A.—s

14

On the motion of the principal delegate of the Netherlands, the Assembly appointed by resolution a small committee to examine and report upon the credentials of the delegates. The committee having reported, the Assembly proceeded to elect its Chairman. The general choice was well known, and there was no surprise when it was announced that M. Augustin Edwards, principal delegate of the Republic of Chile, had received forty-two of the forty-four votes cast. M. Edwards, who it Minister for Chile in London, is a man of charming personality and a fine linguist, speaking English and. French without accent; and it was felt that as President of tin; Assembly he would confirm the high opinion of his ability formed last year, when he acted, as Chairman of the. No. 4 Committee. Method of Work. -In accordance with, tho precedent established last year, the Assembly decided, on the proposal of the President, to appoint six general committees and a small committee to examine questions submitted for inclusion in the Agenda during (tie discussions of the Assembly, and the delegates wore asked to select the committees on which they preferred to serve. Tin; Assembly, having examined and adopted the Agenda (Document A. I) and divided the items amongst the committees, adjourned. As a member of the Committee, of Control, Sir James Allen felt obliged to serve on Committee No. 4, and also on Committee No. 2. Sir Francis Bell elected to serve on Committees Nos. 1 and 6, and Sir Arthur Stool-Maitland on Committees Nos. 3 and 5. On tho morning of the sth September the committees met in numerical order and elected their Chairmen as follows :— Committee No. 1 (Constitutional), M. Scialoja (Italy). Committee No. 2 (Technical), M. Shodzko (Poland). Committee No. 3 (Disarmament), M. Torrientes (Cuba). Committee No. 4 (Budget), M. Zahle (Denmark). Committee No. 5 (Humanitarian), Hon. W. S. Fielding (Canada). Committee, No. 6 (Political), M. Loudon (Netherlands). On the morning of the 6th September the discussion, commenced at tin; previous sitting, on the work of the Council and on the measures taken to execute the decisions of tho Assembly (Document A. 6) was interrupted in order to allow the Assembly to (•lei;!, the six Vice-Presidents who, with the President and Chairman of Committee, form the officers of tho Assembly. The undermentioned were elected:— Lord Balfour, Great Britain. M. Hanotaux, France. M. Toixeira Gomes, Portugal. M. Branting, Sweden. Le Comto do Gimeno, Spain. M. Niiitchitch, Yugo-Slavia. Discussion on the Annual Report. -The Assembly having bison constituted according to the Rules of Procedure was now able to continue, tho discussion on the work of the Council. This was concluded on 9th September. COMMITTEE No. 1. Procedure of Conciliation for International Disputes. —The First Committee considered the report of tho committee appointed by tho Second Assembly to study the procedure of conciliation in international disputes, the general principle of which has been recognized as being in conformity with tho spirit of tho Covenant. Among other matters there were considered the position of those States which either had not signed Conventions of Conciliation or which were not members of tho League, as also the possibility of more than' two States being parties to a conflict. A sub-committee was then appointed to consider rules of procedure. This sub-committee abandoned the idea of drawing up a general treaty and proposed instead a scries of recommendations to the League. Tho results wero embodied in a report to tho Assembly by the First Committee (Document No. A. 86), and in accordance with tho recommendation of this report a resolution was adopted by tho Third Assembly on tho 26th September wherein tin; Assembly of the League recommends its members to conclude agreements with the object of laying their disputes before Conciliation Commissions formed by themselves. The organization of those Commissions, and tho possible assistance of the Secretariat of the League, and suggestions for the adoption of the Resolutions of the Hague Convention, 1907, are matters covered by tho resolution. To assure the maintenance of peace, it is provided that the Council may, if necessary, have recourse to the services of tho Conciliation Commission formed by tho parties, and cither invite them to bring their dispute before the Commission or refer to the Commission any dispute submitted to it by one of the parties. Amendment of Covenant Article 10. —In the course of the deliberations in committee it appeared that the divergence of view with regard to the legal interpretation of Article 10 still continues. The Canadian Delegation, realizing tho impossibility of persuading tho Assembly to cancel Article 10 of tho Covenant, alternatively submitted an amendment to the effect that no member should be, under the obligation to engage in any act of war without the consent of its Parliament, Legislature, or other representative body. The First Committee, however, did not think it advisable to discuss those amendments in the present Assembly, but thought it necessary that the Governments should be placed in a position to consider them, and that they should be carefully examined, before any decision was taken. Such an examination would make it possible to take account of the various epects under which the question of Article 10 might be envisaged. In particular, attention was