THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LEAGUE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3581, 31 October 1922, Page 26

THE ASSEMBLY OF THE LEAGUE.

“ NO NEXT WAR.” N (From Our Own Correspondent.) LONDON, September 5. On the eve of the opening of the third assembly of the League of Nations, a special service, in English, was held at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Geneva. Lord Balfour read the lessons and the Archbishop of Canterbury was the preacher. The presence of the head ol the English. Church in the chair of Calvin excited great interest among the followers of the great Reformer in Geneva, and is regarded by them as a visible proof of the spiritual union cf all sects of Protestantism, despite the apparent diversity of tenets and doctrine. The old cathedral in which Calvin preached and where the chair he use£! is still to be seen was crowded to the doors by an enormous congregation. Special places were reserved for the delegates to the League of Nations’ Assembly, the staffs of the League, and the International Labour Bureau, and the members of the English, Scottish, and American churches now in Geneva. A LIVING SOUL. Strong claims for Christian sanction for the League of Nations were made by the Archbishop in his sermon. Preaching from the text, “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, . and all these tilings shall be added unto you,” the Primate said the League of Nations might go far to make the Kingdom of God a reality among men —an accepted reality—in our own lifetime. Tlie League, though it touched only a portion of the field cf'Christian faith and life, could claim both for it-s purpose and its policy, the surest Christian sanction “Its keynote vibrates in harmony with the keynote of the Christian faith itself, and the Christian faith lies at the corn of the progressive history of mankind. The Christian faith had met in the past, and it meets today, more than anything else can the elemental needs cf cur common nature. I make bold! to assert, that, in enjoining among the peoples of the earth the Covenant of the League of Nations; we arc simply applying tiie Christian faith to international life. We believe in the kingship of God for tho governance of our conduct, and we want nations loyally to conform to it as nations, not merely men as men. And that are wo not persuaded of it, or we should not bo here—that can come true. We mean that it shall. The League of Nations is now a living body among us. Wo want to ensure for it a living soul. For that we must see that it is in touch not only with practical politics, but with tho very highest and deepest things. The hour is ripe for the husbandry of a League of Nations—ripe fox the sowing and then for the growth of popular thoughts unattainable before. A craving is astir for better, healthier things, not in cue country only, but in many. We have been watching with eager and tremulous anxiety during recent months the sustained endeavour which competent men, with the keenest brains in Europe, have in complete honesty been making to decide and define what is each nation’s trust at this juncture. Many of us have been walking, as it were, on tiptoe across Europe, in the determination not to interrupt, and so perhaps spoil, consultations the delicacy and difficulty of which it is impossible to exaggerate.” The league was entered into sacredly. It would be, it must be, sacredly fulfilled. The league, was a positive thing—no mere prohibition or restraint, no mere policing against war, but a defined and courageous statement of forward action. It reached far beyond national patriotism; though it embraced and ennobled it. They were set upon realising m actual fact or fulfilment among men an ideal of righteous governance by common consent for the common good. Let the league take shape, and it would I>3 the chief on earth among those powers ordained by God. How worthless, how ignorant, how heartless sounded to-day the easy talk they could remember in pre-war da}’s upon tho lips of some, that a war would not be a bad thing for us after all, that a little blood-letting was all to the good, and so on. Good God* would anybody so speak now. They had seen war’s unspeakable horrors, and deliberately said that, Gold helping them, there should be no “ next time.” A thoughtful man in 1915 wrote: “ That war has shown that public opinion is power less to restrain a nation which feels strong enough to defy it. ' It was theirs now, seven years later, to secure such public opinion that to defy it would be national suicide. The securing of that public opinion was a matter not for statesmen, but for peoples at large. The foremost thinkers and statesmen and rulers now alive in Christendom had thrown their strength int? devising plans io make the thing impossible; and meantime they might surely say that militarism had fashioned its •own coffin. They were there to clinch the nails. CHRISTIANITY AND THE NATIONS. Bishop Welldon, Dean of Durham, regards the Archbishop’s sermon, and, indeed, the very fact of his being invited to preach, and consenting to do so, a witness to tiie unique position of fhe Church of England in tho eyes not- only of Christendom but of the civilised world, a position which will one day be strengthened and heightened, if the growing sympathy of the Church of England and the non-Episcopalian churches filial' eventually attain some measure- of intercommunion. For what head of a Church except the Archbishop of Canterbury would bo welcomed as tiie spokesman of tire moral sentiments inspiring the fifty-one peoples who have constituted themselves tho signatories of the League of Nations? Who else could be so competent to pronounce tho benediction cf Christianity upon the signal effort which is being made under the auspices of tho League of Nations to deliver humanity from many evils, and especially from the curse and the shame of militarism? English churchmen and members of the Anglican communion all over the world are apt to lie so sadly occupied with tho comparatively unimportant dissensions among themselves or in relation to the other reformed churches as to forget how commanding a function the Church of England d is char gras, or may discharge, in the religious economy of tho nations. The Archbishop’s sermon, preached in such a place and at such a time, may well afford inspiration to all who believe that humanity stand® in as urgent need today as ever before of the spiritual motives which the Christian Church, as a united body, is supremely qualified to inspire, and thafrt the key of reunion among Christians will ultimately be found to lie not so much in a blind submission to

