His speech, so far from doing the League any injury,
has cleared the air and performed the invaluable function of helping all to understand exactly where they stand and what they can and cannot do in the immediate future. Last Saturday the Assembly unanimously passed a reso- lution that all " aggressive wars " are prohibited. No doubt this as it stands is only a pious opinion, but a return to the Protocol as recommended by the Per- fectionists would have been most dangerous. Sir Austen was perfectly right to point out that by the Locarno Treaties guaranteeing the eastern frontier of France against alteration by either France or Germany Great Britain has committed herself very deeply and that she cannot possibly contemplate a vast new commitment of a general nature. A complete scheme like that of the Protocol for automatically pledging every member of the League to take up arms if necessary against a dis- turber of the peace is attractive on paper, but most of its supporters cannot, we suspect, have really investigated the appalling risks and uncertainties.
