20 OCTOBER 1923, Page 2

If our Italian friends would realize that the vast' majority

of Englishmen are really intent upon securing respect for the principle that there must be a Public Law in Europe, and that no Public Law is possible unless the signatories of the Covenant abide by their pledge to com- mit no act of war without notice, there would be no risk of misunderstanding in the future. We may add that on Thursday, October 11th, at the Imperial Con-. ference, the Dominion Prime Ministers all insisted upon the necessity of strengthening the hands of the League of Nations. General Smuts described it as " the only hope of the world."