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Hokitika Guardian, 30 May 1933, Page 4

In tbe course of a recent wireless broadcast! Sir Eric Drummond referring bp (the. work of the League of Nations, said the absence of United States? and Russia had greatly weakened the Lnuaie’s action outside Europe. The non-pnrtidlpetion of America when tin League!! bed been called on to consider certain non-European

disputes might prove to be a tragedy net only for the League, but also for ■America. It was true that through tlie Pact cf Paris, of which M. Rriand and Mr Kellogg were the framers, war had been outlawed. America was a signatory, hut action under it was at present only parallel to action under the Covenant, and tlie two lines did not necessarily converge. To his mind it was essential that some method should be found by which those two great instruments of peace should be linked up and a common oasis for conference secured. But till that happened, the League must go on and do the best it could for the preservation of peace in each special case which came before it . The League: had not succeeded and would not always succed in stopping hostilities. Indeed, the possibility of ultimate war was foreseen and admitted by tlie authors of the Covenant. This possibility, which was known as the gap> in the Covenant, had, however, been largely eliminated through the Pact of Paris. But supposing that the League stopped 50 per cent of possible wars—and the percentage was infinitely higher—would it not be worth while ? Would any reasonable man or woman condemn it or refuse it support because it might have failed in a few difficult and exceptional cases? The coming of the Covenant and the Pact of "Paris had had on© curious and unforeseen result. No nation to-day wished to declare war on another. Measures of forcej involving hostilities, might he undertaken, but there was technically no state of war. It wan an encouraging sign that no country dared expose itself to the open and legal accusation that it had broken the Covenant and the Pact of Paris, hut it might well be that those who. drafted future international treaties for th e , organisation of peace would have to substitute tlje words “acts of force” for “declaration of war.” .