Evening Star Newspaper, September 18, 1932, Page 25

Part 2--8 Pages EDITORIAL SECTION he Sunday Star, WASHINGTON, D. C, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 18, 1932. TENSION OVER MANCHURIA RISES IN WORLD CAPITALS If League Fails to Act on Japan’s Policy U. S. Is Seen Standing Alone in Protest. BY CONSTANTINE BROWN. \ AST Thursday Mukden celebrated | the official birth of the new Manchnkuo state. There was no great native lation and the few Manchukuo and Japanese flags which Yere hanging from the windows and the doors of the shops and private uses had been brought out more be- use the police intimated that it would Wise to do so, than because the Population was gladdened that a new state has been added to the list of the many existing countries in the world. | Tokio has another celebration today, | ore enthusiastic and spontaneous than the one ¢n the Asiatic mainland. It celebrates the first anniversary of the | Japanese operations in _Manchuria | Which have led to the establishment of the young state under the former boy | Emperor of China, Henry Pu-Yi. is the beginning of the long cherished di i ; reams oi the Japanese superpatriots; | o ion " City" Bank in Yokohama. the beginning of “ " e ginning of the “Japanization” of The Japanese have good ocause for . Tejolcing. The empire of Japan has been increased by the addition of Man- chiiria, a territory as large as Texas and Arizona put together, a territory , Tch in minerals and other natural re- . sources, with a hard-working popula- tlon of some 36,000,000 Chinese. Happens in One Year. All this has happened between Sep- tember 18, 1931, and September 18, 1932. There has been a good deal of opposition on the part of the native element, an opposition which still co tinues and is likely to make the Japa- nese government spend many more millions of dollars and many thousands of lives, but after all, such a large territory cannot be gained within such & short time without effort or sacrifice. The world powers which had hitherto blocked Japan's imperialistic ambitions are either too disorganized, like Russia. or too busy with their own econcmic and political problems as in the case of Great Britamn and France, to do more than protest feebly against the expan- sion of Japan. Everything would be perfect if it were not for the fact that the United States is looming in the background. America is not a military menace to Japan, because nothing is further from the minds of the American people than to embark upon warlike adventure at the present time. But she is the bar- rier to the Japanese expansionist plans. because of her insistence that treaties made for the stabilization of peace should not be disregarded. The Ameri- can Government has roused the large and small nations, members of the League of Nations, against the in- fringement by Japan of the p2ace pacts and agreements signed since 1922, Americans Are Accused. Because of her loud protests, Amer- fca is described in Japan today as an “arrogant, aggressive Nation.” Lately this country has been accused of noth- ing less than preparing & war of ag- gression, an invasion of the Japanese islands. Leading Japanese newspapers have been pfinting stories that the branches of the National City Bank of New York have employes who are mem- bers of the American naval and mil tary intelligence; they have been a cused of having taken photographs of the principal industrial centers Tokio and Yokohama for the purpose of forwarding them to Washington to be used by the American air armies which are to invade Japan in case of war. How these airplanes would get there was a problem which was easily solved by the Japanese writers, with the as- sistance of & spokesman of the foreign office. Am this foreign office of- ficial stated, had leased, according to news which had reached Japan via Europe, the peninsula of Kamchatka from the Rus Soviet government for the purpose of establishing there a naval air base Ambassador by this press the action of the offices of went to_protes Baron Uchida eph Grew, disturbed mpaign, increased by e military who raided ¢ National City Bank, to the foreign office. the foreign secretary, was sympathetic and expressed his dis- approval of these rumors and of the acts of the Japanese military police. But his disappro- al seems to have made To impression becuse the acts of the ** gendarmerie have never been censured | by the responsible authorities and the press regardec the foreign secretary’s official disapproval as merely a neces- gary gesture on the part of the Jap- anese department of state. Danger Is Minimized. The Japanese attitude is causing con- cern, though coriain officials do not think that there is much danger in this attitude of the war-office-inspired "'3?;“ is going through & severe eco- nomic and financial erisis. The gov- emment, strongly militaristle. while of 1 easing the sphere of a qim- Sa) <l t hit by the world depression more than many other countries because, in addi- tion to the general slackness of busi- ness there has been an increased expen- diture caused by the 12-month cam- ign in China Although the Japanese treasury has attempted to balance the budget by im- posing new heavy taxes on the people of Japan the deficit between July 1 and September 1, 1932, has been not less than $35.000,000. This deficit has been the result of a falling off in tax re- ceipts, sale of stamps, income from the operations of government owned prop- erties, etc. of next vear's budget are still gloomier since the Japinese Parliament. in order to meet urgent appeals for assist- ance of the unemployed and the bard- hit farmers, has been compelled to vote an expenditure of close to a billion yen (about <. 