NEWS OF THE WEEK T HE purpose of the Argentine proposal
that the League of Nations Assembly should be summoned at an earlydate to consider the whole question of sanctions is not yet clear. There is no doubt that the decision on sanctions must ultimately lie• with the Assembly, but there is a good deal to by said for leaving matters as they are till the ordinary meeting of the Assembly in September. The Argentine Government, however, does not think so, and wants the matter settled now. The question is what kind of settlement it desires, for Argentina, though voting originally in favour of sanctions, has never actually put them in force. It apparently desires to put on record the non-recognition of Italy's annexation of Abyssinia, but to be content with that would be intoler- able. Meanwhile, Italy is taking every step to rivet her hold on the country. A new constitution for the three territories of Eritrea, Italian Somaliland and Ethiopia, grouped in a new Empire of Italian East Africa, has been n promulgated, providing for a Governor- General at Addis Ababa with five subsidiary provincial governments under him. This is simple enough to put on paper, but it would be a profound mistake to assume that Abyssinia is already pacified, still more that the idea of the abandoment of sanctions will find general approval with the Assembly. On the contrary, the realisation that to leave Italy triumphant with her spoils would be a fatal disaster is steadily growing. * *
