THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AFTER TWO YEARS By RAYMOND B. FOSMCK Formerly Under Secretary General of the League of Nations Reprinted from The Atlantic Monthly through the courtesy of the Editor Issued by League of Nations News Bureau 2702 Woolworth Building, New York City Digitized by the internet Archive in 2017 with funding from Columbia University Libraries https://archive.org/details/leagueofnationsOOfosd THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS AFTER TWO YEARS BY RAYMOND B. FOSDICK T O its enemies in the United States the League of Nations must seem an uncon- scionable time a-dying. For more than two years it has tenaciously clung to life despite repeated prophecies of approaching demise. Oc- casionally indeed its actual death has been an- nounced — once by no less a person than the President of the United States — and prepara- tions have been begun in high places to celebrate the obsequies. But somehow the League still lives. More than that it shows a surprising vitality. In spite of hard treatment and some neglect it seems to gain in strength and purpose. Certainly the League today, with all the manifold activities which it is initiating and guiding, is a far differ- ent creature from the feeble offspring which the Treaty of Versailles so laboriously brought into the world. For one thing it has more friends. Only a handful of the larger powers stood spon- sor for it at its birth. It was eyed with sus- picion by the smaller nations. Today these smaller nations are its warmest supporters, and fifty-one countries are now enrolled under its standard, representing more than four-fifths of the world’s population, and nearly three-fourths of its area. The list of absentees among the sup- porters of the League is more easily called than the roll of its membership: Abyssinia, Afghan- istan, Ecuador, Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Mexico, Russia, Turkey, and the United States. 1 The League of Nations The League Brings the World Together in Conference But it is not size alone which gives the League significance or which has brought it increasing vitality. With no precedents to follow, with no traditions to bind it, the League has struck out boldly in a new direction. On the theory that if the nations of the world can get together for dis- cussion around a common table, many of the con- flicts of interest and misunderstandings of pur- pose can be reconciled and smoothed away, and many of the outstanding problems which confront all nations alike can be overcome, the League has built up machinery for international conference such as no previous generation has possessed. And the machinery is working. However the enemies of the League may scoff at its imprac- ticable purposes, the fact remains that through the machinery which the League has brought into being, the nations are today sitting in confer- ence on their common problems to a degree un- dreamed of a decade ago. Whatever mistakes may have been made in the formation of the League — and they were not a few — within two years of its birth it has proved itself successful as an instrument for drawing the world together in common counsel. The bare list of some of the conferences which the League has promoted is evidence of this suc- cess. The Assembly, which is the keystone of the whole organization, because it represents all the nations sitting around a table, is holding its third annual meeting in Geneva in September. The League’s Council, representing eight states, has held nineteen sessions. The International Labor Conference, with its representatives from fifty-four nations, held its third annual confer- 2 After Two Years ence last October. The Paris passport confer- ence, attended by twenty-two nations, was called by the League in 1920 to promote the expedition of international travel. Forty-three nations met in Barcelona in 1921 to discuss problems relating to communications and transit, and to clear the channels of international business. Thirty-five nations came together in Brussels in 1920 to consider the international financial situation. In Geneva last year thirty nations conferred on methods for suppressing the international traffic in women and girls. In Warsaw this spring twenty-seven nations considered ways and means of dealing with the international menace of the typhus epidemic. In addition to these more formal gatherings the League has promoted a steady succession of international conferences and committee meetings to deal with a great va- riety of problems, such as the standardization of international statistics, the suppression of the international traffic in opium, the unification of standards of anti-toxic sera, the feeding of Rus- sian refugees, the return of prisoners of war, the reduction of armaments, the private manufacture of arms, the deportation of women and children in Asia Minor, and a score of other topics which represent the legitimate concern not of one na- tion, but of the family of nations. In brief, for two years the world has been slowly developing the tradition of conference; it has been learning, in some measure at least, the value of common counsel. No one could claim that the lesson is perfectly learned; only the be- ginning has been made. But at least it is a be- ginning. It marks a new train of thought, a new method of approach, a new habit. With practice and patience to sustain it, who knows but that this habit of conference may become so inti- 3 The League of Nations mately a part of the world’s mental processes that it will gradually supplant the old order of misunderstanding and conflict? Permanent Machinery for Conference vs. Temporary Machinery The League’s emphasis upon conference has a further significance. Much of the machinery which it has built to promote this activity is per- manent. The Assembly, the Council and the Sec- retariat represent a method of continuous inter- national conference on any problem that may arise, as opposed to ad hoc conferences called to consider specific matters. In other words, while