The Struggle For Peace

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the subject of dispute which is a potential threat to the peace
of Europe, situated as it is in the very heart of the Continent,
it is as much a matter of regret to others as it is to His Majesty's
Government that we cannot record any effective or active
intervention by the League of Nations. We know well
enough what is the cause of this ineffectiveness, and it is
ineffectiveness which is likely to persist as long as some
of the most powerful nations in the world are outside the
League. We regard the present position of the League as
temporary, and even if it is necessary for the time being that
the League should renounce the idea of the use of force, there
still remains a wide field of usefulness for the League, in pursu-
ing which, as it seems to us, the League may well be able to
build up a fresh position of confidence and of approval, with
the result that in time we may find that those nations who
have left the League, because they did not agree with the
use of force by the League, may come back to it and take part
in this other work, and, who knows what further develop-
ments may then take place once the League can be considered
more representative of the world as a whole than it is to-day ?
" I would only say that with that view of the future of the
League we intend to give the League all the support and
encouragement in our power. In the meantime, in the critical
situation in which we find ourselves, we have to fall back upon
the ordinary methods of diplomacy. At the beginning of this
year I think that many of us must have felt that it was likely
to be critical, for good or for evil, in the history of the world,
and now that more than half of it has gone, I believe we all
feel that the atmosphere is lighter, and that throughout the
Continent there is a relaxation of that sense of tension which
six months ago was present. To that lightening of the
atmosphere and slackening of the tension, we believe that the
policy of His Majesty's Government has made its contribu-
tion. We intend to pursue it and we believe that in the end
we shall succeed in bringing back security and confidence to
Europe."