Lord Cushendun Unmasks The Soviet

Northland Age, Volume 28, Issue 53, 22 June 1928, Page 3

Lord Cushendun Unmasks The Soviet

Complete Text Of Speech To Disarmament Committee Of League Of Nations (Continued) Following is the continuation of the text of the speech delivered before the preliminary disarmament committeeof the League of Nations by Lord Cushendurri which exposed the motives behind the Russian proposals for immediate and complete disarming of the nations. This speech—disclosing as it does the sinister aims and policies of the Bolshevist regime—is of such importance that the Family Herald had it cabled verbatim from Geneva for the information of its readers. The text of the speech follows : Control Commission

Then Article 60 is one where one might expect that the functions of the League Council would be invoked. It says there that all disputes between the states shall be settled, not by the Council or the League, as we have proposed in many other draft treaties, but all disputes between the states shall be settled by a permanent international commission of control.

“That is an entirely new body which shall be created by this convention in some respects to carry out similar functions to those now performed by the Council and, at any rate, as far as this article is concerned, I can see no purpose in giving this new body the right and power of settling disputes. I can see no purpose for that piece of machinery unless it is, as in the former article I cited, the resolve that under no circumstances shall any sort of recognition be given the League. “Even more significant is Article 58, which lays it down that within one year of the entry into force of the present convention, all acts of national or international importance which are contrary to the above mentioned clauses shall be repealed or amended. “No one will deny that, under certain contingencies which are specified, military action is sanctioned by the covenant. Well, if that is the position he takes, it is contradictory to his own words because, on the front page of the draft convention, over the signature ot M Litvinoff himself, it says that the documents mentioned are intended to serve as a basis for discussion of the Soviet proposal. Therefore, when this convention was put into our hands, it was with directions by its author that it was only intended as a basis for discussion and with that notice it is perfectly impossible to maintain now the position that we are not to discuss it but that we must accept it or leave it and I repeat that in my humble judgment, it is very necessary that we should neither accept it or reject it, but submit it to careful examination.

“I have another point to refer to with regard to the spirit in which these proposals come before us. Admittedly our objective is to establish, if we can, world peace on a sure basis and I assume that the desire of the Soviets is also to establish peace. But what kind of peace ?

Repeal Of Covenants

“Therefore ihe covenant of the League is contrary to the above mentioned clauses in the Russian

draft. From which it follows that if Article 58 were accepted, it would require, within 12 months repeal of that covenant, which is beyond the competence of this commission as the covenant can only be repealed by the machinery which is contained in the covenant itself —even if one could suppose for a moment that this commission, or any organ ot the League, would accept an international agreement such as this clause involves recommending to the Council and assembly repeal of the covenant.

To be continued