000.000) over a perfod of three years as relief loans. Silk Industry Losing. rore, the Japapese silk in- perating at a loss of about 50 per cenut under cost price, while the producers of rice, Japan's staple agri- cultural production, must sell their products well under cost. Under these circumstances, it is nat- ural that the Japanese government should ot feel particularly happy about the internal situation and should find it necessary to distract the atten- tion of an obedient and patriotic pop- ulation from their home troubles. Last year, and during this Winter and Sprirg, the efforts of the govern- ment were successful; the population was mesmerized by the rapid and bril- liant successes in Manchuria and at Shanghai. But the effect of these suc- cesses begins to wear off, and there is 8 possibility, very vague, but still a ity, that the Japanese people may tire of the war drums which cost so_much money. Those who have been following the gituation in Japan assert that this vio- Jent jingoistic campaign against the United States is merely internal poli- tics. which, if left alone, will have no further consequence, - | Japan has been Furthermore the prospects | In other quarters. however, these out- bursts are regarded with a certain amount of apprehension. It is easy to cause & war scare in a country like caused by a propaginda like the one carried on in Japan at the present moment. It is being recalled in certain mili- tary circles in Washington that a few months befcre the World War there was a similar spy scare in Germany. a scare which was played up for all that it was worth by the usually con- Saving Billions by Keeping Well Workers Make More Money and Savings for Employer in Plans Now Urged for Industry. servative German newspapers. It is recalled that in March, 1914, the German naval authorities arrested five English citizens who had taken photographs of the German naval base at Heligolw1d. They were released only after the British embassy had taken the matter seriously in hand and the | pictures had proved to be as inoffensive | as the cnes taken by the orders of m‘: | few weeks later a Russian colonel in | one of the guard regiments was arrested | for having taken some pictures of the | Spandau artillery proving grounds and ! was sentenced by the Supreme Court | at Leipzig to three years' ccnfinement (in a fortress. Hamper Diplomats’ Task. | ‘These spy scares are never helpful and have a tendency to render the rela- | tions between two countries difficult, | the other cpposes her plans or ambi tions. | the United States. Orf account of the invasion of Man- churia by the Japanese Army, the American Government has felt _that Japan_has broken not only the Kellogg | pact, but also both treaties signed in | Washingten in 1922—the nine-power | and the four-power pact. The first one is a pact whereby all the nine signa- | torfes, including Japan and the United States, agree to respect the political and territorial integrity of China. The | history of that treaty is this: The rela- tions between these two Pacific powers | had grown dangerously strained in the | period between 1919-1922: the possi- | bility of a conflict was so great that it was thought necessary to get to- gether Francg, Great Britain, Japan, America, Italy, China, Portugal, Hol- | land and Belgium to settle once for | all the question of China’s integrity, and | thus remove the principal reason for | a conflict between the United States and Japan. Japan agreed with the other interest- | ed powers to respect China’s integrity. As a result of that agreement which was embodied in the nine-power pact. | a second agreement was reached under | the name of the four-power pact. The | United States, Great Britain, Japan | and China agreed to maintain a status quo regarding their Pasific possessions. | At the same time the United States | agreed not to proceed with the fortifi- | cation of her /possession in the West- ern Pacific. This was done to remove Japan's fear cf a possible aggression. | Believed Peril Removed. | The signature of these two pacts, fol- lowed six years later by the signature | of the Kellogg pact and by the London naval agreement of 1930, which dis- in | posed of the Japanese-British-Ameri- | preserving his own health; | can naval rivalry, were considered by the American Government as a suf- | ficient guarantee that there wculd be |no recrudescence of the Japanese- | American rivalry in the Pacific. Amer- |ica has no territorial ambitions any- where in the world, and Japan knows this; all that America wants is fair play for all and an open door for her trade in the Far East. | churia revived | controversy. the Japanese-American | especially when, through the actions of - the diplomats, one country feels that | And this is at present the situa- | tion between the Japanese Empire and BY ALBERT EDWARD WIGGAM. | T a recent meeting of noted | health Jeaders in New York City it was suggested that the time had come when the