NEWS OF THE WEEK T HE Italian question was handled at
the League of Nations Council meeting on Tuesday with marked discretion, the essential passage in the resolution adopted declaring that, while the discussion was adjourned till a special meeting to be held in June, " in the meantime there is no case for modifying the measures previously adopted in collaboration by the members of the League." Sanctions therefore continue in operation, and next month the whole question will be exhaustively con- sidered, with France represented by her new Govern- ment, whose views on the course to be followed arc likely to differ considerably from those of M. Flandin. The opportunity of genuine and cordial co-operation between the two Western European democracies seems at last to exist. If it can be realised the effect on the rest of Europe, particularly on hesitant countries like Poland, will be immense. But if hopeful eyes are being turned by London on Paris anxious eyes are being turned by Paris on London, for views have been expressed in various quarters here, inside and outside the two Houses of Parliament, which lead the Left Wing leaders in France to doubt whether a change of policy by their country would be genuinely welcomed by the British Cabinet. It is the first duty of Mr. Baldwin and Mr. Eden to put that beyond question. Pressure on a nation which has defied the Covenant and glorified in its defiance must be intensified rather than relaxed.
