MANCHURIA
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—It is very regrettable that many people seem to be definitely anti-Japanese as regards the present situation in Manchuria. There are faults on both sides just as there always have been in every dispute. As has been said, the League of Nations is not a super-State. The League works not by force but by perstas on. Its policy is conciliation not coercion. As Sir John Simon said recently, " The real force of the League of Nations depends on the opinion of the world." What is happening in Manchuria to-day is what must always happen until the force of world public opinion is much stronger and until the supply of arms and ammunition is kept under control by international action. The Council of the League of Nations is doing its utmost to deal with the situation, and it is unfair to say, as some people do, that it gets nowhere.
The League of Nations Council is going to settle this very difficult question if it is given a fair chance, but those people who take sides only make its work more difficult. It is well to think what the situation would be now if there were no League of Nations. We should be again involved in a world war, some on one side and some on the other, whereas
no war has been declared by anyone, the Council of the League of Nations is in communication with the Governments of Japan and China, a Commission is going to investigate the conditions in Manchuria, and it is most unlikely that the situation will get any worse. This shows how essential it is to have a League of Nations, and it also shows how necessary it is for the League of Nations to have a much stronger world public opinion behind am, Sir, &c.,
J. D. ALLEN, St. Athens. Vice-Admiral (retired).
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