EARLY ARBITRATION

Dozens of books and articles will be written on the Manchurian controversy before the many threads can be untangled and candidates for the doctor's degree in the twenty-fifth century will doubtless still be uncovering new information. Any opinion on the development of the Sino-Japanese struggle must be a guess. There are, however, one or two aspects of the situation which are worth considering.

The greatest guarantee for permanent peace in the Far East would come from a League investigation, accepted by the powers concerned. Such an investigation might lead to agreement on basic unsettling issues. It would certainly be the best means of solving the Manchurian problem with equal consideration for China's legal rights and for the exigency of Japan's economic needs.

From a world point of view the lesson which the Manchurian clash teaches in that the League of Nations or the World Court must be prepared at all times to make decisions on vexed questions, such as the validity of treaties, or the rights of foreign residents or investors in territory inadequately policed by native authority. If the League can extend its jurisdiction to these sore spots soon enough, if judicial arbitration can be used before smoldering discontent bursts into flame, the League's power to prevent war may become completely effective.