United { States should institute some form of universal health insurance for | all its citizens, the cost to be paid | chiefly by the National Government. | Nearly all the public health adminis- | trators present disapproved of this idea | —first, as being entirely too grandiose: second, as taking away the initiative and responsibility of the individual in third, as | likely to involve many political and | social difficulties, and, fourth, as tend- |ing to produce very much the same | general psychology and financial results | as the dole under the burden of which | England and other nations are now | laboring. Certainly in times such as these every | proposal for preserving the health of | the people, especially of those gainfully | ordinary consideration. This Nation is The American Govern- |in the midst of a genuine battle for | ment, which accepted at first the Jap- | economic recovery, and to keep every | | anese plea that the military operations |in Manchuria were of a purely tem- porary character and that Japan had no intention of keeping her troops in those parts of China where her zone of influence ended, began soon to realize that the Japanese military intended to do more than the Japanese foreign of- fice admitted. When the State Department realized that Japan had actually begun the oc- | cupation of parts of China, thus break- ing all the treaties she had signed, Sec- retary Henry L. Stimson sent a note on January 7, 1932, to the Japanese gov- ernment drawing attention to the heavy 1esponsibilities it was undertaking by breaking those pacts. When Secretary Stimson received the somewhat sar- castic answer of the Japanese govern- ver, he addressed a letter to Senator | Borah, the chairman of the Senate’s | Committee on Foreign Relations, what that letter Mr. Stimson expressed the ignore the treaties she had voluntarily entered into with the United States and | Sther countries, America would feel that he has @ fres hand and the work of fortifying her Eastern Pa- cific ons and possibly ignore the | naval ratio for battleships as estab- ‘{x‘fhfi% 2betwten this country and Japan League Takes Hand, | 'The whole matter of the Sino-Jap- anese dispute, however, was brought tefore the League of Nations, at China’s | request, because Japan was considered to have violated the Kellogg-Briand | peace pact. The League of Nations de- | cided to investigate the claims of both belligerents—China and Japan—on the ground by sending a commission under | the chairmanship of a British eitizen, Lord Lytton, and to which an Amer- attached. The commission, after six months of | work, drafted a report, which was re- | ceived at Geneva three days ago. That report will presumably be taken under consideration some time between Sep- tember 26 and December 15. In the meantime. however. in order to forestall any adverse decision of the League, Japan hastened to recognize the new state of Manchukuo, which she | had organized soon after she completed |the occupation of Manchuria. This | recognition, before the League of Na- tions has rendered its decision in the Manchurian dispute, is considered in many quarters as a definace of the League and of the American Govern- ment. The situation is regarded in certain circles as tense and in diplomatic quar- ters here, as well as in Europe, every- boddy wonders what America is going to do. United States Move Unlikely. It is most unlikely that the American Government should make any move at the present moment. The whole matter of the Sino-Japanese dispute is before the League, which has been acting so far in complete harmony with the American government. It is conse- quently proper for the American Gov- ernment to wait for the results of the Lytton report and the decision of the L3 point of view that 1f Japan continued to] could resume | ican citizen, Gen. Frank MacCoy, was | person in good health is of pressing | importance. We simply cannot afford | to increase our national sickness bill. | But the one thing we can afford to in- ‘crme is our national health bill, pro- vided that the plans for doing it are | managed so that they bring real dollars | and cents profits on the money invested | In line with this is the fact that the | new Federal tax law exempts mutual | benefit insurance companies from taxa- |tion. An illustration of the principle | | | | that purely co-operative, non-profit- | making organizations designed so'ely to ‘benem the health of their members, care of them through periods of sick- ness or accident and provide for their families in the event of their death | belong in the class with philanthropic {and religious endowments and invest- | taxation. | added significance to a new plan of i ises to save enormous sums in our na- tional sickness bill annually, and which is being sponsored by & number of in- dustrial and financial leaders. It is & | Plan based on from six to eight years of experience and trial with their own | employes, and one that is beginning to attract the earnest attention not only of employes generally but of leaders of labor and authorities in the fleld of public health. By this plan an employer and his em- Council of the League of Nations based thereon. A good deal depends on what action the League of Nations decides to take in the Sino-Japanese _controversy, which many people regard really as an American-Japanese