LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Hokitika Guardian, 27 February 1932, Page 2

LEAGUE OF NATIONS

DISAPPOINTMENT, BUT not FAILURE. ADDRESS BT DR FISHER. WELLINCTfON, February 21. Some general on the work of the League of Nations, with special reference to its doings during the past three months, were made by Dr. A. G. B. Fisher, when speaking yesterday at a luncheon tendered him by the Wellington branches of the League of Nations Union and the Institute of Pacific Relations. Mr W. Nash, M.P., presided. Sir James Allen was among tho.se present.

A s a. result of what had happened during the last three months there was iio doubt that a great many people had formed the view that the league was a very great disappointment, if not a failure, Dr Fisher said. Doubtless the league had been disappointing, but the question was, should it be regarded as a failure?

Dr Fisher said that organisations, such as were gathered together that day, should not regard the league as a failure because of one setback. A setback did not prove that -an organisation was unnecessary, but proved that its work 'Wits really much more urgent than had previously been thought. If the league was at present disappointing, the moral to be drawn was that it required to be strengthened rathei than scrapped. WEAKNESS OF SUPPORTING GOFERN-VIENI3, It \vas quite clear that the goodwill of the fore.gn secretaries and other representatives at the league, on " the whole, went a good way iurther than the public sentiment of the countries wn.ch they represented. fhey were, inclined .to hold back, or be a liuie oa.-,p l L,o.is, pci hups, but they did this 'because W.c-y cud not know whether taiey couiu gee thu backing of their countries. The weaknesses oi the league, which had bedn quite obvious, icat not weaknesses of the organisation as ono tkiought of it, but were weaknesses of the Governments upon whose support the league depended. One of ,the most disappointing things that the recei.lt ,crisis in Aiuachuna had revealed was the number of people who were glad that the league was weak. If criticism were to be made, then it 'Should be directed very much more at the Governments, and peoples of the various nations, rather than at the 'league itse'f. In reference, to the crisis in 'the Far .’East, Dr Fisher said that although at the present time is .seemed that \he Japanese anny was doing whatever it liked without paynig attention to anybody, it was a remarkable fact that at .this .very moment there was an organisation before which, however li'ttle the Japanese Government might be prepared to give away, the Japanese representatives felt if necessary to make some explanation of t'heir position. That was unique in the history of the world.

POSITION OF smaller powers. •Speaking of the place that New Zealand occupied in the- League, Hr Fisher said that although, naturally, the impoitant Powers, such as Great Britain, France, or Italy, exercised a very great influence in its affairs, a striking feature of the organisation was that the influence of the smaller Powers was not negligible, or was not in proportion to their wealth, population, or their armies. -Mudh depended on the character of , their representatives at •Geneva. Many of these representatives had been able to do very valuable work toward the cause of international harmony. In this respect, New Zealand had a very great responsibility, which it ought to be willing to tackle. New Zealand was liable, to stand back, and was a litUe afraid to do anything very definite in regard to the League. Sir James Allen had attended six or seven meetings of the Assembly, and he had devoted himself to the work with a considerable amount of zeal, U>r Fisher said. In conclusion Dr. Fisher said that the great difficulty was to get people occupying important positions to take a. reasonably short view. They wore afraid to do that. The impression that one got wag that people were running about and appearing to he doing a great deal of work but they never took a. broad view of the situation ns k whole. In normal times that might be all right, hut in times like the present it seemed to be extremely dangerous. “We cannot afford to wait. If responsible people think that they do not have the public backing, and have not the freedom to look ahead, then it i.s very likely that events will take 'charge, which will be extremely unsatisfactory, and probably disastrous,” Hr. Fisher added.