News of the Week T HE meeting at Geneva of the
Preparatory Commis- sion for the Disarmament COnferenee coincides with a state of uneasiness all oier•Europe, but, the coincidence will not be unhappy if -the League can guide and control events. The Preparatory Commission met on Wednesday, and its session of a, few days will be folloWed by a meeting of the Council of the League. One satisfactory point is that the very formidable difficulties of the disarmament problem are saved from one aspect of unreality by the representation of both Russia and the United States. We always felt that the work of disarmament could not proceed very far -so long as Russia and the, United, States remained outside the discussion. How would it have been possible in any case to persuade nervous nations to free their minds of anxiety if two of the most powerful nations in the world were not parties to the disarmament scheme ? The sympathy of the United States has never, of course, been in doubt, though the inconvenience caused by her non-membership of the League is always present ; but the recent acceptance by Russia of the-invitation to take-part in the Commission was a surprise. -
