The Auckland Star WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News, The Echo and The Sun. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1935. PRESSURE ON ITALY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 239, 9 October 1935, Page 6

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

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1935. PRESSURE ON ITALY.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that icc cow do.

The League of Nations cannot stop the Italian aggression in Ethiopia by forceful intervention because its members—or those of them which would have to bear the brunt of the intervention —see clearly that the risk of extending the conflict would be too great. But pressure can be exerted upon Italy in other ways, and news published to-day indicates that that pressure may be so strong as ultimately to be irresistible. Apart altogether from the League, nations trading with Italy are considering her financial position, and concluding that it is so precarious that there is no certainty of payment being mado for goods exported to her. The League itself is considering the application of sanctions which, though not spectacular and rash, should not be ineffectual if enforced. But will sanctions of the kind proposed be adopted, and will they be collectively applied?

There exists a strong body of opinion that "sanctions mean war." They will not mean war if they are innocuous, but if they are such that their effect, immediately or ultimately, is so to hamper Italy that she must face the abandonment of the African campaign, then the risk of war will be inherent in them. This point of view will be strongly represented at Geneva, particularly by France, and it will not be surprising if the draft proposals are modified in Council. In such a crisis no member of the League will be likely to assent to anything which cannot be enforced.

It should not be forgotten that a decision to apply sanctions must be endorsed in most of the States by the Parliaments, and followed by special legislation. Already considerable harm had been done the League's cause by over-zealous supporters who have advocated precipitate action, and it is certain that in Britain the proposals of Geneva will be closely scrutinised, although the Government's majority is such that the passage of the necessary legislation should be assured. In Franco the opposition to participation in League action will be even stronger, but M. Laval has extraordinary powers. Apart from the League members, there must be considered the probable attitude of Powers such as the United States and Germany, which may even be decisive. The way of the League is long, hard and difficult, and the world is impatient, but nothing will be gained if the League attempts more than it can perform.