BACKING THE LEAGUE

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 151, 23 December 1935, Page 8

BACKING THE LEAGUE

WHY BEITAIN DOES IT

WICKHAM 'STEED'S VIEW

The other night, in a, place that must be nameless, ,1 found myself playing Devil's Advocate (writes Wickham Steed in the "Christian Science Monitor"). A worthy Briton, fresh from the League Assembly at Geneva, dilated with astonishment upon the unwillingness of Italian officers whom he had met there to believe that British policy in support of the League Covenant could be either serious or sincere. ■■..'■ , Few of my countrymen, I imagine, feel less sympathy than I with Italian Fascism and its "Duce,'! though I yield to none in my love of Italy and her -mow misguided—people. Vet I'found myself on my feet, .with an improvised brief for. the Italian officers aforesaid, trying to teach the worthy Briton a lesson. ■' The Italians know| I said;-that Great Britain has never been zealous in upholding collective security against war. Since t)ie advent of Fascism they have seen a British Labour Government reject Lord Robert Cecil's Draft Treaty of: Mutual Assistance of 1923, its Conservative successor reject the Geneva Protocol of 1924 for the Pacific Settlement1 of -International Disputes, and presently, after accepting limited obligations in'the Locarno Settlement 0f'1925, insist' on circumscribing- the preamble of; the Kellogg Pact in 1928. In 1931, the British National Government withheld its ■ support from the efforts of the United States to ostracise Japanese aggression' in Manchuria, and was only driven into line at Geneva in, March, 1,933, by the pressure of the smaller Powers. ; ASSENT WITHHELD. During the Disarmament Conference, I continued, the British delegates refused assent, .to■ the French plea for collective security which,M. Tardieu based upon! the KelloggPact. More recently," Great Britain protested' verbally against the German repudiation of the, military, naval, and air, clauses of 'the ' Versailles Treaty and forthwith condoned Germany's repudiation by: concluding the Anglo-German Naval Agreement: of June 18.;.:.- ."•• ■ : ■-;■■■ '■.;.. ..;"■■/■'.-■, ■, . , How, then, ckn one account for 'a movement of feeling and opinion in Great Britain that is unmistakably sincere in its condemnation of Italian policy? I have read the significant, not to say the poignant, debates at the trade union, and Labour Party conferences. The enlightening correspondence which citizens of every shade of- opinion 'have contributed to the columns of the London "Times'' has shown how deep and strong are the currents of thought that are running through many minds. Casual talk with what are called "common folk" has revealed an' indignation 'as unfeigned as the expression ot'it is frank; But beneath all this there seems to lie an instinct that, for Britain'at any rate, it is now or never. FIRST BATTLE WON. Either .the faith which millions of Britons have held since the League was founded—that: the-beginning of a new order in the affairs of nations had been' made jand could be developed—will prove to have been utterly vain, or Great Britain must, at long last, stand by and with the League against premeditated attack by. the strong upon the weak. If this stand can be successfully made with the support, of other League members and not without moral, countenance from' the United States, the first., great battle against the .forces of war will have been won ana; there will be hope for the" future. If-foot,, there will be no., hope of • any thing,. save ; re-arma-ment and ultimately aiiother devilish war.'.""." .-.: "' ~r'.' \■■■■■■:.■.'"* - ••■■': I know well that, the state of. th« public mind in Great Britain can be analysed far more ; subtly than this. It can be argued, not'without truth, that among educated and experienced politicians there is a strong sense that important British: interests; might be endangered were Italy able to overrun and subjugate Ethiopia with impunity; It is also true that, in the ranks of Labour,: detestation of Fascism enters'intjp a vociferous and even flamboyant love, for the League. On the other hand, fear, of European complications and the desire; not to be involved in them deter not a few public men and writers from giving free vent to their utter, dislike of Italian behaviour. :v'vv..;-.-- ' _:-'"': '".. ■j; ;'•-.'■.'.';; ::-. ..'/ •■ -y .■ DESERVE RESPECT. '■//■ pure-minded; evahgeiical pacifists; led by George Lahsbury,. receive and deserve respect for their refusal to' sanction the: use bf;ojany.'"jEihd of force in the' service of 'international law. Yet there remains' the fundamental fact: that the bulk of the British people feel that their country ought now to make its choice and to face whatever risks may ensue. To this must be added the qualifying conviction that Great Britain, cannot "police the world alorie.'N There has been much talk abroad of the "electioneering tactics" of Mr. Stanley Baldwin and his colleagues. Such talk is: plausible enough to be at once canny and misleading. The National Government wants to win the election. Therefore it cannot ignore the wave of public feeling upon Italy and Ethiopia jand dare not make a mere show of fidelity to the League, But what has really been happening is that,'.the; representative system has functioned normally. The General Election has cast its shadow' before; I and the Government' has felt bound to take, account of the nation's wish. This may be 'electioneering, but "it is not bad democracy. ', •...■;,--':. So we shall see what; we shall see. I, for one, hope we shall see a vindication of the League's strength. It might be a turning point in European and, perhaps, in human; history.