authority as in inte-lkctu&l and spiritual sympathy. Relative to the Archbishop’s eloquent address, the Daily Telegraph remarks: “Diplomacy may speak a different dialect from the pulpit, but the idea of the necessity of ‘national sacrifice’ is making headway also in this field, if only because it is becoming more- universally understood that is is impossible for the creditor nations of Europe to look for payment in full from their debtors. It cannot bo done. The obligations are not denied, nor is the justice of the demand, but the debt cannot be paid. Last week’s decision of the Reparations Commission has brought that truth home with new conviction to many who were already fully persuaded of its general truth, as well as to others who previously had been most reluctant to admit it.” WORK OF TIIE LEAGUE. The agenda cf the session includes the following items: Amendments to Articles 10 and 18 of the Covenant. Hungary a requests for admission to the League. Reduction of armaments. Report of Temporary Mixed Commission. Work of the technical organisations of the league: (a) Provisional, Economic, and hi nano; al Committee. (b) Advisory and technical Committee on Communications and transit, (c) Health organisation of the League, including the work of the Epidemic Commission, Traffic in opium. Report of Advisory Com nut tee. Deportation of women and children in Turkey and adjacent countries. Work of the Commission of Inquiry. traffic in women and children. Work of tac Advisory Committee. SUBJECTS FOR DISCUSSION. This agenda- contains several subjects likely to cause considerable discussion, including the proposed amendments to the Covenant of the League, with regard to which there is a wide diversity of opinion. Canada, for instance, proposed the abolition of Clause 10, which requires the members of the League to assist any other member threatened with aggression. It was this clause that was the principal reason why the United Stales refused to join the League, as public opinion in that country, especially in the Middle West, was entirety opposed to undertaking any liability which might render it neocssary for American troops to take part in a war in which tho United States had no direct interest. Disarmament, to be brought forward by Lord Robert Cecil, is certain to meet writh strong opposition from the French delegation. SUGGESTED FINANCIAL HELP FOR AUSTRIA. Austrian affairs are also likely to come into the agenda. The Austrian Premier lias l>een invited to meet the Council of the League to discuss the question of remedies to relieve the situation in Austria. It is said in Geneva that the entire Austrian currency could now be bought up for 3| million sterling, and the question is whether this comparatively small sum should beadvanced by t-lie League on the security of the Austrian railways, and the fiduciary circulation of Austria put on a basis which would have some relation to its actual value, either the issue of new currency or using that of some neighbouring State, possibly Italy, until Austria has in an appreciable degree recovered from tho economic slough in which she is now sunk. If the interview between Monsignor Seipel and the League Council produces a satisfactory result, the question will then come before the Assembly for consideration. It is also stated that certain large banks would ba prepared to advance a loan of 15 millions to Austria if guaranteed by tho League 7 'of Nations; the giving of such a guarantee is, of course, a matter which can only be done by the Assembly. PROTECTION OF MINORITIES. Tho protection of minorities is one of the thorniest questions that will come up for consideration. There are in every one of the new or extended States in Central Europe groups of discontented minorities whose allegiance has been transferred from one country to another a® the result of Hie rearrangement of t-lie map of the Continent by the Peace Treaties, and each of them contains the potentiality of trouble. The League of Nations is charged with the protection of these minorities, and finds it difficult to give them satisfaction without offending tho countries to which they now belong. Hungary is renewing her application for admission to the League, which she withdrew last year in view of the opposition of the Little Entento Powers. These will certainty maintain their objections to the admission of Hungary unless guarantees with regard to the pretensions of the Hapsburgs to the throne are given by Hungary. The Little Entente will not permit the restoration of the monarchy in Hungary, and will oppose any admission of Hungary to tho League unless they are satisfied on this point. The constitution of the council of tho league is also likely to cause lively discussion. Tho Little Entente and Scandinavian Powers are inclined to- make a strong effort to secure a place among the non-permanent members of the council. At present the nonpermanent members are Spain, Brazil, Belgium, and China. Efforts will be made to replace one of these by either Sweden or Czecho-Slovakia. 11. Hymans, representing Belgium, is about to retire ,and his seat-may go to M. Blunting (Sweden) of Dr Benes, or some other Czech statesman. SHARING THE COST. The allocation of the expenses of the league is another matter on which some- dissatisfaction exists. When Mie league was started expenses were divided on the uiue Lr-sfe as those of the Postal Uni;>n, but this was found to work out very inequitably, and a system was adopted by which the total cost was divided into units, of which England and France pay 90 each, and India, Italy, and Japan 65 each. Australia, fallen far from her ancient high estate, takes rank with such countries as Guatemala, Liberia, and Salvador, and only pays two shares. Australia, which pays 15 units, is said to be d ssatisfied, and intends to raise the whole question of the allocation of expenses. EXPLANATIONS ASKED FOR. The council of the league, on the recommendation of the Mandate Commission, has decided to request England and Australia, and New Zealand to give further explanation as to their alleged intention to lay phosphate deposits on the mandatory island of Nauru, in tho Pacific. Lord Balfcur promised to vote with other members of the council on the condition that his action should not be considered as endorsing the criticisms of tho mandatory Powyls—namely, Biitain, Australia, and New Zealand China and Japan are also asked to explain the manner whereby the mandates of Pacific islands are being upheld with coolie labour.