THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 296, 15 December 1928, Page 17 (Supplement)

THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

NATIONS MEET UNOFFICIALLY A VALUABLE FEATURE (No. 6.) There is a feature of the Assembly gatherings of the League of Nations each year with which the world is nut very familiar, and yet it is something that plays an extremely important part nuL only in inc ahairs of inc .League, bui in those of nations. bpeuch.es are niauc in the Assembly ana reported and printed. They have their good or ill euect. But there aiu many talks in pi.vate in Geneva during Comereuce time amongst delegates ol which little L known. It is a common meeting place provided by the League where eminent leaders of oilier ent countries and communities can come into personal contact without false and dangerous significance attach ing to the act, and they tan converse as man to man. 'l\uc the press, especially representatives of tnc sensational press, are ever on the watch with busy bcouts out for any sucu movements which will yield ‘’copy,” but the way is paved with uiilicuity lor them. Very often the representatives ol countries having differences to paten up will be staying in the same notei, and in any case, tney tun meet in the lobby* of the Assembly’, or in the ♦Secretariat building during the sittings of the Committees, and fraternise quite naturally; or they can meet in private at the dinners and luncheons which it is the custom of the various delegations to give to each other during the Assembly period. In what other way could these friendly talks be conducted —except ■where the nations of the earth meet in common counsel? There is excellent result in friendly contact if even it be only that nations shall know more about each other. Picture, for instance, a Persian, an eminent man, a professor, poet ami politician, turning round in his seat in the Assembly’ during an interval in the proceedings and keeping the New Zealand High Commissioner interested with an account of the a.-p rations of his country —how development there is now sought—the road and railing of Persia, and the greater education of the people; becom ing in turn an attractive listener him-

self of the work in this direction that is taking place in the Dominion. Or picture t ljc giant British delegate, Lord Cushendun, earnestly engaged in the lobby with a woolly-haired Ethiopian, hearing about difficulties with which these people are contending. These are extreme examples certainly, but they serve as illustrations. Instances that come under the eye of greater moment could be quoted, such for example, as the venerable, but unostentatious M. Briand, sitting in a quiet corner of the noisy, bustling, lobby’, conversing lightly with a mem- > ber of the German delegation. As the days go by at the Assembly and delegates get to know each othei better, they seek each other’s company fur the personal enjoyment of it; they exchange accounts of their countries and their peoples, they meet at private luncheons—on a hundred and one occasions. This year, of course, there were the more significant meetings of the representatives cf seme of the great Powers to talk informally of the withdrawal of the troops from the Rhine. Th' League Asiembly provided the opportunity for such a meeting. Nothing definite may' have been gulp, but still the gathering was at least an opportunely for a “gesture” of goodwill. These opportunities of the Assembly gatherings arc complementary in international usefulness to the excellent effect which open debate amongst nations on difficult problems affords in the Assembly itself. Where, before the war, could a French Foreign Minister reply in open debate to the arguments on disarmament of a German Chancellor? ►Such things may not have occurred to the founders of the League of! Nations when they framed its constitution. But there are many branches of international utility and worlu benefit that have grown out of the League since it was first designed which were not planned for, and which, perhaps, were entirely unthought of. Are such present evidences not to be considered a help and encouragement 10 those who are satisfied to build their great edifice just so high as their finite ability' will permit them to go, and to leave the rest to Providence 1 A Mass of Literature. There remain a few words to write of the work of the League in acquainting the world with its operations. One is overwhelmed with the mass of publications and general literature placed at one’s disposal to peruse on visiting the Assembly for the first time. No human being can hope to assuni late, except by close study over a lengthy period, the data of the League’s activities as told in its wealth of publications. This fact is one of the short-comings of the organisation, so far as making its work and ideals known to mankind is concerned, a weakness of which it is aware, but so far has been unable to remedy. “The question of publications” reads the report of the Supervisory Commission on the Publications of the

League, “is of great importance. The League obviously could not do its work without printed documents. These documents also enable the public to become acquainted with the results of the League’s work and to benefit thereby .... There is, however, the risk that the effect of good publica lions may be diminished if their mass is too great.” The subject is under discussion this year. The High Commissioner for New Zealand, Sir James Tarr, when the matter was being con sidered in Committee, suggested that a

handy booklet, easily read by students and even school-children, should be produced by the League, the education of young minds on this changed outlook of the substitution of other methods of international re-adjust meats than resort to war. being of the highest importance. To this suggestion the chairman of the committee replied that such a book would soon be in course of preparation.

The amount allocated this year for the League’s publications is 1,894,000 gold francs, approximately £76.000. The number of documents and publications issued is not available, but the Court of International Justice alone has issued up to May I, 1928, volumes containing 28,738 pages.