League of Nations

Hutt News, Volume 10, Issue 20, 21 October 1936, Page 5

League of Nations

LOWER HUTT BRANCH

r A public meeting under tlie auspices 8 of the Lowor Quit branch of the Lea- ' guo of Nations Union was held in St, (Stephen's Hall on Wednesday last. % The chairman, Mr. Craig Mackenzie, explained the aims and objects of the League of Nations Unioify Its main object 'boing to prepare public opinion ] so as to ensure effective support of the League of Nations and further to * mould the policy of the League through ! public opinion. The Union existed in I almost every country, including the j United States of America, which counV } • try was not a member of the League 5 of Nations The main object of the League in America was to bring pres- , sure to boar through enlightened public opinion upon the government of that country to link up with tho .. League.- , . Ujjttai ' Professor P. L. W. Wood," JVI.A. (Oxon), the speaker for the evening, too<k for his subject "The Work and Prospects,of the League." In his in- ' , troductory remarks the ProfessdT paid a tribute to the Government in its "active support of the League of Nations, stating that he agreed with its policy in this direction. The League, as we know it tc»-day, is just a loose organisation of Stages, none of them having given up therr sovereignty or independence. It must therefore be expected that so long as the member states were not more tightly bound together there would be some failures. However, in spite of this apparent weakness in the constitution, member states had shown considerable confidence iu tho League by passing over to it many major problems of international importance having arisen as a result of the Great War. The problem of the Saar Valley had effectively been dealt with. The repatriation o,f prison crs of war to the extent of half a mil lion was placed by the League undei the guidance of Dr. Nansen. The difficult problem of the 'Greeks and Turks in Asia Minor, where half a million Greeks had been transferred from Tur key to Greece, was no mean matter. This problem meant transfering a population of one and a half million people to live with an already estab lished population of some five and a half million, here was both a human and an economic question. These were all matters that only a League o,f Nations could undertake with any de gree of success. A further instance of the work of I the League was the economic recovery of Austria under the help and advice jof experts. Austria, once enjoying a proud position amongst nations, hud 'become an impoverished staLe ciiieliy because of the unbalanced distribution of population since , the Great War. Vienna had a population of two million out of a total population in Austria of six millions, This huge population congregated in one city found that the goods it produced could not 'be sold and thus starvation faced it.. • With the help of international loans and economic re-organisation, the League (brought about comparative stability in the affairs «t" Austria. Other functions of the League oC Nations were the combating ot epidemics which had broken out in many countries as a dijjpct result of the Great War. Localisation of epidemics such as smallpox and cholera had now been achieved with the aid of special departments at Geneva and 'Singapore. These two headquarters were in wireless communication with every country and with eyery ship at sea so that advice could be sent on by radio concerning any outbreak of disease. The standardisation of drugs in different countries had been accomplished. The drug traffic had been dealt with by mutual agreements regarding production and idistribution of necessary drugs. The Permanent Court of International Justice worked in close co-operation with the League. Last but by no means least of examples quoted toy the Professor was the work of the Interational 'Labour Office which had justified the existence of the League and the whole o,f the cost. In this connection between lifty and sixty draft conventions had been ratified both by and none men jots of the League. In short the League meant world) planning. After elaborating on the successes of the League the speaker went on to state that there had been failures. He instanced the trouble between China and Japan, the wars in 'South America and Abyssinia. Regarding the future prospects of ; hc League, of Nations there are two cases , to be stated, as follows: (1) building up of the League without recourse to sanctions; (2) lleforming the Le:;-;ie on tho basis of the more effective application of sanctions The arguments i u favour of the first case, namely, "A League without sanctions" are: (u) Sanctions have been tried and failed; (b) The use of sanctions destroys the very spirit of the League of Nations. The arguments in favour of the second case are: (a) Many countries will go -to war if there is no penalty; (b) Sanctions effectively applied will range the world against aggressor nations. Professor Woods favoured the latter I course as the one for tlie future. Just | as we have to depend upon some way of enforcing national Jaw so shall we j have to depend upon some way of i nforcing international law. The chairman, after making an appeal for membership of the Union which could 'be obtained by application to the secretary, Mr. P. Dowse, Lower gutt, moved a hearty vote of thanks to the speaker which was carried with acclamation.