When is War War ?
Paraguay has declared war on Bolivia, and it is stated that this is the first formal declaration of the kind anywhere in the world since the Peace Conference. ' There is some satisfaction to be got out of that reflection, but not much, for it means in the main that nations are circumventing the plain provisions of the League Covenant by simply making war instead of declaring it. (Paraguay's action, in point of fact, was largely justified, for till a formal state of war existed her opponent, Bolivia, could obtain arms and supplies freely from anywhere.) • The outstanding example is, of course, Japan, whose armies are at present advancing not into Manchuria, but into China proper, till they are already almost within shouting distance of Peking. That, it is pertinent to observe, is precisely what well-qualified authorities pointed out would inevitably happen once Japan *as allowed to pursue her way unchecked in Manchuria. This is not the moment for recrimination, but it is as plain as daylight that the trouble from which Europe is suffering today, and which makes European States powerless to intervene in Asia, is the demonstra- tion that a strong State can invade a weak State with perfect impunity. Under such conditions, who would dare .to disarm ? This country bears a heavy responsibility for its nervelessness in the first six months of the Manchurian dispute.
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