitler in his attitude of defiance towards it. South America has for some time cherished the belief that the Lengue was too exclusively occupied -with the affairs of Europe, and both Brazil and the Argentine have voiced dissatisfaction with the neglect of the interests of their part of the world. This has now- resulted in South Amevica concluding a pact outside the League for the settlement of disputes between its republics. The weakness of the League is shown by the fact that it has failed to hold its more powerful members when any decision it lias made has failed to meet Avith their approval. Moreover, the fear that a member may give notice of withdrawal has caused the Council to gloss over violations of the Covenant.

The main reason for this is that the League has not received the support of public opinion necessary if it is to function as it should. The abstention of the United States at its inception weakened its -world position. The attitude of France and Poland in regarding the League mainly as an organ for enforcing the Treaty of Versailles, instead of a society for promoting international cooperation, caused much division in its councils, while its failure to reach any large measure of disarmament has been partly responsible for tiro present defection of Germany. A strong public opinion behind the League could have made it a real force in maintaining the peace of the world. But there has been no such united opinion. Nationalism has been invoked both in Germany and Japan against League authority, and thus the very foundation on which internationalism was built has been undermined. It has been used on occasion to promote sectional interests as against world interests. Yet it remains the symbol of hope for the world. It is the one bulwark against a return to the gospel of force. It needs wisdom, and vigour, and it can only acquire these if it is supported by a great body of public opinion in all countries.