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THE

QUARTERLY
REVIEW

VOL. 241.-242

COMPRISING Nos. 478, 479,

PUBLISHED IN

JANUARY & APRIL, 1924.

LONDON:

JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET, W.1.

28 CLACCON M 33335

Printed in Great Britain by WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, London and Beccles.

876699

THE

QUARTERLY REVIEW

No. 478.-JANUARY, 1924.

Art. 1.-THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS.

To most people the League of Nations is merely the expression of a pious hope of better things to come; to some it is the panacea for all the evils of the world, whether social or political; to others its aims are a source of derision and of complete scepticism as to the possibility of their ever being realised; while to a few, the chosen few, the League of Nations is a second star of Bethlehem leading to peace on earth and goodwill towards men. To these elect the League is an institution of which the maintenance of peace and the suppression of war as a monstrous anomaly are the principal objects to be held in view; but they intend that it shall also embrace humanitarian ideals of an international character, by which the inhabitants of countries within the League shall be gradually brought, through the suppression of vice and by increased opportunities for intellectual culture, to a happier and more perfect state of existence. There can be no doubt as to the genuine enthusiasm of these few and the beneficial effect of their fervour; but it is just the sincerity of their idealism which constitutes one of the principal dangers to the League and may even in the end wreck its existence.

Four weeks spent in Geneva during the fourth meeting of the Assembly of Delegates from fifty-two nations represented in the League give ample opportunity to arrive at a just appreciation of the value of its work, and to weigh without prejudice its successes and failures. It was unfortunate that the opening of the Assembly coincided with the Italian-Greek incident on the Albanian Vol. 241.-No. 478.

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