controversy. Should the League decide to take such sanctions against Japan as are provided in the covenant, it is likely that the United States, although not | a member of the League, will join in those sanctions. This will be done, not in a hostile spirit against Japan, but merely as a measure for the future preservation of peace and the respect of treaties. League May Delay Action. Should the League be loath to act, because of the Japanese threat to flaunt its authority by withdrawing from that body, America will have to act alone. Naturally, nobody expects or wishes this country to take the old- fashioned drastic methods of a display of force; there are other means, which have so far not been disclosed by the American Government, to express the disapproval of Japanese methods. In any case, whether the League de- cides to act or whether the United States acts alone, the feeling in Japan is today that the only source of opposi- tion to Japan's plans abroad comes ex- clusively from the United States. For this reason the batterles of Japan's hostile propaganda are directed against this country. For this reason also the Japanese who advocate cordial rela- tions with the United States are being relegated to the background and are denounced as unpatriotic individuals, while those who are loudest in the de- nunciation of the l'{nl'ed S:n".:s u:: Japan's enemy are at present limelight. g ‘This feature of the tax law also gives | the fortunes of political parties. | | —Drawn for The Sunday Star by J. Scott Willlams ployes form a mutual benefit associa- tion for the purchase of standard insur- ance for the employes, covering life, health and accident and including in- centives and provisions for promating the health of the mgmbers and thereby prolonging their lives. The employer contributes half the cost and the em- ployes the other half, but all benefits and savings go to the employes. Of course, the employer gets a profit— from the increased health, contentment and therefore increased efficiency of the workers. The employes get their profits very directly in three ways: First, by having this combined fund in hand they can purchase group insur- ance from the standard companies for all their members for one-third or less of the amount for which the individual workers can insure themselves. Second, the plan includes a prime | feature, frequent medical examination | —at least once a year—together with | instruction by physicians in the care of | the health and personal hygiene, and experience has shown that this very greatly decreases the cost of both the life and health insurance. Third, since the savings brought about by hygiene and medical examinations | 80 into the treasury of the association for the benefit of all the members, it leads them to take a friendly but very earnest interest sickness and death among their fellow members. The savings in the cost of insurance thus brought about are used by the men |as they please. In some cases they have used it for more insurance; in | others they have secured gymnasiums, CANADIANS ARE DIVIDED The Japanese occupation of Man-|employed, should receive more than | ON WORK OF CONFERENCE Results of Ottawa Parley Find Conserva- tive and Liberal Papers on Opposite Sides of Fence. BY CHARLES JOHN STEVENSON. OTI‘AWA.-—sime the Imperial Conference ended on August 20 there has been in progress of stocktaking of its results ment, after consulting President Hoo- |ments and should be exempted from 'and the appraisement has inevitably extended to its possible effects upon So far the Conservative press, with the | was in fact another note to Japan. In | mutual benefit insurance which prom- | possible exception of the Montreal Ga- zette, has been painting the results in roseate colors and contending that they represent a magnificent triumph for the ihrewd and aggressive leadership of Peemier | Bennett. . The Gazette somewhat restrained in its view. On the other hand, the opposition papers, Liberal and Progressive, with is the exception of the Toronto Globe, are | disposed to throw cold water on these claims and to argue that the results of the conference for the stimulation of ! inter-imperial trade will prove to be negligible and that the mountain after | all its travail has brought forth only a mouse. Controversies Emphasized. The opposition press is also making much of the controversial atmosphere | which enveloped the later stages of the conference and declaring that the bickerings and wrangles which took place fully justified the Liberal conten- tion that tariff bargaining between the | | units of the British commonwealth was a dangerous game, not conducive to friendly relations, and that the wisest course is for each British country to frame its own tariff primarily in its own interest and accord the maximum degree of generous tariff treatment to the goods of the other British countries. The considered verdict of thg Win- nipeg Free Press, which is by far the most influential Liberal paper in Can- ada, is that: 5 : “The conference achieved something, but only a small part of what the pub- lic had been led by the politicians to expect. But looking back on the month in which the conference held the stage | at Ottawa, the wonder of it is that anything at all was achieved, that the British and Canadian delegates did not agree to