23 MARCH 1918, Page 3

Lord Parmoor asked the House of Lords on Tuesday to

approve " the principle of a League of Nations and the constitution of a tribunal whose orders shall be enforceable by an adequate sanction." Such a League was, he said, the only alternative to the doctrine of force. If peace foUnded on such a League was to endure, the Central Powers must come into it. There must also be some system of relative disarmament. The League would be utterly ineffective without an " adequate sanction." Lord Lansdowne said that a League of Nations must comprise all the important Powers, and must be armed with " powers sufficient to secure unquestioning obedience to its decisions," by moral and economic pressure and by material coercion. He welcomed the favourable attitude of America, which could use the economic weapon so effectively. He understood the objection to admitting a faithless Power like Germany, but in this case nobody proposed to rely upon a German pledge or a German signature. The inclusion of Germany—the anarchist of Europe—in such a League would do more than anything else to rid the world of Prussian militarism. If we were not to look forward to the realization of this dream, there was no prospect of lasting peace.