the League has initiated a variety of special in- ternational conferences on topics relating to its work, it has also, through its permanent ma- chinery, the capacity to focus immediate atten- tion on any difficulty that can threaten the peace of the world. This is a point of no small importance. Special conferences like those recently held in Washing- ton and Genoa have their legitimate and proper place in the regulation of the world’s affairs. Their attention, however, is necessarily limited to the specific purposes for which they were called ; when their business is concluded they ad- journ, and nothing remains of the machinery which they erected. They create no organic, con- tinuing relationships. This type of conference helps the world along, but it fails the world in time of unexpected crisis. For ad hoc conferences are not easily or quickly called together. The date, the place, the mem- bership, and the agenda must be agreed upon in advance. The first Hague Conference was not ready until nine months after the Czar’s call. 4 After Two Years Over two years elapsed between President Roose- velt’s appeal for the second Hague Conference and its opening session. Although only nine powers met at the Washington Conference, it took four months of preparation before the first meeting could be held. On the other hand, when the Jugoslav-Albanian boundary dispute devel- oped last year, the Council of the League met in nine days. No special arrangements were neces- sary, no protracted negotiations to determine which nations should or should not be included, or what the diplomatic procedure should be. The machinery was already set up, and it met the emergency swiftly and decisively, stamping out the fire before it could spread. There is apparently some opinion in America that a succession of special conferences like the one held at Washington could adequately take the place of the League. To such belief it would seem as if memory of the plight of Sir Edward Grey in July, 1914, would be a crushing answer. For over two weeks he fought for a conference as the one hope of avoiding the impending catas- trophe. In that limited period, with the flames mounting higher every day, he tried to create the necessary machinery that would bring the nations concerned around a common table. But it was too late. Time was lacking. In those few frantic days, in that pitch of flame and heat, the ma- chinery could not be devised and assembled. The catastrophe began without a single conference. A handful of hasty, misunderstood telegrams plunged the world into the greatest tragedy ever visited upon the human race. The League’s Permanent Machinery That is why some kind of permanent ma- chinery is necessary, some international organi- 5 The League of Nations zation ready for emergency. That is why the As- sembly, the Council and the Court of Interna- tional Justice constitute the outstanding features of the League’s program. They represent pre- paredness. They represent a flexible mechanism that can be quickly adapted to unexpected situa- tions. True, the Assembly meets but once a year, and, because of its size, is something of an unwieldy body. But the Council, which is in reality an executive committee, meets at Geneva every three months, and oftener if necessary. In- asmuch as one-half of the members of the Council are elected by the Assembly, it is fair to say that the Council is an emanation of the latter body, and is entrusted with the direction of af- fairs in the Assembly’s absence. Certainly in the two years of its existence, the Council has not hesitated to act decisively on behalf of the League in the settlement of international discord and the promotion of common understandings. In this connection, the relations that are de- veloping between the Council and the Assembly are worthy of a moment’s consideration. The exact line of demarcation between the two bodies has never been determined, but the Council has adopted the plan of presenting to each session of the Assembly a report on all that it has done during the year. This report is treated in the Assembly as an opportunity for reviewing in open debate the whole policy of the League and the general conduct of its affairs by the Council. The last meeting of the Assembly developed some sharp criticism of the actions of the Council from a progressive minority under the leader- ship of Lord Robert Cecil, and the fact that the Council has this year studiously endeavored to shape its actions to meet this criticism is not without importance. Equally significant is the o After Two Years unchallenged assumption of responsibility by the Assembly for making up the budget and author- izing the expenditures of the League. Because of its personnel, the Council may at present pos- sess more real power than the average executive committee, but the Assembly holds the purse strings. As time goes on we shall undoubtedly see the respective spheres of action of the two bodies be- coming more clearly defined. Indeed, it seems probable that something in the nature of Cabinet responsibility will ultimately develop between the Council and the Assembly. Certainly in the evo- lution of the League we can expect many changes in its methods and structure. The Covenant of the League is proving to be as elastic and pliable under pressure of practical experience as was the Constitution of the United States in the decade after 1789. A word is due in regard to the Secretariat. Too little is heard of this branch of the League’s organization, but it is scarcely a secret that it is the moving influence behind the scenes. Per- manently located in Geneva, it is made up of more than three hundred people from over a score of nations, who are working together not as na- tional representatives, but as impartial experts. Despite differences in tongue, race and tradition, this medley of nationalities does its work quietly and effectively, provides the necessary expert service, prepares for all meetings, carries on the day-to-day work of the League, and executes the decisions of the Assembly