LEAGUE OF NATIONS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22349, 21 February 1936, Page 11

LEAGUE OF NATIONS

REVISION ADVOCATED ALLEGED WEAKNESSES DEBATE IN HOUSE OF LORDS By Telegrrtph— Press Association—Copyright LONDON. Feb. 19 A debate was raised in the House of Lords to-day on the reconstitution of the League of Nations by Lord Rennell, a former British delegate to Geneva. He characterised as " weaknesses" the following aspects of the League's administration : (1) The admission, with equal voices, of nations with different social evolution and ethical standards. (2) The disparity of distribution of the nations, which tended to give the League a predominantly European character. (3) The unrestricted liberty to enter into alliances which might not only be pacts of non-aggression but directly designed to isolate and intimidate other nations. Lord Rennell suggested that instead of one Council meeting at Geneva there should bo councils for Europe, Asia, America and possibly also for Africa, with a World Court to pronounce on issues for which the regional councils could not find a solution.

Lord Ponsonbv said he thought this would, complicate matters, but he agreed that "there must bo a drastic revision."

Earl Peel said ho believed the League should bo reconstituted solely for conciliation.

The Foreign Under-Secretary, Earl Stanhope, said a great deal of the League's work was not political. It would bo unfortunate if those matters were dealt with by continents instead of by a world organisation.

For many reasons the British Government was not contemplating or considering taking any steps for a revision of tho League Covenant. Any decision about such a matter should be unnnimoiis among all tho members of the League. Referring to a speech by the Marquess of Lothian, who had claimed that the Covenant would work very well if the nations made up their minds to apply its principles, and suggested that they were holding back from co-opera-tion because they felt their economic security was threatened, Lord Stanhope said the Government was giving constant thought to questions such as economic nationalism and access to raw materials. However, it was impossible to deal satisfactorily with these questions until the international situation improved.