Cylchgronau Cymru

edition which was printed in Wales, Sir William Jones sent a letter to Lord Kenyon, then Chief Justice of Chester, in which he avowed himself to be the author of the dialogue, and maintained that every position in it was strictly conformable to the laws and constitution of England." In his dealings with Orientals he had none of the feelings of disdain which often mar the relationship between them and their British rulers. He was modest, unassuming, free from all pedantry and arrogance. The gentleness of his disposition extended also to the animal world. "I never could learn," he says, "by what right, nor conceive with what feelings, a The Future of the League of Nations.* By Mrs. Coombe Tennant, J. P. fl^HE League of Nations has now completed its fourth year of active life, and it behoves us not only to take stock of what it has accomplished, but to consider its future prospects. In order to deal with the future of the League it is absolutely necessary to bear in mind its origin and its present constitution-that is if we are to face realities honestly, without shutting our eyes to those which may prove inconvenient. The League of Nations is an association of self-governing States organised on permanent lines in an effort to broaden the basis of peace and to lessen the chances of war. It is essential to remember that the League is an inter-State Society, explicitly retaining the principle of National Sovereignty and restricting its obliga- tions to external affairs. It is not a separate organisation existing apart from and above the States (jf which it is composed. It is inter- national, it is not super-national. Its chief weapons are the publicity of facts and such force of persuasion as is inherent in all work of mediation. It seeks agreement, in which it may or may not be successful, but failure to accept its decisions or recommendations involves no penalty. The League's penalties are applied only to a breach of faith by resort to war against a unanimous decision of the League. As the Members of the League are States, the business of the League is conducted by representatives of Governments, and no League work can be accomplished except through Governments. The Governments, collectively and individually, are the responsible League authorities. It has no magic power to dispel rapidly and easily all the necessarily complicated issues of the world. The League is a method of facilitat- Part of an address delivered at Llandrindod in April, 1924. naturalist can occasion the misery of an innocent bird, and leave its young, perhaps, to perish in a cold nest, because it has gay plumage, and has never been accurately delinerated, or deprive even a butterfly of its natural enjoyments, because it has the misfortune to be rare or beautiful." We may conclude with the opening words of an epitaph composed by himself: "Here was deposited the mortal part of a man, who feared God, but not death; and maintained independ- ence, but sought not riches; who thought none below him, but the base and unjust, none above him but the wise and virtuous." ing settlements, and where it differs from what has hitherto existed is that, by the Covenant, inter-State dealings are organised under a written Constitution, with permanent machinery, with settled rules of procedure for various eventuali- ties, and with definite obligations. This gives order, regularity, and continuity to the study and solution of international problems, and makes collaboration easier and more cus- tomary. "I If these facts were better known and more generally realised we should have less criticism of the League, and less impatience would be shown with its methods and achievements. Thoughtful men and women the world over are asking questions about the future of the League-along what lines it will develop, and what the peoples of the world will make of this new instrument for peace. The answer must in the first place largely depend upon whether the three Great Powers which so far have not joined the League do, in fact, come into it, and upon what terms. The failure of America to ratify the Covenant has been a crippling factor from the start. America was to have had a Permanent Member on the Council, and was to have played a leading part in moulding League policy. Then there is the vital question of Germany's membership. When, and on what terms, will she come in? Will she be given a place on the Council ? How will France saddle horses with her inside the League ? Lord Grey recently put forward a very interest- ing suggestion in connection with this point. Arguing that the security of France is the only possible basis of a Europen settlement he went on to point out that there can be no security for France unless Germany has an equal share in it. His suggestion was that Germany should come into the League, and that France, Germany, and Great Britain should enter into an agreement by which any two of them should stand together against whichever of the three, in the event of a 1 The League of Nations: Its Constitution and Organisation." Information Section of Secretariat, Geneva.