The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro.” TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 1936. Critical Days for the League

Southland Times, Issue 22859, 7 April 1936, Page 6

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. “Luceo Non Uro.” TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 1936. Critical Days for the League

These are critical days for the League of Nations. In a report telegraphed from Addis Ababa the correspondent of The Times, London, said: The next few weeks are pregnant with fate for the whole world. Abyssinia will in that period either lose the war or by a superhuman, heroic effort postpone its end. It is equally clear that the measures taken by the League 41 months ago have not had the slightest effect. There are things which I know but cannot write. From them I see that the League stands upon the final edge of failure.” It is not difficult to guess in general terms what this correspondent knows but cannot write. Since Herr Hitler took the stage with his reoccupation of the Rhineland the Powers have forgotten Signor Mussolini's little adventure in Africa; and the conclusion is inescapable that they have forgotten it deliberately. The imposition of sanctions has been becoming more and more embarrassing to them. At the time of Herr Hitler’s intervention France and Britain were already at odds; and they were faced with the necessity of reaching a momentous decision on oil sanctions. Germany’s threat made it more than ever necessary that France should keep on friendly terms with Italy. So the decision was postponed, avoided. This may not be a precise record of events, but it is the only feasible explanation why the imposition of oil sanctions has suddenly been lost sight of; and it is an explanation by no means flattering either to the League of Nations or to the League’s new-found leader, Great Britain.

There has been a fairly general opinion, supported by military experts at Home, that Italy would be defeated in the end by her internal difficulties and the obstacles of climate and terrain in the theatre of war. Many people have been inclined to leave the matter at that. But within the last few days the situation in Abyssinia seems to have changed radically. Judging by the more reliable reports, the Italian armies now for the first time have the upper hand. Largely by the use of huge quantities of poison gas they have inflicted successive defeats on the Abyssinians. The Italian advance will inevitably force the League to a decision. Either it must impose more severe pressure on the nation which it has declared the aggressor; or it must admit having failed to establish its authority in the first crucial attempt to restrain a Great Power. There is no middle course. If the League hopes to uphold the system of collective security it must make the system effective. Failure to do that means the end of the system, the end of the League, and in all probability the end of civilization.