disagree and close the confer- ence without a stroke of & pen or a line of treaty.” * * * Toronto Globe Rejoices. An exception to the barrage of criti- cism from the opposition is provided by the Toronto Globe, which thinks the results of the conference are extremely valuable to Canada, rejoices over the British government's pledges to curtail Russian dumping of timber and other products, and praises the leadersh given by Premier Bennett. Altho the Globe still proclaims itself a Liberal throughout Canada a process | paper, it is notoriously unfriendly to | the present leader of the Liberal party | and its support of the government on the conference issue can therefore be | discounted. Any reasoned judgment about the | conference policies of the Bennett ministry must necessarily be deferred until it submits to Parliament the measure of tariff revision which will give effect to the fiscal concessions em- bodied in the Anglo-Canadian agree- ments and the bargains with the other British countries. So far all that has been officially disclosed about them is dian tariff and that among modities affected are linens and the finer classifications of cottons and woolens. The federal Parliament has been summoned for October 6, and as business is suffering from the unwill- | ingness of manufacturers and importers to make any extensive commitments until they know the exact nature of ernment is expected to lose no time xpect in bringing down the tariff changes. Lower Tariffs Predicted. The supporters of the ministry as- sert that they will represent a very substantial modification of the rigors of the existing protectionist system for the benefit of British goods and that the Liberals and other _opposition groups who have been criticizing the “Canada first” policy will have no al- ternative but to support them. How- ever, the opposition view is that what Conservative protectionists consider “very substantial modifications” of the tariff may prove to have very slender substance in the eyeshae( the iow tariff clements and may riddled with “jokers” and therefore they declare that they will wait and sce what the actual proposals of the government are. If in their opinion the changes make no serious inroad upon the protection- ism now available to Canadian manu- facturers they will deploy to a con- certed attack upon the government for its performances at the conference and take the ground that it bent all its energies to safeguarding as far as sible the preserves of industrialists and did not utilize the opportunity of- fered to relieve the prpducing indus- tries and the consuming’ public of some of the burdens imposed on them by a high tariff. On this point the Pro- gressives and Laborites will make com- mon cause with the Liberals, but their combined forces could not defeat the government's tariff revision unless they were reinforced by bolters on the Con- servative side. If the changes in the textile or other duties are in any way drastic certain Conservative members representing in- dustrial districts which would be ad- in preserving each | others’ health and preventing accident. | that they cover 220 items of the Cana- | the com- | BT the proposed tariff changes, the gov- | swimming pools, reading rooms or other ‘means of social activity. | The employers welcome this plan be- | cause it helps to lift the rapidly swell- {ing burden laid upon their shoulders 1 and pocketbook by the great increase— | in some States the enormous increase— !in the compensation required for sick ness and accident under the compensa tion acts passed by many State legis- latures in recent years. ‘The employes welcome it because, as noted, they secure a large amount of insurance at wholesale prices instead of retail. Furthermore, it does away with all necessity for the men to form the | old-time mutual assessment insurance | companies, which had three distinct disadvantages—first, it was impossible | for the older men to secure insurance {in them; second, the assessments con- | stantly increaced as the men grew older | until finally this mace the insurance worthless, and, third, the funds were sometimes lost by unwise investments, | embezziement or bank failures. | These dangers and disasters disap- pear in this new form of benefit asso- clation, because the funds are used to | purchase standard insurance with all | its elaborate safeguarcs. The originator of this plan is Harold A. Ley, founder of the Life Extension Institute, for three years chairman of | the employes’ benefit system section of | the National Safety Council, director in a number of corporations, and a man who for many vears has been one of | the foremost students of health prob- | lems, especially among working people, | both in this country and in Europe. Plan Proves Satisfactory. | Since the plan of forming these mu- tual benefit associations, as they are | now called, was begun 10 years ago by Mr. Ley among the employes of his own companies, it has been tried out in | numerous large plants over the country. | The benefits of the plan have proved | s0 satisfactory that recently a national | association of mutual benefit associa- tions was formed for the purpose of improving technical methods of admin- | istration and promoting the adoption of | the plan throughout American industry. | “Our health and sickness problem is owing in_magnitude