Nauru and the League.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16883, 10 July 1920, Page 8

Nauru and the League.

The Prime Minister stated in the House of Representatives yesterday that Lord Milner had cabled to say that. the. amendment in the Nauru Agreement: Dill made l>y the House of Commons docs not affect, the agreement in any material respect. This remains to be seen, but in the meantime the point 13 of less importance than the fact that Lord Robert Cecil's amendment was ramed, and by a substantial majority. His amendment was to the effect that the agreement should be subject to Article 22 of tho Covenant of the League. This proposal led one member to ask indignantly whether it was suggested that a Great Power accepting a mandate should come to the Council of the League for approval of its actions. Tho answer to that, as was doubtless made clear to the objector, is that the Covenant does require just that. The case for the amendment was probably strengthened by the evidence which this objection supplied that some people think, and wish others to think, that the Covenant was a piece of solemn humbug, which was signed with winks and tongues in cheeks. Tho Government's objection was that the carrying of tho amendment would amount to a reflection upon the representatives of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. This was too far-fetched an argument to carry weight with tho Commons, and the amendment was agreed to. Tho significance of the incident is tho growing strength of the feeling that the League must be treated seriously, and must be given fair play. Indeed, it is quite a little triumph for Lord Robert Cecil and his friends of the League of Nations Union.