THE AMERI CAN-SC AN DIN AVIAN REVIEW 
535 
manity or toward gratifying the greed for gain of a small group, 
will always exercise an influence which is far greater than their one 
vote, even without taking into consideration the fact that they will 
often have the support of dependent states. Nevertheless, the formal 
equality gives the smaller nations an opportunity which they ought 
more and more to utilize in the service of our common humanity and 
ideals. 
To us in the North it has from of old been natural that when our 
representatives met in an international association we mutually 
sought support and understanding from one another. This does not 
by any means imply a desire on the part of one to encroach on the 
opinions and position of the other in any given case; but no one who 
has been present in such situations can help feeling that our standing 
together has been a source of strength. And fortunately it has been 
the rule, at least of late, that the viewpoints of the representatives 
from our three countries have coincided in all important matters. 
This agreement has often, under the pressure of European prob¬ 
lems, been extended beyond the confines of the North. The other 
nations which like ourselves were not drawn into the World War 
have often had the same conception of the ways and means of work¬ 
ing toward better times, and a common action of the states which 
were neutral during the war has grown up spontaneously. In Genoa 
we often found ourselves standing side by side. During the prepara¬ 
tions for Genoa and in Genoa it was inevitable that we should ex¬ 
change views and opinions, and our common standpoint toward the 
problems under discussion seemed to the other powers so natural that 
special representation of the “neutrals”—as we were always called— 
was arranged for in the most important of the sub-committees. 
So long as the problem of reconstruction occupies the first place 
in the interests of all, it is natural that groups will be formed within the 
League of Nations according to the position of the members to this 
problem. And there is no reason why an agreement on these matters 
between us neutrals in the war and one or more of the groups that have 
been formed or are being formed within the League of Nations should 
not be possible and desirable. With Finland, as also with the Baltic 
states, we of the North have important cultural points of contact; the 
states of the Little Entente upheld opinions which were not in accord 
with the prevalent one-sided attitude of the great powers; and of the 
numerically large representation from the South American states the 
same was true in a high degree. When all this is taken into account, 
the League of Nations is not helplessly given over, as many people 
think, to becoming a mere impotent appendage to one or another of 
the great rival powers. If we all do our best to work for peace and 
reconciliation of the hearts, we shall not lack opportunities, even 
though, when isolated, we are small and can do little to make ourselves 
