30 OCTOBER 1936, Page 1

King Carol at Prague The cohesion or otherwise of the

Little Entente is one of the factors that may some day determine peace or war in Europe. The fabric of the entente is definitely under test. Czechoslovakia is the most exposed of the three States to external danger, as the _ most cursory glance at the map of Europe will show, and the danger would be the greater if there were reason to believe that she could not count on the support of her partners in the entente in a moment of need. There seem to be no grounds for that belief, and so far as it exists the visit of King Carol of Rumania to Prague this week should go far to dispel it. It appears likely indeed that before King Carol leaves the Czech capital new understandings drawing the bonds of the entente still closer may be arrived at. Strong economic influences are being exerted on Jugoslavia by both Germany and Italy, and with sonic effect. But treaties on which the Little Entente is based have withstood every strain for fifteen years, and there is no reason to suspect disloyalty to them today. The fall of M. Titulescu has not, so far as can be seen, involved modification of Rumania's fidelity to those obligations. Rumania is on cordial terms with Poland, and if by her good offices she can case the tension • between that country and Czechoslovakia she will be doing much to fortify peace in Western Europe. It is something in these days of disintegration that both the Little Entente group and the Balkan group should be tending methodically to consolidate their union in both the economic and the military fields.

* * *