Powers Flouted

The Council of the League of Nations sat--for the 49th time--at Geneva, last week. Seldom have Great Powers been more thoroughly flouted by Minor Nations than during the proceedings which ensued. The Powers were represented, of course, by the Big Five: 1) Sir Austen Chamberlain (Britain), supercilious to correspondents but ready with a queer, cackling laugh for his colleagues; 2) Monsieur Aristide Briand (France), tousled and heavy eyed as a tomcat at dawn; 3) Dr. Gustav Stresemann (Germany), plump, bald, rubicund, and yet with a trig, indefinable air of smartness; 4)Signor Vittorio Scialoja (Italy), representing with compact, bustling decisiveness the great Duce; 5) Baron Adachi (Japan), frail, insignificant in stature, piping voiced, yet with a winning and decisive mien.

P: As a ludicrous prelude, the Chairmanship of the Council passed by alphabetical rotation, last week, from a Chinaman* to a bronze-hued if not red Indian from Colombia./-

P: The Council sent a telegram to Prime Minister Augustine Valdemaras of Lithuania, requesting him to appear before it and explain why he has not permitted steps to be taken toward easing the perpetual Lithuano-Polish crisis in accordance with the plan approved by the Council when it last sat (TIME, Dec. 19).

Dictator Valdemaras promptly wired back his refusal to come and explain. Matter postponed indefinitely.

P: The Council took up once more the five-year-old Transylvanian land dispute between Rumania and Hungary. Just as some progress seemed about to be made, last week, Rumanian Foreign Minister Nicholas Titulescu burst into tears, and threatened to withdraw if pressed to make concessions. Matter postponed to the 50th Council session next June.

P: The grave question of violation of the Treaty of Trianon by recent smugglery of Italian arms into Hungary (TIME, March 5) was referred by the Council, last week, to a committee consisting of a Finn, a Chilean and a Dutchman.

When they recommended that a civilian commission should investigate the shipping of the machine guns (which have already been scrapped and sold as junk by Hungary) the Council accepted this recommendation and hailed it as confirming in principle the League's right to investigate such matters--a right which Hungary had challenged.

P: The Council authorized Secretary General Sir Eric Drummond to let contracts for a new $4,000,000 League Secretariat building at Geneva. This authorization appeared to definitely spike proposals to transfer the seat of the League to Vienna.

P: An official invitation was despatched to Spain and Brazil, requesting those governments to reconsider and withdraw the notice which they gave in 1926 of an intention to withdraw from League membership this year.

That Spain will withdraw her withdrawal is considered certain, but the attitude of the Brazilian Government is still unclear.

* His Excellency Tcheng Loh, the Chinese Minister to France.

/-Dr. Francesco Jose Urrutia, Colombian Delegate to the League.