24 MAY 1930, Page 2

M. Briand's plan is, however, something more than a sort

of regional version of the League. As was pointed out in the Observer, this is the first time since the War that a Continental statesman has proposed a pacific organ- ization which depends for its efficacy, not on military "sanctions " or juridical instruments, but on simple common sense and good will. That imponderable—the will to peace and union—is clearly what lacks in Europe and hinders participation in the present peace policy of this country and Ameriea. If M. Briand'i proposal produces, in time, the indispensable cement, it will rank as one of the most important diplomatic ventures since the War. It was unfortunate that at a Pan-European Conference in Berlin last Sunday, the day after publication of the Quai D'Orsay Memorandum, Mr. Amery should have declared that Great Britain could never enter any such European Union: