REFORMING THE LEAGUE
Many problems will no doubt come before ,the hundredth session of the Council of the League of Nations, which opens at Geneva today, but probably none more important than the demand for the reform of the League itself. This, as the "Daily Telegraph" points out, according to a cable message from London today, appears to be coming as. the result of a "growing movement among minor Powers in Europe to seek some method of recognition of the Italian conquest of Abyssinia."
There is something ironic, says the "Telegraph," in the- spectacle of some smaller States, which not long ago were urgent in pressing forward condemnation of Italy and .the application of sanctions against her, now competing in the cordiality of their overtures to an Italy self-expelled from the League. Further irony may be seen in the choice of the Council's hundredth session as an occasion for discussions on reform of the depleted League itself.
Poland is one of the countries demanding reform. Colonel Beck, one of the leading politicians of that country, earlier in die month said that the present international crisis was partly due.to the weakness and failures of the League, which was not strong enough to enforce the Covenant. Similarly, the Swedish Foreign Minister (Herr Sandier) last week declared that trie League was "evidently incapable of effective intervention when the interests of the Great Powers are ideally at stake." Britain and the Dominions have elected '"'to stand by the League, which they regard still as the most effective existing instrument for collective security. On the other hand, a message on Monday announcing that the British Prime Minister (Mr. Chamberlain) "proposed to call a conference between Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, and Britain in June to guarantee twenty years of peace" emphasised "a drastic reform of the League" as a basis. How far the League can be "reformed" without weakening its influence is the real problem. It will be interesting to see what ihc discussions of the Council will bring forth.
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Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 21, 26 January 1938, Page 10
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334REFORMING THE LEAGUE Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 21, 26 January 1938, Page 10
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