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and the Belgian motion, quoted hereunder, which had been sent to the Fifth Committee :— " The Assembly invites the Council to request the High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Labour Organization to consider how far the measures taken to give protection to, to provide employment for, and to afford relief to Russian and Armenian refugees can be extended to other categories of refugees." The Belgian motion was accepted by the Fifth Committee, with the addition of the word " already " between the words " measures " and "taken," and it was passed by the Assembly in the form of a resolution on the 25th. September. (See Document A. 99 (1).) The German motion evoked considerable opposition, and no doubt it was ill-timed. We are certain, however, that it was introduced in all sincerity as a means of drawing attention to a passage in the memorandum by the Director of the International Labour Office on the work of the refugee service. One speaker confessed that, whilst he was in sympathy with the substance of the motion, he deprecated the procedure which has been adopted, and doubted the legality of the Committee going into a question which had not been sent to it for consideration by the Assembly. Moreover, by passing the resolution a precedent would be created which he did not desire to see. Finally, the German delegate confessed that a resolution which had not been passed unanimously, or, at any rate, by a considerable majority, was of little value, and, if only for this reason, he would withdraw the motion. It is very much to be hoped that an attempt to introduce into the debates of any of the committees a subject which is not germane to its agenda, and which has not been sent to it by the Assembly, will not be made again, and that, if any Government desires.to have discussed by the Assembly a subject which is not normally inscribed on the agenda, that Government will take action in accordance with the rules of procedure. The Fifth Committee's report is Document A. 109, and the resolution with which it concludes was passed by the Assembly at its meeting on the 25t.h September. Transfer of Armenian Refugees to the Caucasus. This subject has been dealt with in the reports of the Fifth and Sixth Assemblies. It will be remembered that last year the Assembly invited the Council to appoint a committee to go into the proposed scheme for creating a national home for Armenians in the Republic of Erivan. Before proceeding further it is advisable to state that grave political considerations are involved, as will be seen from the report to the Council of the Armenian Refugee Commission, appointed under the resolution of last year's Assembly. (See Document C. 328.) This document was before the Fifth Committee, together with a document (A. 70) which is the report to the Council of the Financial Committee's consideration of the scheme. The resolution taken by the Council, whilst couched in sympathetic terms, does not give much reason to hope that the project will be realized unless sufficient money should be forthcoming from private organizations. It will be convenient here to point out that on a few occasions this year the delegate appointed as Rapporteur on a particular question prepared his report and submitted it to the Committee before that body had even begun the debate. We may remark that the other method, of the Rapporteur drawing up his report at the conclusion of the general debate, is a better one. This was one of the occasions on which the former practice was adopted, and consequently the Fifth Committee had before it from the beginning of the debate, in addition to the documents mentioned above, the Rapporteur's report, which concluded with resolutions to the effect that a sum of 25,000 francs should be included in the Budget for next year to meet the expenses of a committee to be appointed by the Council to investigate the possibility of obtaining the sum required for creating a national home for Armenians in the Republic of Erivan. One delegate objected to the resolutions, because, in his opinion, they ran counter to the spirit of the resolution passed by the Council. A strong appeal was made by the British delegate (The Hon. Mrs. Alfred Lyttelton, D.8.E.), who proposed a slight amendment to the resolutions, which was carried with one dissentient. The Fourth Committee subsequently reduced the credit asked for to 15,000 francs. There is really little more to be said. The Assembly has again and again shown by resolution its sympathy with the remnants of the Armenian race, but literally nothing has been done to create for them the national home which has been promised. As to the merits of the scheme referred to above, all that can be said is that it has been reported upon favourably by experts who have made investigations on the spot; but there are political considerations which make it difficult to raise a loan to be utilized under the auspices of the League. The report to the Assembly (Document A. Ill), together with the resolution with which it concludes, was passed at the meeting of the Assembly on the 25th September. Protection of Women and Children in the Near East. Details of this work have been given in previous reports, and there is no necessity to deal with it at length this year. As is known, a house is provided in each of the cities of Constantinople and Aleppo for the reception of women and children who have escaped from countries to which they were deported, and where they have been held in bondage. Properly speaking, the work may be divided into two parts, and separate credits have been voted for Constantinople and Aleppo. Miss K. Jeppe, who has been responsible for the work in Aleppo, gave a most interesting account to the Fifth Committee of what had been accomplished, and it became clear, from what she said, that she expects that her task will terminate in 1927. Consequently this was probably the last time that n oney would be voted by the League for Aleppo. During the discussion in the committee one delegate raised a question of principle. He admitted that the League of Nations was concerned with humanitarian questions, but doubted whether it should give financial assistance to what, after all, was a private institution. It is quite true that it was only after Miss Jeppe had begun her work that she appealed

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