Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1936 EUROPE AND THE LEAGUE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXX, 16 June 1936, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, JUNE 16, 1936 EUROPE AND THE LEAGUE

THERE were printed yesteiday two items of news which had a strong bearing upon each other, though they came from different sources. The first of these items was a message which said that Rumania, Jugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia usually known as the Little Entente—propose to unify their armaments, and are holding a five-days’ conference, with a view to effecting that purpose. Those thiee countries, though under separate Governments, have for several years past been regarded as united for the purpose of defence, but now it is evident that such unification is complete-the chiefs of their general staffs are meeting at the present time for the purpose ol co-ordinating the defences of the three countries. The inference of course is that they are apprehensive; that, in spite of the League of Nations and’its Covenant, they are not satisfied that they may not be attacked by some predatory nation or combination oi such nations; and therefore they are preparing to support each other in case of emergency. The other item of news, to which reference has been made, is the memorandum of Senor Madariaga, chairman of the League s Committee of Thirteen, in which he makes certain drastic proposals for reforming the League of Nations Covenant. In essence those proposals are (1) That the League should cease to be an executive body, find should become an advisory body—that it should not put its edicts into operation by force of arms; and (2) that it should revise its Covenant by deleting those Articles which empower the League to use force of arms for the purpose of bringing to book a recalcitrant member of the League, and provide for the protection of all members and their territories against aggression. It is because the League failed to protect China from the aggression o£ Japan, and failed to save Abyssinia from invasion by Italy, that the three Balkan countries are forming a defensive alliance. As a body whose duty it is to prevent its members from making war on each other, the League has failed, and the question is whether in the future it can so strengthen its executive force as to enable it to compel its members to maintain peace, and protect all of them against aggression from outside of the League. The three Balkan countries evidently think the League cannot protect them, and so they have decided to make preparations for acting together for their mutual protection. This decision is ta be welcomed, because it makes for the maintenance of peace in Europe, to whom peace is essential if the cause of civilisation is to be upheld in that Continent.