and the Council. The Secretariat’s organization, consisting of ten sections, is illustrative of the broad sweep of the League’s work and the cosmopolitan charac- ter of its personnel. There is an economic and 7 The League of Nations financial section, directed by an Englishman; the disarmament section is directed by an Italian; and the health section is under a Pole. The section for administrative commissions (Saar Basin and Danzig) is under a Norwegian, the information section under a Frenchman, and the legal section under a Dutchman. A Swiss manages the mandate section, and an English- woman the section on social questions. The transit and political sections are directed respec- tively by an Italian and a Frenchman. It may be interesting to note that citizens of the United States are also attached to the Sec- retariat. The librarian is an American woman; the business manager (establishment officer) comes from North Dakota; the associate head of the information section is from Massachusetts; while the assistant to the head of the administra- tive commissions section is a New Yorker. Other Americans are attached to the Secretariat in minor capacities. The Court of International Justice Of all the machinery which the League has established to promote the cause of peace noth- ing has evoked a larger measure of interest than the Court of International Justice. Made up of eleven judges of the highest professional stand- ing — one of whom is an American — chosen re- gardless of their nationality by joint action of the Council and Assembly of the League, it crowns with success a whole generation of determined effort. Civilization now has at its service a per- manent world court, representing all the great systems of international law, established by the suffrage of fifty-one countries, and open for the settlement of disputes between nations on the basis of justice. Perhaps the matter cannot be 8 After Two Years better stated than in the careful words of Profes- sor Hudson of Harvard: “If there is such a thing in political science as a useful invention — and the establishment of the United States Su- preme Court and the role played by Lord Dur- ham’s report in the development of the British Empire encourage the belief that political science is not unlike physical science in this respect — then the builders of this new court would seem to have made a valuable contribution to the integra- tion of international society.” The remark is occasionally made that the League’s Court of Justice represents nothing more than a reshaping and revivifying of the old Hague Court of Arbitration, and as that trib- unal failed the world in 1914, so the new tribunal holds out no greater hope. This point of view involves a complete misconception of the differences between the two courts. The Hague Court of Arbitration was really not a court at all in the strict sense of the word. It was merely a panel of 135 international lawyers from which judges could be selected by disputant states that might desire to submit their differences to arbi- tration. It never met as a body, and because its members served only in the particular cases in which they were nominated as arbitrators, it never had the opportunity of building up a con- tinuous and harmonious system of international law. The League’s Court of Justice, on the other hand, has its fixed personnel elected for the term of nine years, with salaries ranging from $6,000 to $24,000 a year, depending on the days of actual service. The system thus affords an opportunity for growth in judicial experience and capacity, impossible under the Hague plan. The Court 9 The League of Nations meets at least once a year, in June, and oftener if necessary, and the President of the Court must be in continuous residence at The Hague. In other words, this new Court completely ful- fills the almost prophetic instructions which Mr. Root, then Secretary of State, gave the American delegates to the Second Hague Conference in 1907 : they were to endeavor to create “a per- manent tribunal composed of judges who are judicial officers and nothing else, who are paid adequate salaries, who have no other occupations, and who will devote their entire time to the trial and decision of international causes by judicial methods and under a sense of judicial responsi- bility.” Failure in 1907 came when the nations could not agree on a method of selecting the judges — a difficulty overcome seventeen years later, oddly enough, through the genius and per- sistence of the same Mr. Root. Another distinction between the Hague Court of Arbitration and the League’s Court of Justice is even more significant, though it can be touched upon here only in a word. It is the distinction between arbitration and adjudication; between a settlement by compromise and a settlement by means of the application of fixed and certain principles. It involves not only a new emphasis on international law and custom already sanc- tioned by the conscience of mankind, but a steady and systematic development of that law and cus- tom, based on the progressive judgments of the Court. A final distinctive feature of the League’s Court is the extent to which its jurisdiction is compulsory. While this feature is not prescribed in the provisions creating it, thus far eighteen nations have voluntarily agreed to give the Court 10 After Two Years compulsory jurisdiction over all disputes that may arise between them. Similar jurisdiction has likewise been conferred in a number of re- cent treaties, notably those with Germany, Aus- tria, Hungary, and Bulgaria relating to ports, waterways, and the protection of minorities. Al- together the trend is in the direction of giving the Court of Justice the same competence in in- ternational disputes which dignifies the Supreme Court of the United States in the settlement of our own internal difficulties. What Use Has the League Made of Its Machinery With all this machinery at the disposal of the League, it is a fair question to ask what has been done with it. The primary purpose of the