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A.—s

instructing the Secretary-General to obtain from the various States information on measures taken to secure the suppression of slavery, and on the result of the application of such measures, for study by a committee set up for the purpose. The replies so far received are contained in Documents A. 25 and 25 (a). The Slavery Committee has not yet had time to do more than draw up a plan of work (Documents A. 17 and A. 8 (a) (page 13). Whilst the question has no importance to New Zealand, I would draw your attention to some interesting information contained in the documents I have mentioned, and also to the phrase with which paragraph 3 on the first page of A. 25 ends —i.e., " while the reply from New Zealand is not of a positive nature." 1 inquired why such a phrase had been used, and discovered that the New Zealand Government's reply apparently related to Western Samoa only, whereas the questions asked affected the whole of the territory under the jurisdiction of the New Zealand Government. The Sixth Committee submitted two resolutions (Document A. 69) passed by the Assembly on the 22nd September, expressing gratitude to the Temporary Committee on Slavery for its work, and approving the programme and methods of work set forth in the Slavery Committee's report. Situation in Georgia. At one of the early sittings of the Assembly the delegations of Great Britain, France, and Belgium submitted the following motion : — " The Assembly, reiterating the resolution adopted on 22nd September, 1922, by the Third Assembly, with reference to Georgia, invites the Council to follow attentively the course of events in this part of the world, so that it may be able to seize any opportunity which may occur to help in the restoration of this country to normal conditions by any peaceful means in accordance with the rules of international law." This was referred to the Sixth Committee, which issued the report A. 95, considered by the Assembly on the 25th September. The resolution was passed after the Assembly had heard with considerable interest a brief account of the present melancholy situation of Georgia, which had been recognized as an independent country by several of the Powers in 1920. Speakers who supported the resolution were careful to state that there was no suggestion of interfering in the domestic concerns of Russia. Admittance of San Domingo to the League. During the course of the Assembly the Government of the Republic of San Domingo applied for admission to the League of Nations. This request was considered by the Sixth Committee, which unanimously recommended the Assembly to admit San Domingo. This was done by the unanimous vote of the forty-three States represented at the meeting of the Assembly which took place on the 29th September. The report on the matter is No. A. 130. This report, although only a summary of, with an occasional comment on, the work accomplished by the Fifth Assembly, would not be complete were I not to refer to the atmosphere of the Assembly itself. No one who had attended every Assembly, as I have, could help feeling the change which took place after the British and French Prime Ministers had spoken early in the session. As a well-known writer aptly put it, " windows had been broken and the air let in." The combination of countries to serve their own interests, of which I have spoken in previous years, although stil! apparent, was overshadowed by a healthy international feeling and an earnest desire for goodwill and peace, which has done much towards the development of the moral influence of the League. It is this influence which has always appeared to me to be the greatest power which the League could exercise in human affairs. There were frequent meetings of members composing the various delegations of the British Empire, thus affording opportunities for ascertaining and discussing differing policies when they existed. I have, &e., •J. Allen. The Right Hon. the Prime Minister, Wellington, New Zealand. (Note. -Copies of the documents referred to in the foregoing reports have been placed in the General Assembly Library for convenience of reference.)

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