The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1930. EUROPE AND THE LE AGUE

Southland Times, Issue 21195, 23 September 1930, Page 6

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 1930. EUROPE AND THE LE AGUE

The convention under which the members of the League of Nations are to guarantee liipited financial assistance to any member nation which is the subject of aggressive military action by another Power, must not be taken as a measure favouring war, nor is it wise to require that it shall be linked with the Disarmament Treaty, as Mr Scullin has suggested. The League of Nations does not exist in the belief that future wars are impossible. In fact it owes its origin and its continued development to the belief that wars are still possible, and so it takes whatever steps it can to check military action and to divert international disputes into channels where arbitration can reach a settlement without the intervention of war. This convention providing for financial aid to the victim of foreign aggression is the. League’s method of arraying the force of the League behind an aggrieved member and it is believed that in this way the moral force of the Covenant will be intensified. It is possible to bring such a con-, vention into operation very quickly. On the other hand the disarmament proposals arc hanging fire, and will continue to do so, because one or two of the Powers have not yet reached the point where they can repose absolute confidence in the authority of the League to prevent war. It is too much to' ask any power to reduce its defensive forces until it can be sure that it is safe. France has been a stumbling block, and she will continue to move with caution while she is uncertain about the future attitude of Italy and Germany. With the rise of the Fascists in Germany ready to talk about repudiating the Young Plan and the republic’s obligations, France has come to look with more suspicion on the attitude of the Germans. At the same time her relations with Italy are too tender to make her regaid disarmament with favour. The Naval Conference in London showed that France and Italy were regarding each other suspiciously. Their attitude is easy to understand. In various places, especially in Northern Africa, there are danger spots. Italy is eager to expand her dominion in Northern Africa and her plans there menace French interests, in Tripolitana and in Tunisia, where the readjustment of frontiers and the rights of Italian nationals in French territory provide issues of an extremely inflammatory nature. In Yugo-Slavia there is a clash between the interest of the two Powers. France’s method of securing her own protection is to maintain military conventions with the new rations in Central Europe, and as part of this scheme she maintains a friendly connection with Yugo-Slavia. Italy, with Mussolini making flambuoyant speeches, wishes to keep the Adriatic clear of the influence of any other power, and this has involved her with Yugo-Slavia, where the Italians are very unpopular. Whenever Italy makes a move in the direction of Yugo-Slavia, France becomes alert. Another friction point is the fact that many men who oppose Fascism in Italy have found refuge in France, and the Italian Government openly blames the French Government for the latitude given the foes of the Fascist movement. There is ample evidence of mutual suspicion, and while it exists France will scrutinize very carefully any proposal for the reduction of the military forces. This does not mean that France is aggressive. Actually .she is eager for peace, but she cannot be persuaded that the League is yet strong enough to prevent military action, and so the disarmament discussions, so far as any practical application is concerned, are likely to be protracted. In .the meantime the Financial Aid Convention offers the opportunity for a firm step'forward in the march of international co-operation, and Mr Scullin could have shown more confidence in the League if he Had registered his approval of this measure without adding the qualification that it should wait on the signing of the Disarmament Treaty. i .