machinery is to settle disputes and stop war. Has it been used for this purpose, and if so with what results? Reference has already been made to the Jugo- slav-Albanian boundary difficulty which suddenly loomed like a menacing cloud on the European horizon in the summer of 1921. It was the old story of aggression such as has been repeated time and again in the unhappy history of the Balkans. Dissatisfied with the frontier line be- tween herself and Albania which had been under dispute for some months, Jugoslavia resorted to the time-honored principle of executing a fait accompli: she sent her troops across the line and took what she wanted. Here was a situation which under the old dis- pensation would have upset the chancellories of half the world and strained the diplomatic rela- tions of Europe perhaps to the breaking point. It was a match struck in a powder mill. The 11 The League of Nations calamity of 1914 started in very much the same way. But there was a difference between 1914 and 1921. In the former year there had been no organization of nations, no plan, no procedure. In 1921 machinery existed for just such an emergency. The machinery was new, it was im- perfectly adjusted, it creaked in some of its joints and needed lubrication. But at least there was machinery, and it could run. In this case it ran without a fault. Mr. Lloyd George sent a telegram to the League asking for an immediate meeting of the Council and suggesting the appli- cation of an economic boycott against Jugoslavia. The effect of the telegram was electric. Jugo- slavs exchange tumbled in London and Paris. An international loan which Jugoslavia was negotiating was immediately withdrawn. The Council met in ten days, holding its meetings in open session. And Jugoslavia backed down. Within a week she had withdrawn her troops be- hind her own frontier, and today a League Com- mission is on the spot in Albania working out the arrangements for peaceful co-operation along the boundary. Why did Jugoslavia so suddenly change front? Not a soldier was moved against her; not a single battleship fired a shot or made a demon- stration; there was not even a gesture of force. Jugoslavia suddenly awoke to the fact that there was a new power stirring in the world, the power of international public opinion, backed by fifty nations, and working through centralized ma- chinery. She realized that a bull of excommuni- cation issued from such a source carried with it an authority which could not be defied. Be- wildered by the new machinery and protesting against its decree, she nevertheless shaped her course to avoid ostracism by her peers. 12 After Two Years The Aaland Islands Dispute Another dispute brought before the League was a long-standing quarrel between Finland and Sweden over the possession of the Aaland Islands. These islands, constituting a small archipelago lying in the Gulf of Bothnia almost midway be- tween the two nations, dominate the whole east- ern Baltic. They were claimed by Sweden because their population is overwhelmingly Swedish, and by Finland because for over a hun- dred years they had been part of the former Russian Duchy of Finland. In June, 1920, the tension between the two countries over the ownership of these islands grew alarmingly, and war was threatened on both sides. Great Britain thereupon made use of Article XI of the Covenant which declares that any nation has “the friendly right” to bring to the attention of the League any circumstance threatening to disturb international peace. Upon Great Britain’s initiative the Council of the League appointed an independent commission of inquiry, consisting of a Belgian, a Swiss and an American, “to proceed to the spot, obtain evi- dence, and submit a report.” After some months of investigation in which both sides to the dis- pute presented their cases at length, the commis- sion decided that sovereignty over the Aaland Islands belonged to Finland. The Council agreed to the report which was freely accepted by both the contesting nations, and the final act was a ten-power diplomatic convention, signed at Geneva under the auspices of the League, guar- anteeing Finland in possession, providing for the neutralization of the islands from a mili- tary point of view, and protecting them from losing their distinctive characteristics and insti- tutions, particularly the Swedish language. 13 The League of Nations Here again there was no bloodshed and no co- ercion. A menace to the peace of the world was averted by the exercise of common sense work- ing through very simple machinery. The method was effective not because it represented force, but because it had behind it the moral judgment of civilization. The Upper Silesian Difficulty A third international dispute with which the League had dealt was the Upper Silesian diffi- culty which burst into flame a year ago and at one time threatened the renewal of general war in Europe. It arose over the question of the boundary line between Germany and Poland in the district of Upper Silesia. German at one end, Polish at the other, and hopelessly mixed where the races meet, this territory contains one- fourth of the coal supply of the former German Empire and constituted before 1914 one of her most flourishing industrial areas. The Treaty of Versailles found the problem too intricate for immediate solution and provided for a future plebiscite. The plebiscite complicated rather than clarified the situation, and with France backing the Polish claims and England behind the German claims, and Korfanty lighting the fires of insurrection in the district itself, the matter was soon at white heat. The Allied Supreme Council, upon whom rested the decision, found itself in a state of hopeless deadlock. Neither Lloyd George nor Briand would back down. The matter was rapidly approaching a breaking point, when suddenly the Allied Supreme Council handed the problem to the League and agreed to accept any decision it might make. The approach which the Council of the League made to the dispute brought the matter at once 14 After Two