every hour. Im 1931 the Committe on Elimination of Waste in Industry of the Federated American Engineering Societles re- vealed a remarkable picture of the waste caused in industry by preventable ill health alone. Some of the items in this picture are the following: A yearly loss from preventable dis- ease and substandard physical condi- tions of $3,000,000,000, of which the gainfully employed suffer $1,800,000.000. Forty-two millions gainfully employed lose 350,000,000 days from illness, dis abilities' and non-industrial accidents annually. Twenty-five millions in the working classes have defective vision requiring correction. There are more than 1,000,000 with some form of tuber- culosis—$500,000,000 lost _annually from tuberculosis alone. There are more than 8,000,000 with flat feet There are more than 6,000,000 with or- ganic diseases, resulting mostly from infection. There are more than 1,000,- 000 with venereal infection. The hopeful element in this appar- ently staggering situation, however, is that the report goes on to demonstrate by facts and figures drawn from life insurance experience and other sources that under a system of proper medical supervision, periodic health examina- tions, health education and community hygiene this loss could be quickly re- duced by at least $1,000,000,000 every year. The question wedhmy klrl.m how are you going duce working people | to take care of their health, to institute proper personal and family hygiene, to undergo periodic medical examinations, take measures to protect and promote the health of their comrades and pro- vide for proper medical supervision of their fellow workers? ‘The answer to this question brings us squarely face to face with one of the most disturbing features of American political and social tendency of the last two decades. This tendency has three distinct aspects, all of which have tended to influense the whole psychol- ogy of the worker not to take care of his health, to discourage health efforts (Continued on Seventh Page.) (Continued on Third Page) BY ALBIN E. JOHNSON, | ENEVA—When the thirteenth annual Assembly of the League | of Nations opens on Monday, September 26, the delegates of 57 member nations, which are expected to attend, will find their Geneva organization for international co-operation staggering under a mass of problems such as it has never before faced. Wkten the twelfth assembly was | adjourned many delegations left Gene- | va with considerable trepidation. With | “Manchuria” and “disarmament” be- | fore it they realized the League had a difficult year ahead. But even the most pessimistic and superstitious among European statesmen did not | then envisage a situation such as has risen, or one fraught with so many | dangers and embarrassments. Since | tnea two extraordinary assemblies and | the Council in session almost con- tinuously have vainly sought, with the | active collaboration of the United | States, to lessen the tension between Japan’ and China. An international | League commission, upon which an American is serving, has spent six | months conducting an inquiry “on the | spot” and in China and Japan. And | yet the Manchurian problem is just now nearing its crucial stage. ‘ As to “disarmament” the pot has | bubbled furiously from FPebruary to | July, with premiers, foreign ministers. cabinet officials, generals, admirals and lobbyists at hand to help prepare the | soup. Never since the League was | founded has there been such a galaxy | of international officialdom partici- | pating in a Geneva conference. Yet on disarmament practically nothing has been accomplished. If anything, the problem has become more complicated | for the assembly, whose task it will be to attempt to cut the Gordian knot, or to admit a fallure—which is un- thinkable. Sino-Japanese Problem. Of the multitudinous problems which confront the Assembly. obviously the most important—politically—is the Sino- Japanese controversy. The Lytton re- port, upon which so much hinges, will not be ready for several weeks yet, although the committee is in Geneva editing its 1.000-page document. The ‘Thirteenth Assembly may not even have to touch upon the question. Instead, it may transform itself into an “Extraor- dinary Assembly” immediately upon ad- journment to receive the Lytton find- ings and to formulate future policy in regard to Japan. As in the press, the | League's deliberations will be compli- | cated—if not actually handicapped— by the fact that the vital interests of | two major non-League countries, Russia |and the United States, are i ved. | Washington has been working “hand in glove” with the League Council and there is no reason to believe the team- work will not continue until Man- | churia again is restored to China. It is more difficult to predict what course Russis will follow, unless, perforce. Moscow believes she can gain American recognition as & reward for joining the powers in presenting a solid front against Japan's aggression. The Briand- Kellogg pact end the nine-power reaty. beth of which have been vio- lated by Japan, are also factors to be considered. As if providing an interesting side- show to the Sino-Japanese row, for the benefit of the Assembly, Paraguay and Bolivia. the League's two naughty Latin-American members. have again | come to blows over the Chaco. A lim- ited