LAST YEAR'S EVENTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 46, 24 February 1937, Page 11

LAST YEAR'S EVENTS

EFFECT ON THE LEAGUE

THE BLOW DEALT BY ITALY

CHANCE OF REVIVAL

When, on May 5 last, the Italians entered Addis Ababa it was generally recognised that the League of Nations had suffered the worst blow in all its history, wrote the "Manchester Guardian" editorially early this year. Historians may prefer to date the blow to December of the previous year, when the Hoare-Laval plan was published, for after that time the League more or less retired from the struggle; but the fact that Abyssinia was still fighting, the apparent prospect of a long war, and the other crisis over the German entry into the Ehineland to some extent concealed "the extent of the damage. After May there could be no concealment, but only now is it possible to realise all the effects of the disaster. Some of these have taken curious forms. One of the most healthy was the sudden reaction of the smaller States against Britain and France, the great League Powers, who had (they felt) betrayed them. Until last year the influence of Britain and France in the councils of the League had tended to increase rather than to diminish, and no proposal which both Britain and France had backed ,ha.d ever been defeated. But when the Assembly met in September and the British and French Governments made their ignominious attempt to exclude Abyssinia, the smaller States rebelled so vigorously that they were forced to withdraw. THE MORAL POINTED. This episode only pointed the moral of the whole Abyssinian dispute: that it is fatal for the League to delegate its power to individual States. It may be said that the one serious mistake made by the League as a whole had been the readiness of its other members to leave everything to France and Britain. The result established the principle, already understood by some, that by delegating its authority to individual States the League contradicts its own purpose. _ ' Yet in spite of the rebellion the League had not learnt its lesson. Only a few weeks later the Council was faced with another important dispute— Danzig-and a chance to vindicate its character. Instead, it did exactly what had been done in the Abyssinian dispute: it delegated its authority to the State which- was most interested politically. In this way Poland was asked to do the League's job, with the inevitable result thatthe job hasnot been done; Polish interests may have been guaranteed, but the League and its High Commissioner have been driven out of the Free City As the League had failed in. the two chief political disputes with which it had ■to deal, its members once again set off on the hopeless attempt to salt the tall of security. Those States which felt themselves in greatest danger tightened thete alliances, formed themselves into groups, and armed^hastily, those who belteved they Jiad some chance of escaping the conflict in clined towards neutrality but also armed in order to make sure. SOURCES OF WEAKNESS. -Both' tactics^tended to weaken , the League, and in this way the League has gradually-been thrust into the fimbf of forgotten things. Locarno, which was at least "within the framework" of the Covenant, has been replaced by an agreement between^ Britain; France, and Belgium which has no reference to it. Belgium herself has adopted a form of neutrality that is consistent with her obligationsi under the Covenant. Recently the British Foreign Secretary made a long speech on fcfeign affairs in which he did not mention the League at. all. In the Spanish dispute the League was hardly thought- of until too late, and when at last the Council met half-heartedly few countries thought it worth while to send their foremost representatives. Recently there have been other indications of the League's low- standing. Though the dispute with Italy is still open and the Abyssinian Government still has a right to sit in the Assembly, several League members have recognised Italy's sovereignty over the country by implication, and Switzerland, a sanctionist State which has the honour to provide the League with its seat, has preferred to seek favour with Italy by extending open recogr nition to her new Empire. Yet none of these things justifies despair or even undue pessimism. The idea of the League is still recognised by most men and.many Governments as the only way likely to secure peace. At. the Pan-American Congress the South American Republics, which have not any striking reason to bless the League, proved surprisingly loyal towards it. THE CHANCE OF A RALLY. There seems, moreover, a real opportunity to rally its forces in the Committee on League Reform now quietly sleeping at Geneva. Twentyeight nations are represented on this committee, to which over forty have communicated their suggestions. There is a considerable measure of agreement on several useful points for improving the League's procedure and a good chance of accomplishing something more important. Those who oppose all regional pacts as detrimental to the League have a strong case in theory, but in practice the choice is not between universal and regional obligations but between regional agreements with the League or regional agreements without the League. It is not difficult to decide which is right. The Committee at least offers a chance to restore the initiative-to the League instead of leaving its members to scramble for security in their own way. So far, unfortunately, there have been few signs that the British Government or any other has realised this chance. When the Committee met on December 14 it promptly elected a chairman who was not there and then spent three happy days discussing what to discuss and in what order to discuss it. When that subject had been exhausted the Committee appointed innumerable rapporteurs and adjourned indefinitely, as if uncertain how long Christmas festivities might last. This is hardly the sign of a League renaissance. Yet we must abandon neither hope nor our efforts to move the Government in 1937. The ■greatest idea of the twentieth century must not be allowed to die slowly of disuse, a bedridden invalid at the age 21 eighteen.