Years into a new atmosphere. Because England and France were interested parties and were repre- sented on the Council, investigation and decision were left to the four members of the Council who came from the smaller states: Belgium, Spain, Brazil and China. These four men sitting as a committee retained experts from neutral coun- tries to advise them in finance, transportation and mining problems, and an elaborate study was made of all the complicated factors of the case. The decision, which was immediately ac- cepted by the Powers of Europe, laid down a boundary line as nearly as possible on the basis of the plebiscite, taking into account the eco- nomic and geographical situation of the district. In order to preserve the industrial unity of the territory, certain mutual economic guarantees were recommended which, with the territorial ar- rangements, have just been put into the form of a German-Polish convention, negotiated at Geneva under the auspices of the League. Since the decision complete calm has reigned in Upper Silesia, and with the signing of the convention the matter is now a closed issue. The decision of the League’s Council in this boundary dispute has been severely attacked in some quarters on the ground that it favored Poland at the expense of Germany. No one was wholly satisfied with it, not even the Council members who drafted it. A careful review of the matter by disinterested observers, however, seems to indicate that in immensely complicated circumstances it was probably the best decision possible. Certainly the method of independent, impersonal examination of a diplomatic difficulty was the right one, even if in some of its details the decision was erroneous. In any event there IS The League of Nations is peace in Upper Silesia and Europe has been saved from war. The War Between Poland and Lithuania One further demonstration of the effectiveness of the League’s machinery in settling interna- tional disputes remains briefly to be described. In 1920 the Polish Government requested the Council of the League to endeavor to find means of averting the war which threatened between Poland and Lithuania concerning the Vilna ter- ritory. As a matter of fact war had already be- gun. Troops were on the march and skirmishes were reported from both sides. Into this in- volved situation the League sent a special com- mission. The effect was almost immediate. The skirmishing stopped and the two nations entered into negotiations. At this moment General Zeliogowski at the head of some irregular Polish troops complicated matters by marching into the city of Vilna, which the Lithuanians claimed as their ancient capital, although it contained a majority of Poles. Repudiated by his Govern- ment, he nevertheless remained in possession of the town. The question is still unsettled, for neither Poland nor Lithuania has been willing to accept the form of agreement which the League’s Coun- cil has recommended. Nevertheless order has been maintained, and the danger of war is averted. Undoubtedly the spirit of conciliation which has animated the Council has exercised its influence over the two parties. In spite of the difficulties which still separate them, their rep- resentatives early this year entered into a sol- emn engagement before the Council to abstain in the future from any act of hostility. 16 After Two Years In these four cases of international friction which the League has reconciled during its first two years, one point stands clearly disclosed : the sole authority of the League is moral force; it rests on consent and not on coercion. It can sug- gest but cannot necessarily impose a settlement. Its victories are gained not by arms but by con- centration of world public opinion. If in the future it helps to maintain peace, it will be not because it represents an overwhelming combina- tion of military force, but because by slow stages it succeeds in gathering up the moral judgments of mankind in one powerful shaft of light and bringing that light to bear on instances of inter- national injustice. The League Attacks the Causes of War A society of nations cannot legitimately con- tent itself with putting out the fires of war after they have once been kindled. If we are to have real assurance in the future, the causes of war, the materials upon which the flames feed, must in so far as is humanly possible be removed. Secret diplomacy and secret treaties have been recognized over many years as potent causes of international suspicion and uneasiness. When the Covenant was created, therefore, one of its clauses stipulated that no treaty entered into by a member of the League was valid or binding un- less registered and published by the League of Nations. In pursuance of this regulation a treaty registration section has been established at Geneva, and 263 treaties have thus far been re- ceived, affecting practically every country in the world. Published in five volumes, they contain, some of them, information which under the old order would have been carefully shielded from public scrutiny. 17 The League of Nations As one glances through these volumes, repre- senting in concrete form the fundamental prin- ciple that the nations of the world must stand before each other honestly and frankly, one is struck by the fact that some treaties are pub- lished in which the United States is a contract- ing party. But these treaties have not been sent in for registration by our State Department; they have been submitted by the other parties to the contract that happened to be members of the League. It is a significant point that the treaties growing out of the Washington Confer- ence will have to be registered and published by the Secretariat of the League before they be- come binding upon the other powers. The League Works for Disarmament Another potent cause of war to which of late much attention has been given is to be found in the piling up of armaments; and in the field of disarmament it must be frankly admitted that the League has secured its smallest measure of success. Debarred