1 JANUARY 1927, Page 5

Take, for instance, the new Treaty between the United States

and Panama. The small Republic of Panama has placed herself absolutely at the disposal of the United States for the purposes of war. No doubt the Treaty pro- viding for this is only the logical conclusion of arrange- ments which had already been made between the immense Republic and the small one. If the United States were compelled to fight for the safety of the Canal, she could not do it without overrunning Panama. So why not, it may be asked, prevent the necessity of irregular conduct in the future and regularize by treaty a course which would have to be pursued in any case ? That sounds all very well, but Panama is a member of the League of Nations, and by signing away all her rights to the United States she has been false to all those articles of the Coven- ant which require her to submit disputes to arbitration before going to war.