The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro.” MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1935. BACK TO THE LEAGUE

Southland Times, Issue 22771, 23 December 1935, Page 6

The Southland Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro.” MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1935. BACK TO THE LEAGUE

So much of the comment by the London Press circles about the domestic political situation and questions of party leadership, that the significance of the debate on the peace plan is depreciated; but while Mr Baldwin may have appeared to have suffered a personal failure, the fact remains that the Government withdrew from its plan because it felt itself to be up against British public opinion, and up against world public opinion as well. To-day we see that the preponderance of world opinion is against Italy, and it is a simple truth that whatever may be the diplomatic and political difficulties people generally are opposed to any action which will appeal’ to reward Italy for her brutal aggression. Dread of war, thanks to a long campaign in favour of blind pacifism, marks the political actions of most of the governments, but if the nations could be marshalled in support of the League the future would be simple, and possibly this line will yet be taken. Sir Samuel Hoare’s resignation has not moved the danger of war further away, and the explanation of that fact is that the people of Britain have at last realized that peace cannot be bought regardless of the price to be paid. The keystone of Sir Samuel Hoare’s policy as Foreign Secretary was his desire to avoid war at all hazards, and on two grounds—one, the general, that a conflict was undesirable, the other, the particular, that Britain was not strong enough in the Mediterranean to run the risk of unaided action. ,To-day the naval and military movements in the Mediterranean zone show that the consequences of the abandonment of the Hoare-Laval plan are recognized. Sir Samuel Hoare and Mr Baldwin feared that a decisive step under the oil sanctions would provoke a war which would shatter the League, and they preferred to take a line which would have left the League so discredited that its maintenance would not have been worth a moment’s thought. The trouble lies not in Britain so much as in France and the rest of the world. A long time ago it was pointed out that the application of economic sanctions was an act of war, and quite recently Mr William Hughes was compelled to leave the Lyons Government in Australia because he drew attention to this fact. Economic sanctions have not yet resulted in war because Italy regards them as unimportant, but she has made it clear that effective sanctions will be accepted as an act of war, and the world is hesitant, having failed to realize the force of the argument previously presented as a warning. In the face of that hesitancy Sir Samuel Hoare and Mr Baldwin fumbled, and to-day the League is confronted by an issue which is vital to itself and to the world. France has been given a sharp reminder that her efforts to undertake a dual role as member of the League and friend of Italy are generally condemned because she subordinates the League to her personal interests in Italy, and she is confronted by a situation which demands the decision invested by the terms of Article XVI. of the Covenant setting out that every member of the League must look on Italy as a nation with which it is at war. The implications of Article XVI. have not been fully realized or they have been ignored in the meantime, and while it is disturbing to find the prospect of war so near the bald fact is that a fight for the League is a good fight. Either the League is to be dissolved or reduced to an implement for concerted action in non-political spheres, oi' the members of it must impress the world with their readiness to accept in full their responsibilities. It is a good fight because once the world is made to understand that collective

can bring to its knees a country which has prepared for military action, there will be an end to this flouting of the League of Nations. The House of Commons debate has not cleared the air of danger. It has killed the idea that peace can be bought by bribing the bully, and it has left to the League the problem of deciding whether it is worth its place in the world. Public opinion is so strongly against Italy that the opportunity for the assertion of the League’s authority is favourable, and if firm action is taken the response among the peoples of the world will be favourable. Mussolini should recognize that the resignation of Sir Samuel Hoare is an Italian defeat.