THE LEAGUE IN ACTION

Those who consider that the main argument against the League of Nations is a reiteration of the often ill advised statement, that it is, after all, powerless to do any real good, will do well to remark the present success of the League in silencing the war threats and rifles of the Greeks and Bulgars. In the days before the League was thought of, the Balkan states were always the sore spot of Europe. Not only delighting in the tinsel of melodrama, they liked a bit of the shooting and sword play which goes with the tinsel. So every few months a new trouble would arise. And the great states would grin and use these tiny strifes for their own advantage. Now the League does the grinning, but the smile is on the other side of its mouth. Instead of using Balkan disorders as matches to kindle European war fires, it uses them as flares to light the way to a more effective peace in Europe.

Hence, the pragmatists of this country who want results before they will buy vacuum cleaners, or theatre tickets, or enter any "lasting covenants" have lost some part of their defense. In eleven lays the League ended the barking along the Greek frontier. And it did this while two cabinets were in a turmoil, and the League itself not actually in session. Surely the League can now stand more firmly on its own feet. The American public need no longer doubt its effectiveness, nor the benefit of an eventual alliance with it. Truly and with expressive results--it worked.