A.—sb.

not to intervene m the internal affairs of a State has been affirmed (although in this connection certain absentees from the Council board will be noted) ; and the efforte of the United Kingdom and rranee to secure an armistice have been blessed. To the question, "Was it not possible for anv member or combination of members of the Council to do more ? " I answer: " The Spanish representative wa,s satisfied with the achievement, little as it represents ; and the motion, to be valid had to be passed unanimously or not passed at all. Better perhaps, an emasculated resolution than nothing The alternative is to confess the utter futility of the League as at present constituted and hampered by its procedure." I have referred in passing to a dispute between Turkey and France concerning the future of certain territories. The question came before the Council on the afternoon of the 14th December. nelly, it turns on the interpretation of international instruments relating to districts which, speaking broadly, lurkey claims to have conceded to Prance as a Power, but which the Prench Government X a o i opln w are °? n ?® ote(i with the Mandate which Prance is exercising over Svria and Lebanon As the substance of the question is to be dealt with at a later session of the Council I will not now go into the merits of the case. It is sufficient here to say that, following the Iraq precedent the Mandated Territory of Syria and Lebanon will later be granted full independence, that there will 'be a transitional period of three years between the present regime and full independence, and that in the new 1 ranco-Synan Treaty, which Has been initialled but not ratified, it is stipulated that the Territories m question, m which hitherto the language and culture of the Turkish majority have been preserved, shall continue to enjoy withm the framework of Syria the autonomy accorded to it under the international agreements mentioned above. I understand that a recent general election m Syria and in the territories in question led to trouble. It was purely with the position created bv the trouble that the Turkish representative wished to deal. The substance of the question he indicated should be left for consideration at a later session, but it was necessary that certain conservatory measures should be taken now. Three meetings were devoted to consideration of the question. The case was opened by the representative of Turkey. As he asked the Council to defer consideration of the substance of the dispute and to concentrate on the question of conservatory measures which should be taken bv reason of the recent trouble I do not propose to deal in detail with his speech. He asked that the French troops and those made up of elements hostile to Turkey should withdraw from the territories in dispute and that a small detachment of neutral gendarmerie should be established there under the direction of a Commissioner of the League of Nations. At the next meeting the Prench representative spoke. Here again I will not deal m detail with what was said, but it became clear that the Prench mandator y Power > would consent to the course suggested by the Turkish A Rapporteur m the person of M. Sandler, the representative of Sweden, was appointed, and on the morning of the 16th December his report came before the Council. This is contained in Document C 546, and a perusa of it shows that the Rapporteur recommended the appointment of three observers m the Sanjak of Alexandria m response to a request made by the French Government It appeared from the discussion which followed that the Turkish representative had suggested the Turkey IwT tl "Tf representing France and the other representing rey France,_ as the mandatory Power, would not agree to the modification, principally on the ground that it.might prejudice consideration of the main question. The report of the Rapporteur was representative of Turkey abstaining from voting in the interests of The Ninety-fifth (Extraordinary) Session of the Council closed on the 16th December, 1936. I am, Sir, Yours faithfully, W. J. Jordan, High Commissioner for New Zealand. The Right Honourable the Prime Minister, Wellington, New Zealand.

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