from consideration of the question of naval disarmament by the absence of the United States, it has thus far found itself handicapped in taking up the problem of land armaments by the same influences that blocked the discussion of this question in Washington. Nevertheless some progress has been made. A powerful committee, called the temporary mixed commission, under the chairmanship of Lord Esher, has for over a year been at work with an army of experts on an exhaustive statistical in- quiry into the armaments of all countries, distin- guishing the military and police forces necessary for internal security, and the forces necessary for national defense. The results of this study are not yet completed, but it is hoped that they will 18 After Two Years be ready for consideration by the Assembly at an early date. Side by side with this survey, the League has taken up the question of the private manufacture and traffic in arms, to see what can be done to break up the connection between pri- vate enterprise and war. As long as American munition manufacturers are at liberty to ship arms into Abyssinia, for example, that part of the world is not free from menace. On these complicated questions an international confer- ence has been called by the League to meet, if possible, before the close of 1922. Altogether it seems probable that the splendid momentum achieved by the Washington Confer- ence will perhaps in the course of two or three years be carried forward to even larger results through the machinery of the League. At least the machinery is in existence, ready to be used. Tackling the Problem of International Co-operation The mere maintenance of peace, however, is not the sole aim of a real society of nations. Peace is rather the starting point of interna- tional co-operation, the beginning of common re- sponsibilities jointly assumed. The matter of mandated territories is a case in point. When the Covenant of the League was written it was agreed that the German and Turkish colonies, freed from their former sovereignty, and contain- ing thirteen million of backward people, should not become the spoils of their conquerors, but should be mandated to certain powers, to be ad- ministered, under the general supervision of the League, on terms that would fully guarantee the principle of non-exploitation, and safeguard the natives from many of the evils that have so often followed upon the heels of colonization. Thus 19 The League of Nations the mandatory powers become “the trustees of civilization,” responsible to the League for their acts and policies, and obligated to submit an an- nual report with regard to the territories com- mitted to their charge. To examine these reports and to advise the Council on all matters relating to the observance of mandates, a permanent Mandates Commission has been appointed by the League, composed of colonial experts who serve internationally, most of them being citizens of non-mandatory nations. While there has been regrettable delay in apply- ing the system of mandates, the matter is now moving forward, and mandatory nations like Great Britain in Palestine, Australia and New Zealand in the islands south of the Equator, and Japan in Yap are submitting annual reports of their stewardship for examination and review by the family of nations. The League Protects. Racial Minorities Another phase of co-operative work which the League is undertaking has to do with the protec- tion of religious, linguistic and ethnical minori- ties isolated in the midst of majorities which are alien to them. Elaborate provision for such pro- tection has been written into all the recent peace treaties and covers the whole of Eastern Europe from Finland to Greece; and the League of Na- tions has assumed the trusteeship. Thus the Council of the League has been able to settle the dispute between Poland and Austria with regard to the Jews who came from Eastern Galicia into Austria and were there threatened with expul- sion; it succeeded in obtaining guarantees for these emigrants from both governments. It also intervened, to the satisfaction of both parties, in 20 After Two Years the question of the emigration of minorities back and forth between Greece and Bulgaria. Administration of Danzig and the Saar Similarly the government of the Saar Valley Basin and of Danzig, committed to the League by the Treaty of Versailles, represents a collective responsibility which civilization has assumed through the machinery at Geneva. Because these two districts promised difficulties for the future with which no one nation could wisely cope, they were placed under international control. The governing commission of the Saar which the League appointed consists of a Belgian, a Canadian, a Dane, a Frenchman and a Saarois; in Danzig an Englishman was appointed high commissioner. Whatever opinion may exist as to the wisdom of isolating the Saar Valley Basin or of creating the Danzig corridor, there can be little question as to the League’s administration of its responsibility. It has been impartial and conciliatory, guided by considerations of justice and fair play amid conditions almost insuperably difficult. Those who are inclined to criticize some of the details of the League’s administration in these two fields might well consider what condi- tions would have existed if instead of interna- tional control France had had full play in the Saar and either Poland or Germany in Danzig. Co-operation in Finance and Trade Another illustration of international co-opera- tion which the League is promoting is its work in the general field of economics and trade. Here we have a maze of problems which, with the de- velopment of modern communications, is of in- creasing concern to international good-will. The League, therefore, has created two technical 21 The League of Nations branches to handle this activity, one on com- munications and transit, and the other on eco- nomics and finance. It is impossible within the limits of this paper to outline the scope of the work of these two or- ganizations. Manned by