IN GENEVA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 239, 9 October 1935, Page 13

IN GENEVA.

FATEFUL MEETINGS. " WORLD IN DEEP ANXIETY." LEAGUE'S HEAVY TASK. (By H. M. HARROP.) GENEVA, September 13. "In the Shadow of Mars." That is how the "Journal des Nations" summed up the situation on the day we arrived here last week—and for a while it was difficult to realise in this gloriously beautiful city, on the side of the blue lake and overlooked by the snow slopes of Mont Blanc, that this description was correct. It was only when we left the Quai de Wilson (with its memories of the founder of the League) and went into the Salle do Conversation —the Whispering Gallery of the World—that we realised how "apt the description really was. Here hundreds of journalists from nearly every country of the world were walking up and down discussing, in the intervals of Council meetings, one affair and one affair only—the pending war between Italy and Abyssinia. Every now and then a famous statesman would emerge from a neighbouring room and engage for a few minutes in earnest conversation with journalists of his own land. Behind the scene long telephono conversations were being held with Foreign Offices and newspaper offices 111 every capital of Europe and some 'beyond it. In the Council Boom itself one felt one was really rubbing shoulders with history to be in the very room whoie Baron Aloisi, for Italy, was making his dramatic protest against the mere presence of the Abyssinian delegates at the Council table. League diplomacy is conducted as much as possible in the open, but it is obvious that committees official and unofficial must have some privacy. And so it is not to be wondered at that, with the presence of some of the best and some of the most imaginative journalists in the world, the most fantastic rumours aro continually circulating. Assembly Controls the Budget. When the Assembly met 011 September !), five days after the Council, the stage was really set for the last act in the grim drama that was to settle the outcome of Mussolini's African adventure. For it must not be forgotten that the Assembly, having control of the League budget, is the dominant factor in

moulding the policy to be pursued in a case where action, if taken at all, must be taken by all the nations not party to the dispute.

The Assembly was to meet in the Electoral Building of Geneva, and formidable delegations from o4 nations were quartered in the hotels of the city. All the principal hotels contained several delegations, whose presence was signified by the appropriate flags. Before the hotels of the more important —or more liable to be attacked —guards were placed. The arrangement of delegates in the body of the hall is alphabetical— an arrangement which places first Afghanistan and South Africa (Afrique du Sud) and gives France and Great Britain a prominent place in the centre. New Zealand (represented by Sir James Parr, Mr. C. A. Knowles and Dr. R. M. Campbell) is just behind tho Italian delegates, headed by the austere and rather worried-looking Baron Aloisi. The Abyssinian delegation is some distance away. What would happen if the alphabet decreed that the two countries should bo placed next to each other I do not know; but doubtless the League secretariat, resourceful in all things, would have found a formula to meet the case. Abyssinia is generally referred to as Ethiopia, for which tho French is " Ethiopic."

As the hour of the session approaches the great men begin to arrive, and there is feverish activity among the cameramen. Here one sees M. Herriot and M. Paul Boncour, of tho French delegation, exchanging greetings with Central European friends. Down the centre of the hall, piloted by Mr. Anthony Eden, comes tho British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Sir Samuel Hoare, making his first appearance as a League delegate. Ho leans 011 a stick, but there is nothing of the invalid in the keenness of Ills glance and the diplomatic manner in which he seeks out and greets representatives of various countries with whom ho is already acquainted. He has a long talk with Mr. te. Water, the High Commissioner for South Africa, and doubtless discusses tho South African Primo Minister's declaration of his country's attitude in the dispute between Italy and Abyssinia. "Distracted With Anxiety." It is now time to start. The dais is bathed in light and pictures are taken feverishly as the session is declared open. The president, M. Ruiz-Guinazu (Argentine), with the Secretary-General of tho League, M. Avcnol, by his side, nominates a committee to investigate tho credentials of delegates, and begins his inaugural address, in French. After referring to his own country's efforts for peace and for the settlement of the war between Bolivia and Paraguay, the Saar plebiscite, and the withdrawal of Japan from the League, he continued:

