Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1936. THE LEAGUE OR WAR?

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19024, 26 May 1936, Page 4

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING GISBORNE, TUESDAY, MAY 26, 1936. THE LEAGUE OR WAR?

In two striking addresses delivered bcl'orc Gisborne audiences, Mr. Duncan Hall, a member of the secretariat of the League of Nations, has done a great deal to clarify the issues confronting the world in this troubled age, and there can be little doubt that what he has had to say will go a long way towards giving the public a fuller realisation of the gravity of the international situation. There is nothing new in his assertion that the only barrier to a greater war than the world has yet known is the organisation of collective security through the League of Nations; but Mr. Hall was able to associate this declaration with such an array of solid facts and hard logic that he lias given to a somewhat common-place statement an impressiveness and understanding which did not previously exist. Unfortunately, the prestige of the League has suffered, almost immeasurably, as c result of its failure to prevent the invasion and conquest of Abyssinia, but serious though this defeat undoubtedly was, the fact remains that the prill ciples for which the League stands are still unchallenged and unehallengable. It still remains to be shown, however, whether these ideals can be attained, and their attainment depends, not upon anything which the League itself can do, but upon the degree of support which the membei nations are prepared to accord it. Mr. Hall gave his audiences a timely reminder that the history of the League in connection with the Abyssinian dispute was not entirely one of failure. On the contrary, the successful imposition of sanctions against one of the leading Powers was a most notable achievement. Admittedly, the decision involved a tremendous experiment, but experience has shown, firstly, that it is possible to obtain agreement on a vital question among more than fifty nations, and, secondly, that concerted action on the lines adopted can bo a success. In other words, sanctions, although they did not succeed in this illstance in either preventing or stopping war, did have the effect of exertirg almost crippling economic pressure unon the country against whom they were directed. More important, then, than the actual result, was the evidence oi the results that could be obtained it action were taken more promptly and more drastically. Twelve months ago, there were- many Governments which believed that the machinery of the League could not function; to-day they have been compelled to revise their opinions, for they know from experience (hat the effectiveness of the covenant is restricted only by the measure of support that is accorded to it. In other words, the machinery of the League has been given a try-out; its performance hardly came up to expectations, because it was a little slow in starting and because some of the cogs in the wheel were lacking in finish and inclined to stick; but it did work, and it did show that if it was limed iij) a little, if its many component parts were in a position and a condition to bear the strain imposed upon them, it could have given far better results. And this, bo it remembered, is the most intricate and most complicated piece of machinery ever devised by human ingenuity. Because, on a trial run, its performance 'was not perfect is it to be ruthlessly scrapped, or is the world to persevere with it until it succeeds in making it the instrument it was designed to be? Any individual confronted with the same question in ordinary everyday life would unhesitatingly answer that it was worth at least another trial, and in this case a similar answer ia demanded, not only in fairnoss to the League itself, but also because of the grim alternative. If the nations will not support the Leaguo solely be-

cause of. the lofty, ideals.it represents, they they must.do.so through.the fear of the consequences to them of a continuation of- the rule of force. Here again Abyssinia provides a lesson \o the world, fpr what has happened to Abyssinia in the last few months might,’ in the absence of collective security, be the fate of any other nation -in the future. In-this age of aerial progress no country, however strong, is immune'from attack, for, to quote Mr. Hall again, it is practically impossible for any .nation to 'enjoy security based upou its ' individual strength. That is-the first important fact to be'faced, and-the second is that there are in the world to-day potential aggressors who will be restrained only if they arc given reason to believe that there is in existence a strong League that is able and willing

in defend the weak and uphold the force of. law against the law of force. It all comes back then to the inescapable conclusion that: either it must be shown that collective security can be made to work or else the world must prepare for inevitable war, and because this is the case the League of Nations, despite its . failures, despite its m'anifest . weaknesses, must be strengthened and developed until it is, indeed, an unassailable bulwark ,ol' international peace. :