South American “war” is not dan- gerous in so far as disturbing world peace is concerned, but the flaunting of covenant ard outlawry of war pledges has an important psychological effect on the “Geneva atmosphere and Locarno spirit.” Mussolini. down in Rome. isn't doing anything to make the League's lot easier. Il Duce. with his fire-eating minister of air. Italo Balbo, an able second, is gleefully rocking the boat these davs. Discarding the role of dis- armament disciple. which Italy plaved under Dino Grandi’s leadership the past 18 months, Mussolini has again taken over direction of foreign affairs and i< glorifying war as “the crucibi in which the best in nations is forged. Ttalian No Surprise. European statesmen have never ex- pected anvthing really constructive out of the Fascist Government. so Mus- | solini’s singular lack of the Macchiavel- ian cleverness he seeks to simulate does not surprise them. Italy’s diplomatic opportunism has now beccme a bit too transparent to fool even the American State Department. Prance and Eng- land pushed the Fascists out of the pic- | ture at Lausanne, which caused Mus- solini. in a fit of rage, to fire half his so- | called cabinet. Then Ambassador Hueh | Gibson, in the closing sessions of the Disarmament Conference, turned a cold shoulder on Rome’s offer of unreserved | support. and Gen. Balbo promptly de- | ,nounced Washington as & member of | |the Geneva “trust,” who worked-hand | in hand with the Franco-British hege- | mony. althcugh operating behind the | ccenei—a charge which. distasteful as | |1t may be, has some element of truth. | | Italy’s threat to quit the League is not taken very seriously—as yet—neither is | Fascist swashbuckling helping matters | any, politically speaking. | Germany, of all European nations, | which should know better, is again manifesting a recrudescence of that ;dlp]omltlc assininity which character- |1zed the conduct of her internaticnal ipollcles during the war. Her capital-| | ization of disarmament as a means of attaining domestic political ends of | questionable value has already brought ' | about a re-cementing of the Anglo-| | French entente and is alienating the support of neutral and smaller coun- | tries upon which Berlin could hereto- fore count. Coming at a moment when | the League had coaxed Washington and Moscow into the “concert of Geneva” and when chances for lightening the $5.000,000,000 annual armament burden | which the world's taxpayers are carry- ilng were improving, Berlin's demand | for the right to re-arm cannot help but greatly retard the success of the Dis- ent Conference. Opportunity for Polities. ‘That much-abused and over-rated reform (disarmament) has furnished more opportunities for playing politics than any other issue sponsored by the League. Germany uses it to undermine the Versailles treaty, which is already as full of holes as a Swiss cheese; Russia cites it as proof of her charges of League insincerity; Italy sees in it a means of increasing her military strength and prestige at the expense of her imaginary enemy, France, and even Washington—or at least Senator Borah —mixes it up with cancellation of war debts and economic recovery. If the assembly can only regain a true perspective on disarmament and put the problem before the nations of the world in its original form, it will have a.complished a great task. ‘While the League has plenty of grief distinctly its own to place in the lap of the assembly—such as matters of in- ternal adminigtration and reorganiza- tion of the secretariat, composition of the council upon which & score of rival ’ | year's leave of absence, LEAGUE ASSEMBLY FACES BIG MASS OF PROBLEMS Sino-Japanese Controversy Has Top Con- sideration by Paraguay-Bolivia Trouble. Many Others Are Up for 13th Session. | countries yearly seek to occupy the 14 ilable seats, retrenchment, etc.—the latter will also find itself the receptacle into which most of its 50-odd members will pour their domestic and interna- tional troubles this year. The Irish Free State, for example, threatens to haul Great Britain before the League on the land annuities ques- tion. Although the Englich argue that the League has no jurisdiction in dis- putes between members of the British commoenwealth, especially when Britain is one of the disputants, the Free State rightly holds that all members of the League are “equal” and that Ireland, the same as France or Spain, has the duty to use the machinery provided for in the covenant, for settling interna- tional disagreements. With Eamonn De Valera, president of the Free State, scheduled to open the assembly and to preside over the council, there will be ample opportunity for the Irish to twist the lion’s tail—to the embarrass- ment both of the British lion and the League. Whether the League can be in- volved in the controversy over whether or not good Irishmen have to take the oath to help the British and God save the King is another matter. The cove- nant, however, provides for readjust- ment of treaties which “have become inapplicable and which endanger peace.” The “oath” is a part of the Anglo-Irish treaty. Trouble From Liberia. Even little Libsria, one of the League’s smallest znd least important members, is contributing to the assembly's trou- bles. Caught red-handed enslaving its native populations—f{or the benefit of