THE TABLET A WEEKLY NEWSPAPER AND REVIEW

ESTABLISHED 1840 R E G IS T E R ED AS A N EW S P A P E R

VOL. 173 No. 5170

LONDON, JUNE 10th, 1939

SIXPENCE

IN Tins ISSUE

MAURICE BARING SHANE LESLIE RONALD KNOX

CHURCH AND STATE IN ENGLISH EDUCATION

By A. C. F. Beales

DARK DAYS IN BOHEMIA

By Our Central European Correspondent

SULTAN INTO JESUIT

By James Brodrick, S.J.

LETTERS FROM ROME, PARIS, AND MADRID

Full List o f Contents on page 736.

THE WORLD WEEK BY WEEK We Won’t be Guaranteed

No diplomatic path has yet been found round the latest difficulty in the Anglo-Russian negotiations. Mr. William Strang, o f the Central Europe Department, is to go to Moscow to forward the negotiations. In the matter o f the Baltic States, Latvia and Estonia have crystallized their attitude in a sentence which deserves to be memorable, in which M. Selters, the Foreign Minister o f Estonia, declared th a t any attem pt to guarantee their independence “ would be considered as an aggression against which the Baltic States would fight with all their means.” As countries which owe their existence and independence, twenty years ago, to Germany, and achieved that independence a t the expense o f Russia, they are naturally suspicious o f any suggestion o f Russian protection. Protection passes too easily to protectorate.

While they cannot be guaranteed directly, they can be guaranteed indirectly, if attacks upon them are considered as proofs of aggression and threats against the Soviet. Mr. Chamberlain truly said in the House of Commons “ We manifestly cannot impose a guarantee upon a country which declines to accept i t . ”

This statement gains in importance because a t the same time M. Bonnet was addressing the French Council of Ministers on the latest steps in the negotiations, and telling them th a t the Baltic States were going to find themselves guaranteed in one form or another.

The French Communist paper, L'Humanité, now finding inconvenient its habitual language about the small nations, writes of the Baltic Governments : “ I t would be monstrous to compromise peace by taking account of their shifty manœuvres.”

More than ever the character of the men in power in these small States will matter vitally to their big neighbours, and as a consequence these States will assume increasingly authoritarian forms o f government. The machinery of Parliamentary democracy in a small State presupposes parties with small resources not being fostered all the time from outside. Yugoslavia Holds the Balance

I t was confidently asserted in many quarters that the visit which Prince Paul of Yugoslavia made to Rome at the beginning of last month would be followed almost at once by some form o f agreement between Yugoslavia and Hungary ; but there has not yet been any sign of such an agreement. Le Temps interprets this as an indication of the continued good relations between Belgrade and Bucharest, suggesting th a t the Yugoslav reluctance to make formal terms with Hungary will continue so long as Hungary makes no formal renunciation o f revisionist claims on Rumania. Prince Paul, since his dismissal o f M. Stoyadinovitch, has certainly steered a middle path between the Axis and those countries which fear an extension o f its power, with considerable skill. They say in France th a t the German and Italian Governments were so alarmed by his dismissal of Stoyadinovitch th a t they immediately occupied Prague and Tirana as a precautionary measure. Prince Paul is to see King Carol, having left Berlin, and going to Bucharest to take part in the present national celebrations. From there he is to come to London. Similarly, while the statesmen who accompanied him to Berlin were discussing economic matters with German representatives, M. Tomitch, the Yugoslav Minister of Commerce, was in Paris, discussing the final details before the coming into force o f the Franco-Yugoslav trade agreement th a t was concluded in February. From Paris he came to spend a few days in London. M. Markovitch, the Foreign Minister, is also following his stay in Berlin with a visit to London. So is the balance being nicely held.