A. —sb.

NINETY-SEVENTH SESSION OP THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. New Zealand Government Offices, S IK > — 415 Strand, London, W.C. 2, 10th June, 1937. I have the honour to inform you that in company with the Honourable H. T. Armstrong, Minister of Labour and Employment, I left London on the afternoon of the 22nd May in order to attend the Ninety-seventh Session of the Council and the Extraordinary Session of the Assembly of the League of Nations. The Council commenced its sessions on Monday the 24th May. The President was S. E. le Dr. A. J. Quevedo, the representative of Ecuador. With the exception of Italy, all the members of the C.ouncil were represented. The first meeting, which was private, was devoted to the consideration of the Agenda. (Document C. 210 (1), M. 153 (1), 1937.) The revised Agenda included the appeal of the Spanish Government. By a telegram dated 19th May, 1937, the Spanish Government referred to the declaration made by its representative at the extraordinary meeting of the Council held on 12th December, 1936 (ninetyfifth session), the telegram reading : — " At the request of the Spanish Government the Council held an extraordinary session in December, 1936, to examine, in virtue of Article XI of the Covenant, the situation created by the intervention of certain Powers in the Spanish struggle. On that occasion it was explicitly stated that the resolution, adopted by the Council at its meeting on December 12th, 1936, did not exhaust the question that had been raised and that the Government reserved the right, should circumstances render it necessary, to ask the Council to proceed with the examination of the question. In the opinion of the Spanish Government the development of foreign intervention in Spain since that resolution was adopted has assumed such proportions that without any kind of doubt it constitutes circumstances rendering it necessary for the Council to proceed with the examination of the question which was the subject of the extraordinary session of December, 1936. Accordingly, I have the honour to request you to be good enough to place that question on the agenda of the forthcoming ordinary session of the Council." " (Signed) Giral, " Minister for Foreign Affairs of Spain." At the request of the Governments of Iraq and Iran it was decided to adjourn, until the next meeting, Item No. 17 of the Agenda. This dealt with the request of the two Governments in accordance with Article XI, paragraph 2, of the Covenant, for the delimitation of certain parts of the Iran-Iraq border The provisional agenda was adopted. The second meeting of the Council was held in private on the 25t.h May. In discussing the Agenda, the representative of the United Kingdom suggested that the report on slavery (Document C. 188, 1937, YI) should be made public. It was agreed to adopt the Agenda subject to Mr. Eden's suggestion. The following items were discussed under the heading of " Budgetary and Administrative Questions " :— Gift to the League of Nations. The Japanese Government had offered a contribution of 35,000 gold francs (49,483-49 Swiss francs) towards the cost of certain technical activities of the League in which it collaborated during 1936. The following resolution, contained in the report of the Rapporteur on the subject (Document C. 239, 1937) was adopted : — " The Council, " Decides in accordance with Article 23a (2) of the Begulations for the Financial Administration of the League, to accept from the Japanese Government a sum of 35,000 gold francs (49,483-49 Swiss francs) as a payment towards the expenses of certain Technical Committees of the League in 1936 ; " Instructs the Secretary-General to convey its thanks to the Japanese Government." Transfer in the Budget for 1937. The Rapporteur (the representative of China) stated that, owing to increasing interest in the new League buildings and to the desirability of ensuring that the great number of people who visited the building should have the opportunity of acquainting themselves with the work of the League further credits were required for the printing of an explanatory pamphlet in several languages, together with illustrative postcards. The proposal included, for sale, a cinematograph film of the League. The Rapporteur, in proposing the transfer of 25,000 Swiss francs to the printing item from the salaries item of the Budget, on which a saving had been made, mentioned that a large proportion of the amount would no doubt be recovered from sales (Document C. 245, 1937, X). The Council decided to make the necessary transfer.

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