the Portugurse, Spanish and French colonial estates which needed cheap labor—the Liberian government was disciplined by the council. The scan- dal was forced before the League on the initiative of the British, and with the approval of Washington, which for many years has been Liberia's guardian angel. Incidentally interests of the American Pirestone Rubber Plantations Co. were affected by the labor recruit- ing of the authorities. Today, Liberia, to all intents and pur- poses is a League administered colony. Monrovia has _protested vociferously over a score of foreign experts conduct- ing her domestic affairs—collecting taxes, providing sanitation, etc. Yet she has no alternative bul to accept “advice” in regard to her administra- tive affairs for an indefinite period. Protecting the “territorial integrity and political sovereignty” of one of its members, while at the same time man- ifestly directing that country’s destinies is one of those fine little diplomatic distinctions which the League has to harmonize. At least a half dozen countries will come before the Assembly to solicit financial and economic aid. Austria, Hungary and Greece—all of which have been saved by the League before—are again in difficulties, while Bulgaria al- ready is receiving assistance. Rumania is the latest to admit its finances are on the verge of complete collapse. Esthonia fears the worst and is geeking to hold on for a while yet before accepting & League loan. In authoritative circles it is rumored that Turkey's real reason for applying for League membership recently was to place herself in a more favorable position should the necessity arise for raising an international loan in London or New York. The League's indorsement on promisory notes still has a market value. The most troublesome problems that confront the Assembly, however, are the internal ones. The League is as near financial embarrassment as any of its members. At the beginning of September less than 50 per cent of the yearly dues of its members had been aid. Several states are many annual tallments behind ‘The German | government, in the same breath With which it demands the right to spend millions of marks on armaments, an- nounces that it cannot pay its 1932 dues and offers to open a credit in Berlin through which the Leigue can purchase “supplies” instead. China has offered to clear up her back dues of 1,000,000 or more in 20 annual install- ments. Several revolution-torn Latin American and South American states have forgotten the League's treasurer cntirely. The League's 1932 budget was for $6.735.600—about one-sixth the cost of a first-class battleship. Its 1933 bud- get will be $200,000 less despite the fact that its activities have increased and its staff work almost doubled. To carry on at Geneva the nations of the world need but to reduce their collective ex- penditure on armaments about one- tenth of 1 per cent and apply the sev- ings to the cause of internitional co- operation. Reorganizing Secretariat. While the financial difficulties are embarassing, the problem of reor- ganizing, the secretariat is fraught with far more dangerous potentialities. Secretary General Sir Eric Drummond will definitely leave next May in order to remain on the British foreign office roster. Since there will be no acceptable embassy assignment avail- able at that time he will ask for a hoping for designation to Washington or Paris in 1934. With Drummond probably will go Yotaro Sugimura, Japanese under- secretary general and Albert Dufour- | Feronce and Barone di Paolucci, Ger- man and Italian undersecretary gener- als, respectively. Only Joseph Avenol, French _undersecretary. will remain. Avenol has been second in command heretofore end has directed affairs dur- ing Sir Eric's absence. His chances of becoming_secretary general are about 50-50. 1f he is refused the post. he, too, will resign. The selection of H. B. Butler, an Englishman, as director of the international labor office as suc- cessor to Albert Thomas, a Frenchman, makes it almost imperative that & Frenchman succeed Drummond at the League. The smaller countries, how- ever, are clamoring for a break in the alleged Franco-British domination of the League and have the support of Italy and Germany, so anything may happen. It Lsd not impossible that an American candidate may be presen to the Assembly, particularly if a man of the caliber of Newton Baker, Charles Evans Hughes or Charles Dawes (all of whom have been mentioned) were available. ‘The minor questions which the As- sembly will have before it are too nu- merous to mention. They cover social, economic, humanitarian, technical and health problems—from the opium evil to the white slave traffic. One of the least complicated—yet most difficult— is reviewing the preparations for the proposed - World Economic Conference. A conflict between the League and the Lausanne Conference powers over jurise diction is immiment. The admission of Irak as the fifty-eighth member of the League may also cause trouble, al- of Irak as the fifty-eighth member of the Council and the mandatory power, Britain. Which prompts an optimistic obser- vation, in conclusion. The Assembly this year will have three more mem- bers—Mexico, Turkey and Irak—which leaves outside its sphere only three im- portant nations—Russia, the United States and Egypt. x