NEW ZEALAND AND THE LEAGUE.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 120, 7 June 1937, Page 6

NEW ZEALAND AND THE LEAGUE.

The possible destiny of the League df Nations is just i\ow bdiiig brought rather prominently before us by di.9^ cussidns as to wbat it really was that passed between the Hfitisb Foreign Minister, ,i\lr Antbony Eden, and the New Zedland High Commissioner, Alr W. J. Jordan, wben a weak or more back, the question of Abyssinia's representation at the League Assembly was under consideration. Whatever it inay have been — and possibly those irnmediately concerned ate the dnly dnes who realy knoW — -repdrts have had it that Mr. Eden made strong representation to Mr. Jordan and that, 0 as a consequence, the latter considerably modified what he had intended to My. This Mr. Jordan somewhat indigaantly denies, evidently feelitig that it Would be something of a fe* proach to admit that he would be influenced even by so big a man as Gfeat Hritain's Foreign Minister. However that may be the general impressfbn. even iii Mr. Jordan 's own country, will be that Mr. Eden was probabiy the much better jtidg'e as to what it was prudent to say on such a critical occasion. Tossibly, too, it may be ffelt that Mr. Jordan has contracted some slightly overweenittg sense of his owh iniportance aiid, indeed, df that of the littie country he was representihg. So iar at any ratOj Mr. Eden himself has not thought it worth while to give his version of the incident, of which Mr. Vernon Bartlett, a very captious journalistic critic of British fQreign policy would seek to make Sd Much. Whether we shall hear any More abdut it feinains to he seefl, but ih the meantiMe we have had fi'OM Mh £deh a statement of his own views as to the prospects of strengthening the League 's position. 4 Herd, again> we have oiif owii PriMe Minister j Mr. Savage, feported as being "mdst outspokeh" and as ,kVigorous^1 advocating a'strdnget League}" but apparently wlthout giving any indication as to whence the added strength was to be drawn. The fact of .the matter would seem to be that both ' Mi. SkVage and Mrn* Jofdan ard fhll td ruiining dvef df Iofty pfidCiples, but with very scant perception as td hdw they are to be put into practice under existing conditions. Neither oi them seems to realise that with the United States, Germany, •Jtaly and Japan standing aloof there can "be no hope of re4 estal Iishitlg the League oh a fodting that Would make it ih any way effective as a preserver of the peace. They would seeM to liave aiready forgotteii the rather bitter and, it has to be eonfessedi father humiliatifag lesson which Great Britaln herself lias learhed from hef attempt to have the "sanctions" of the League Covenant enforced againSt Italy. . It was then faiTly well demonstrated that, wheii it came to be put to the test, there was' in fact but very littie cohesion even ainong those nations who remained parties to the Covenant. At the same time, too, Great Britain,4 as the iresult of her disafmament policy— initiated by a Labour Government — found herself by no means ready to play her full paft. in checking Signor Mussolini's ambitiops in the only way that with him could prove effective— by the display oi armed strength. Then the position was quite sufficiently difficult when there might be some littie doubt as to Germany lending her aid to Italy. Now it is made all the more difficult by the announcement of a pact of mUtual support between those two countries. Under circumstances such as these il is very evident that there is just now littie chance of reconstructing the League on an effective basis. It may not be necCssary to abandon its principles altogether, but the time is not now for giving them practical shape, and none but the most visionary idealists will fail to recognise this.