the best technical ex- perts that can be obtained, drawing on practi- cally all the nations of the world for information and statistics, they have succeeded in making the League a clearing house for conference and pub- licity on many non-political questions which, in themselves unspectacular, are nevertheless of vital importance to the daily life of the world. The publications and bulletins of these organi- zations on matters of currency, finance and trade are eagerly awaited, and constitute an approach to these problems which for its impersonal, scientific spirit is unique in the history of in- ternational co-operation. It was the work of these two branches that laid the technical basis for the conference at Genoa. Through their initiative, too, three great international confer- ences have been held under the direct auspices of the League: one at Brussels in 1920 which first served to dramatize the desperate condition of the world’s finances and which brought for- ward the Ter Meulen Scheme for the rehabilita- tion of Austria; one at Paris which simplified passport and customs procedure and cleared away many of the annoying obstacles to free circula- tion ; and one at Barcelona which laid down a new international law for liberty of transit in con- nection with trade, and freed navigable water- ways from discriminatory regulations. Another conference, to be held in 1923, will take up the question of introducing as much uni- formity as possible into the various systems of 22 After Two Years legislation on bills of exchange, including checks and promissory notes. During this next year, too, extensive studies will be made of such ques- tions as the reciprocal treatment of foreign banks, double taxation, arbitration clauses in commercial contracts between citizens of differ- ent states, unfair competition, lost, stolen or de- stroyed securities, and the fair treatment of commerce. The International Labor Conference Somewhat similar to the two technical organi- zations we have just mentioned is the Interna- tional Labor Conference which, though not a direct part of the League machinery, is intimately associated with it through the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles and is supported financially by League funds. Once a year the states mem- bers of the League, and such other states as may be invited, each state being represented by four delegates, meet together to discuss the general problems of industrial peace, with the purpose of stimulating the creation of better working and living conditions around the world. In the in- terim between these meetings, this activity is carried forward by a permanent secretariat of 250 people, located at Geneva and called the In- ternational Labor Office. In the three years of its existence this office has become a great clear- ing house of information in regard to all labor and industrial movements, and its documents and reports are now an essential part of every well-equipped technical library. The International Labor Conference has a sig- nificance little understood in the United States. Although its conclusions, embodied in the form of conventions, are merely submitted for the con- sideration of the member states, and any gov- 23 The League of Nations ernment is free to reject them, it nevertheless has developed a prestige and an authority suf- ficient to set in motion legislative machinery all over the world. The conventions for the eight hour day, for the limitation of night work, for the protection of women and children in industry, have been widely adopted, and little by little these minimum labor standards, established by the Conference, are becoming general interna- tional practice, and the more liberal countries are being protected against those of backward labor legislation. Committee on Intellectual Co-operation Another activity in the broad field of interna- tional co-operation, but of an entirely different type, is represented by the committee, recently appointed by the Council of the League, to sug- gest methods for bringing together the universi- ties and scientific laboratories of the world in a closer bond of sympathy and understanding. Known as the committee on intellectual co-opera- tion, it includes, in addition to a well-known American scholar, such leaders of thought as Professor Einstein, Mme. Curie, Henri Bergson, and Gilbert Murray. Although its plans are not yet matured, the discussions which have already taken place indicate the three following general lines of consideration : 1. The possibility of encouraging and perfect- ing the international organization of scientific research. 2. International relations between universi- ties, the means of facilitating the exchange of professors and students, the different proposals for organizing an international universities’ bu- reau, and perhaps an international university. 24 After Two Years 3. The international organization of bibliogra- phies and the exchange of scientific publications, questions which are of special interest to coun- tries that are distant from the great intellectual centers. The League’s Campaign Against Disease There is almost no limit to the field of interna- tional co-operation. More and more the League of Nations is developing into a repository for ac- tivities related to the well-being of mankind which cannot successfully be prosecuted by indi- vidual nations. The campaign against disease is a case in point. Disease knows no boundaries and respects no flags. It is a common enemy of mankind which can be conquered only by united action. As modern methods of travel bring the world into increasingly closer relationships such action be- comes imperative. To meet this need, therefore, the League of Nations has established an inter- national health organization which has brought together the brains and resources of the entire world in a common fight on disease. The activities of this organization are mani- fold. Operating through an epidemics commis- sion which built up a sanitary cordon along the entire frontier, it successfully checked