"Tho work undertaken in the domain of disarmament has come to a standstill. Last spring tho Council found itself obliged to reassert the principle that scrupulous respcct for all treaty obligations is a fundamental rule of international life and a primary condition of peace. Now the Council is faced with a formidable conflict. The world is distracted with anxiety. This anxiety, which among other forms takes that of measures of rearmament, is prolonging tho economic crisis which weighs so heavily 011 tho peoples. The League has not, however, given up its efforts to help the world to economic recovery. It has continued to seek patiently for a solution of tho problems submitted to it. . . .

"Despite every difficulty the League of Nations is continuing its heavy task. Tt has now been in existence for over 15 years. In that short space of time it has demonstrated by its very existence that peace is indivisible ami that, to quote the Covenant, it is necessary to prescribe open, just and honourable relations between nations. Secret diplomacy must give place to such relations. Already it may be said that the League is the highest political authority in the world, and the only body capable of maintaining the peaceful relations between nations. If we place our faith in the League and if we ~il sincerely cooperate in its efforts, it will triumph. More than ever, at a time like the present, when the sky is once more overcast, and the whole world, in deep anxiety, turns its eyes towards Geneva, we must be firmly resolved to do all that lies in our power to render the League fully effective."

The New President. Then' came the election of a new President of the Assembly. As each country's name was called, its principal delegate walked up to tlie dais and placed his voting card in the ballot box. A blaze of light signalised the appearance of the Abyssinian delegate on the dais, and again the cameramen worked against time. Of the votes, 49 went to M. Edward Benes, Foreign Minister of Czecho-Slovakia ever since the war. The result was received with great acclamation, a tribute to the esteem in which one of the great statesmen of post-war Europe is held. Taking the chair, M. Bones, after thanking the Assembly for the honour done liis country, said that it would be a great mistake to gloss over the dangers of the moment. The Assembly would try, as it had done 011 several previous occasions, to give the world, by its calm and serenity, by its spirit of good will and concilation, and by its faithfulness to the great mission of the League, not only new hope, but the certainty that it would be able to overcome those difficulties to avoid ruin and disaster, and, by the results of the present session, open up new paths for truly pacifying the world. Sir Samuel Hoare's Address. The first speaker in the general debate on the Secretary-Genoral's report was Sir Samuel Hoare. He spoke gravely and quietly, but very distinctly, for about an hour, beginning witli an eloquent tribute to >1. Benes. What he said will have been cabled. One can only say that, without in any way descending to threats, lie left no doubt about the policy of Britain—and that those who heard him felt that he had done full justice to that policy. Sir Samuel Hoare received warm applause 011 concluding, and representatives of many countries, including New Zealand, went up to congratulate him. In the afternoon we had a moving appeal by the delegate of Abyssinia, to which Baron Aloisi condescended to listen.

10-day s session of the Assembly begins with the momentous speech of M. Laval, wliose ellorts for a pacific solution have been so strenuous during the past few days. Everything depends now 011 the attitude of France, and M. Laval belies the mot circulating at times in Geneva, that he is like his name, the same from both sides. He loaves us in doubt as to hits, attitude. France must maintain and support the doctrine of collective security: '"Our obligations are written in the Covenant. France will not seek to avoid those obligations." As 1 wiite, the English translation of tho speech is proceeding, and M. Laval has just gone up to Baron Aloisi and walked out with him to the lobby.

As I close this dispatch from the Assembly Hall, Mr. te Water, the High Commissioner for South Africa, is delivering a grave warning as to the eflect of a war in Abyssinia on the dark races. "Partition of Africa outside the blanket of the League is fraught with menace. ... If Africa is to be conscripted by Europe for its own purposes and designs, Africa will arise and overthrow Europe." ]\lr. to Water appealed to the leader of Italy to hold his hand, even at the eleventh hour.