8

staff in carrying on throughout the war years with a greatly reduced budget was a feat which called forth well-merited expressions of praise from the Assembly. The task of the Secretariat was not made easier by the failure of so many States members to pay their contributions in full. There were still due to the League on 31 December 1945, on account of contributions for that year, about 6,250,000 Swiss francs and a sum of well over 26,000,000 francs in respect of arrears for the previous years. At the time the Assembly opened, a sum of approximately 3,100,000 francs had been received in 1946 on account of arrears, and further amounts have been received since. A number of States in arrears had expressed their desire to settle their accounts before the dissolution of the League, both in order to discharge their obligations and also to enable them to participate on an equal footing with other States in the distribution of the assets of the League. The Special Committee on Contributions accordingly made endeavours to reach settlement with the States concerned on the fairest possible basis, taking into account their respective financial situations. In a number of cases consolidations were agreed upon, the understanding being that the States concerned would make immediate payment of the agreed sum. This was productive of the desired result in some instances, but not in all, and r as already stated, the total of arrears is very considerable. Considering the amount (more than 25,000,000 Swiss francs) of outstanding contributions written off in past years, it is not unreasonable to assume that a great proportion of the existing arrears will not be recovered. Disposal of Assets 29. Prior to the meeting of the Assembly, extensive discussions had taken place between the Supervisory Commission of the League and a Committee established by the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations regarding the transfer of the League's assets to the United Nations. These discussions did not include the possible transfer of functions and activities hitherto performed by the League. The conversations resulted in the establishment of a ' Common Plan' (subsequently approved by the General Assembly), the outline of which was as follows : (i) All the material assets of the League* after separating out the interest of the International Labour Office therein,, to be transferred to the United Nations about August 1946.

* These comprise the Secretariat Building and Assembly Hall at Geneva ; real estate; furniture, fittings, &c., for the use of the Secretariat; furniture, fittings, &c., for the, use of the Permanent Court of-International Justice at the Hague: stocks of publications, books, paper, &c.; gifts to the League by various' States; the Librarv and the Archives of the League and _the Permanent Court. The building occupied by the International Labour Office is excluded.