LEAGUE PROBLEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 106, 6 May 1936, Page 7

LEAGUE PROBLEM.

EMPEROR'S STATUS. Outright Annexation Makes Task Difficult. FRANCO-BRITISH STAND. United Press Association. —Copyright. (Received 12 noon.) LONDON, May 5. The "Daily Telegraph" diplomatic writer says that now that there is no effective Government in Abyssinia and the Emperor has admitted defeat, it is questionable whether Abyssinia can expect to bo invited to sit at the League Council table, and there is no precedent on which a ruling can be based. It is believed Signor Mussolini will establish a regime similar to that in French Morocco with General Graziani as Governor. It is also believed Signor Mussolini's next aim. will be to remove tension between Italy and Britain. At Geneva Signor Mussolini's declaration that Ethiopia was Italian is considered in League circles to be a definite indication that lie intends to annex the country outright, complicating the League's task as it might be easier to find a formula for settlement if a puppet Government were installed. A Paris message says the Foreign Office spokesman declared that the entry of the Italians into Addis Ababa had not changed the situation. France and Britain still recognised the Emperor as head of a sovereign State but hoped that cordial relations with Italy will not long be delayed. He added that France and Britain are agreed that Italy will not control the Franco-British zones of influence in Abyssinia as defined in the 1906 treaty. Humiliation Over League Failure. It is not believed in London that the League's failure to protect a weak victim will result in wholesale resignations by other small States, though it is possible that some South American States may withdraw. The statement of Messrs. Baldwin and Eden about the position of the League of Nations lias caused a sensation in political circles. The "Daily Mail" says it is interpreted as meaning the collapse of the League as at present constituted. 1 . Professor Gilbert Murray, who was a member of the deputation to Russia, speaking later at Oxford, revealed the fact that Mr. Baldwin has confessed to "bitter humiliation" at the League's failure to save Abyssinia.