LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents arc requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week " paragraphs. Signed letters are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym.—Ed.. THE SPECTATOR.]
THE LEAGUE AND PREVENTIVE MEASURES
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,—Your interesting leading article of September 20th is aptly summarised by the concluding sentence regarding the position of the League today : " The League holds in its hand not merely Abyssinia's life but its own." This is a fact recognised by all thinking people . of whatever nationality, for the whole of the civilised world is waiting to hear the verdict of Geneva.
One of the principal and most obvious defects of the Methods of the League is the delay which is likely to occur lii giving effect to its decisions to impose sanctions of any kind. Long and intensely fatiguing sittings take place over a " trial " before it has even apprehended a prisoner or shown any signs of readiness or ability to do so. That its cumbersome machinery is working today is largely due to the fortunate coincidence of Abyssinia's tropical rainfall which has held up the aggressor nation's attack.
What it needs before anything is, I believe, determination and ability to take anticipatory and precautionary police Measures at the first sign of impending disturbance. I feel convinced that if each of the numerous nations who voted recently in support of the Covenant had. drafted small contin- gents of troops to Addis Ababa, three months ago, the present crisis would never have arisen. These drafts from each individual nation might have been quite small, sufficient to make up a total international force of, perhaps, 5,000 men. They would have been, at this stage, merely a manifestation of the collective will of the nations represented, but none the lets impressive, even so, as an earnest of what would follow if the Duce persisted in his attempt to rape Abyssinia. The cost to each nation of this premium on a peace insurance policy Would have been trifling---a mere fraction of what it is costing now to send ships, aircraft and troops to the troubled area. 13tit the effect would, none the less, have been tremendous— Probably indeed decisive. As things were Mussolini gambled on the belief that, when put to the test, the League would not hold together, far less show its teeth.
For one outbreak of civil strife in this and other countries, Where damage to life and property has occurred, there have been dozens averted by having police forces drafted to the , scene of disturbance at the first hint that trouble might be brewing. This principle of acting first and talking after- meirds is, I am sure, the one which in future should be followed by an organisation possessing so overwhelming a numerical advantage as that of the League. At this very moment there are at least two other danger spots where such anticipatory action should be taken without further delay, for it is indeed certain tha t Germany has designs alike on Memel and on Austria Avl 'ere there is no tropical rainfall to impede operations. tler ultimute aim is said • to be the seizure of the Ukraine, to achieve which purpose, she must have either control of, or alliance with, Poland and Austria. It is even hinted that she has a secret agreement with Japan to strike simultaneously at Russia. But however this may be, there is no disguising the threatening character of the outlook. Surely therefore now is the time for the League to take its courage in both hands and send small international forces to both Lithuania and Austria as a warning of its determination to stamp out international anarchy. The prompt performance of its police duties are of Primary importance if international peace and well-being are to be secured, But it must show no less zeal in the per- formance of its judicial function, for at the same time as it takes police action it should with equal determination apply itself to the task of hearing the plaintiff's case, and if that case Were made good, of redressing his grievance.
Convincing as Sir Norman Angell's arguments regarding claims for expansion, in your issue of September 20th are, so far as they go,, there have always been motives, other than economic ones, which have given rise to such expansion —the ambition to spread national culture, religion and science, for instance. Religious and class persecution have also had much to do with it. Expansion is usually attributed to bad motives, but all nations (Spain and Portugal are egregious examples) have passed through prolonged periods of " erup- tion " and quiescence, often quite unrelated to economic vicissitudes, birth-rate fluctuations or persecutions. Indeed, those very races, the Scandinavian ones, which eites as desiring no expansion today, twelve hundred years ago were, so to speak, " eruption " and penetrated Europe to its southernmost bounds. Yet Britain today has no reason to regret the Danish and Norman conquests and the measure of political cohesion which resulted from the latter.
Is it wise to attempt to suppress altogether national impulses of a similar nature manifest in Germany and Italy today ? Would it not be more prudent to absorb the surplus energy of those nations by directing it to regions where it can help to promote peace and serve the cause of international justice, assuming, of course, that Germany will agree to rejoin the League ? Sooner or later the League will have to come to grips with Japan, who, with utter disregard of Treaty obli- gations, and conscious of the fact that the League is at present impotent in the Far East, has flouted that body and is steadily prosecuting her plans for the absorption and domination of the whole of Eastern Asia. Are there no portions of the Far East—districts where the natives are far more backward than they are in Abyssinia—in which both Germany and Italy might be given colonies or have mandates transferred to them ? Given sufficient determination on the part of other nations, there is not the slightest reason why Japan should be allowed to ride roughshod over Asia, and certainly it would be a glorious blow for the cause of international peace if she could be finally brought to hook and made to realise that no individual nation can stand against the collective will of the world at large.—Your obedient servant,
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