NEWS OF THE WEEK
THE recall of Ministers to London, the conferences with Opposition leaders and Dominion High Com- missioners, expressions of public opinion like that con- tained in the Archbishop of York's letter to The Times, provide a remarkable and impressive demOnstration of national unity in face of a threat to the very basis of the League of Nations. These lines arc being written of necessity before the meeting of the Cabinet, and every- thing will depend on the decisions there taken ; but it is due to the Government to recognise that their handling of the situation so far has been all it should be. They have displayed patience, a conciliatory temper and a readiness to.. go to almost undue lengths of compromise, only revealing gradually, and with strict avoidance of all appearance of menace, the firmness and decision essential at such a juncture on the part of any nation conscious of its obligations as a signatory of the League Covenant. Signs increase that a strong lead by this country at Geneva would be widely welcomed and generally followed, and the neutrality legislation under discussion in the United States confirms the impression that that country will avoid any step calculated to impede collective action by the League. Meanwhile, hints of the hopes that are being built in Germany on a breakdown of the League system should assure the hesitant of the vital necessity of defending that system against all assaults.
