NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE League Assembly, and its Committee of Twenty- Three, have shown commendable speed and unanimity in approving a resolution condemning Japan's bombing of open towns. They might with equal justice have con- demned her submarine attacks on harmless fishing junks. Japan has met this verdict, passed by fifty-two States, with the bland hypocrisy which distinguishes her diplomacy. It remains to be seen whether such a condemnation, without the backing of force, can be of any effect in the modern world ; Lord Cranbome warned Japan that she would be wise not to ignore it. If the League had no difficulty in reaching a swift decision in the case of Japan, she found it harder to come to agreement on the question of Spain. Seilor Del Vayo had asked that the same " sincerity " which was shown to Japan should be shown towards Italy, and expressed in a resolution declaring her guilty of aggression in Spain and asserting the Valencia Government's right to import arms. Expediency alone forbids such a resolution, especially at a moment when Signor Mussolini may be persuaded to reconsider his Spanish policy. M. Delbos and Mr. Walter Elliot, for Great Britain, showed how reluctant both countries are to surrender the policy of non-inter- vention, even though based on a fiction. The deadlock is likely to be solved by a resolution which leaves Italy and Germany ma frionted and uncondemned.