the spread of typhus from Russia into Eastern Europe in 1920. In March of this year it promoted a great international epidemics conference in Warsaw attended by twenty-seven nations, including Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine, which laid down a series of sanitary conventions and pre- pared a detailed plan for a united campaign against typhus. Another international confer- ence was held under its auspices in London to de- 25 The League of Nations termine some method of standardizing the meas- urement of the strength of anti-toxic sera used in diseases like pneumonia, diphtheria, syphilis and the like. This conference elaborated a pro- gram of inquiry to be carried out by the great public health laboratories of the world, and cen- tralized in the Copenhagen Institute, which will act as a clearing house for all the work. The health section of the League has organ- ized, too, an epidemiological intelligence service, in order to inform all national health authorities rapidly and effectively of the incidence of epi- demic diseases. Information is sent out at least twice every three weeks, and a regular monthly bulletin is also issued, containing statistics and charts on the incidence all over the world of Asiatic cholera, typhus, relapsing fever, dysen- tery, small-pox, anthrax, scurvy, and other dis- eases. In other words, a common campaign, backed by the financial resources and moral support of fifty-one nations, is being scientifically organized and conducted against an ancient and well-in- trenched enemy of the race. The Fight Against Opium and the Traffic in Women and Girls Another campaign organized by the League has to do with the international commerce in opium and its derivatives. Here again, a special branch of the League was created, called the opium commission, including in its membership among others a Japanese, a Chinese, a Siamese, an Indian and an American. Two international conferences have been held and on the basis of information secured from practically every gov- ernment in the world except the United States, 26 After Two Years recommendations for united action have been drawn up which will go far to check if not elim- inate this devastating traffic. The international traffic in women and girls is another great problem which the League has taken up. Thirty nations met in Geneva under its auspices in 1921 and agreed upon a series of changes which will greatly strengthen the exist- ing international conventions. A treaty incor- porating these changes has since been signed by thirty-three nations, and the others will undoubt- edly soon follow. A special advisory committee, consisting of the representatives of nine nations, has been appointed by the Council of the League to keep in touch with the situation, and with the League’s machinery behind the campaign, we may confidently anticipate the steady diminu- tion in an international traffic which up to this time has baffled the best efforts of individual nations. Other Humanitarian Activities Space is lacking in which to describe all the work that the League is undertaking in the gen- eral field of international co-operation. Under its aegis, with Dr. Nansen acting as its high commissioner, 400,000 prisoners of war were re- turned to their homes at a total cost of about two million dollars. Acting on the advice of a special commission of inquiry which it sent to Asia Minor to look into the question of the im- prisonment of Armenian women and girls in Turkish harems, it appointed a high commis- sioner in Constantinople — an American, inci- dentally; opened a series of “neutral houses” to shelter these unfortunates; and persuaded the Allied military officials to bring the matter strongly to the attention of the Turks. Similarly, 27 The League of Nations with Dr. Nansen serving again as high commis- sioner, it entered upon the work of assisting the thousands of Russian refugees driven from their own land by famine and shifting political for- tunes. This necessary activity is still under way, backed by the authority and influence of the Council. Week by week the League is extending its work along these general humanitarian lines, using its machinery to meet those human needs which overflow national boundaries. If in these un- controversial matters the nations of the world can develop the technique of common action and acquire the habit of co-operation, surely when the great test comes, and another 1914 throws down its ugly challenge to mankind, there will be a better chance for sanity and self-control and a larger hope of escape from a world wreck of un- told proportions. The League the Hope of the Future This then is the League of Nations — not a superstate, backed by vast armaments, but a simple instrument for bringing nations together in conference around a table. Its warmest friends make no claim of perfection for it. It cannot bring the millennium. It cannot immedi- ately allay the high fever of present interna- tional discord. Its weaknesses are apparent. It is powerless to solve, or even deal with, some of the most menacing problems that confront us. But here is a co-operative world movement, the first of its kind in history, constituting a central rallying point around which the forces of law and peace may gather, and slowly developing new approaches to common dangers and new methods of common action. During its first two years, 28 After Two Years in a period of unparalleled difficulty, its positive achievement has been distinctly creditable, far wider in scope and greater in bulk than its best friends dreamed possible. In spite of all cyni- cism, all gibes, all remorseless criticism, it has become a real influence in the world and has won for itself a distinct place in the confidence and hope of many peoples. That confidence will not easily be shaken, and that hope is a grim and de- termined hope, for if the League proves a blunt and ineffective instrument, there is nothing ahead of us except despair in the face of new wars. EtLERT PRINTING COMPANY. INC. 9)6*326 W. 39TH ST., NEW YORK