The Future of Manchukuo About the precise procedure to be
followed in the handling of the Manchurian dispute at Geneva, and the relations of the Council and Assembly in the matter, there is room for sonic discussion, but about the main lines of League action there ought to be none at all. Lord Lytton claimed in the House of Lords that his report should serve as brief for the British delegate. It ought in fact to serve as brief for every delegate, for no one—certainly not the Japanese representative, M. Matsuoka—has brought to light the smallest reason for questioning the Lytton Commission's facts or chal- lenging its conclusions. In working out such a- con- structive policy as the Commission has outlined the League can afford to move slowly so long as it moves steadily, but there is one essential step by which the Assembly, when it takes the matter up, will be judged. It is the plain and manifest duty of its members to pledge themselves definitely not to recognize the Govern- ment of Manchukuo. The general principle of refusing to recognize a situation created in violation of international engagements has already been established by the League, following a lead given by the Government of the United States, and the application of the general rule to the particular case may seem to follow inevitably. But tha step must be taken openly and unhesitatingly. On taken it will mark a historic stage in the development of international relations.
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