The Dominion WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1928. THE LEAGUE IN SESSION

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 288, 5 September 1928, Page 10

The Dominion WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1928. THE LEAGUE IN SESSION

The September meeting of the League of Nations has opened under auspices unique in its history. As the J re^ de ’ lt Procope, of Finland) remarked m his inaugural ad h ess, the fact on the Outlawry of War is based on the League s ideals. _ In all future discussions relative to the Peace issue, such as questions of disarmament, the League will have the support of an international affirmation, the logical effect ot which will be to impart a constructive bias in favour of any project pertinent to the practical consolidation of the Kellogg Pact. I his in itself is an advantage to the League of very great importance. Much of the work of the League of Nations is concerned with problems of economic and social significance to all nations. Ile solution of these problems means the successive removal of questions hitherto provocative of feeling. That there will be more systematic settlements as the result of the Peace Pact cannot be doubted, for the nations concerned will now be under a moral obligation to hud ways and means of securing peaceful settlements. One of the most difficult and pressing problems taken up by the League is the international traffic in drugs. It has been laid down, as essential to the successful solution of this problem, that it can only be regulated at its source. In other words, the countlies which supply the raw material must come into line by restricting production to the limits fixed by international agreement. Until such agreement is reached, the drug question will continue to be a bone of contention between nations. Much valuable work in this connection has already been accomplished by the League. It is satisfactory to note, also, that the new Nationalist Government m China has given an assurance that the elimination of the tiaffic is one of the planks of its platform. On the subject of disarmament, it is interesting to note that Germany intends to support the demands of the smallei nations that a definite date should be fixed for a disarmament confeience. A conference on disarmament must follow as the logical result, of the Peace Pact. Without progressive disarmament as its natural sequel, an international peace pact remains nothing more than an ornamental aspiration. The Kellogg Pact, if it means anything at all,, is an affirmation implying that the study of disarmament has become a practical obligation upon the signatories.