A.—s

On the 12th September the Assembly passed the following resolution : — " The Assembly,— " Having by its resolution of the Bth September, 1931, considered as an omission which should in justice be repaired, the fact that Mexico is not mentioned in the Annex of the Covenant enumerating the countries invited to accede thereto : " Having unanimously decided to repair that omission and therefore to invite Mexico to accede to the Covenant and to lend its valuable support to the League as though it had been invited from the outset: " Having by this exceptional invitation —which must not be regarded as establishing a precedent —formally indicated that it accepts as having been fulfilled from the outset in the case of Mexico the conditions governing the entry of States into the League as set forth in Article 1 of the Covenant : " Noting the reply of the Government of Mexico dated the 10th September, 1931, by which it agrees without reservation to enter the League on the terms announced : " Declares Mexico to have become a member of the League of Nations, and invites the representatives of Mexico to take part as soon as possible in the work of the present session of the Assembly." On the 22nd September the Mexican delegation took their seats in the Assembly. At the second meeting held on the Bth September the Assembly elected the following delegates as Vice-Presidents : M. Briand (France), Viscount Cecil (Great Britain), M. Yoshizawa (Japan), Dr. Curtius (Germany), Count Apponyi (Hungary), Dr. Restrepo (Colombia). The body known as the Bureau, consisting of the President, the Vice-Presidents, the Chairman of Committees, and the Chairman of the Agenda Committee, was then complete. Representation of New Zealand. As was the case last year, New Zealand sent only one delegate in the person of myself. As three committees usually sit at the same time, it was necessary for me to distribute amongst my staff some of the work to be done. I nominated myself to sit on all committees in order that I might attend personally when necessity arose, but, at the same time, arranged to be represented on the First, Third, and Fourth Committees by my Private Secretary, Mr. C. Knowles ; on the Second and Fifth Committees by Mr. C. B. Burdekin, an officer of my Department; and on the Sixth Committee by Mr. Burdekin or by my personal assistant, Miss Hannam. General Discussion on the Report of the Work of the League of Nations since the Last Assembly. This discussion, which affords delegates an opportunity of dealing with any subject within the orbit of the League, began on the Bth September and continued to the 12th. A resume of the debate will be found in the Journal, and to this I refer you ; but it will proba.bly assist you if I mention a few of the more important points which emerged during the discussion. Naturally, the world economic crisis and disarmament were the principal subjects touched upon. The eyes of the greater part of the world are now fixed on Geneva* for, after long years of waiting, an attempt is imminent to reduce armaments, and it is felt that that attempt, if successful, may give impetus to the return of that confidence in international relations which is necessary to a solution of the economic crisis. There is no doubt whatever about the attitude of many of the members of the League, parti'cularly the smaller nations. Their hopes are based on the Covenant and the obligation it embodies to disarm to the lowest degree commensurate with national security. The debate began with a speech by M. Grandi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and chief delegate of Italy. In the course of his speech he gave it as his opinion that the League should deal with the facts of the international situation, and not confine itself merely to declarations of principle or to developing its own constitutional law. He quoted, as an example of the latter, the proposed amendments to bring the Covenant into harmony with the Pact of Paris, a procedure on which he confessed he held conservative views. The Covenant was a comparatively recent development, and had not yet reached the limits of its practical possibilities. That he felt was reason enough for recommending prudence in the matter of amendments. The essential point was to consolidate the bases of the League of Nations, and if international relations were to form an organic part of the League system it was essential that the contractual principles on which this system rested should not be constantly revised. Perhaps the most significant part of the speech was that dealing with disarmament. It contained a suggestion which became later the subject of eager discussion amongst the delegates, and was ultimately dealt with by the Third Committee. I cannot do better than quote what M. Grandi said :— " I am, however, inclined to think that, during the actual period of preparation for the Disarmament Conference, States which have definitely undertaken to participate in the Conference might adopt provisional measures. The Council of the League, as you know, suggested preliminary discussions. Acting on that recommendation, we might do really useful work by adopting practical measures without delay. My own feeling is that we ought to try immediately to arrive at a really effective armaments truce, at least for the period of the Conference, and I should like to ask you seriously to consider my suggestion." On the morning of 10th September, Lord Cecil, the principal delegate of the United Kingdom, delivered a speech. His association with the framers of the Covenant and with the League since its

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