Daily Kennebec journal., 1919-10-25

a unanimous vote. In only each one
case-article Is. paragraph s and N-ars
the parties to a dispute prevented from
voting In the assembly or ia the council.
Wherever In the council or In the as
ssmbly . unanimous vote Ia required
or wherever under the provisions Of the
leagus Joint action is required neces-
stating a unanimous vote by either the
council or the assembly. the interests
of the United States are manifesdy
taken care Of. since we must ourselves
be q party to any action taken. and
on q unanimous vote one vote Is as
valuable as six This narrows the ques-
tion down to article 1. paragraph, 2.
where the assebly elects new members
by a two-thirds vote.
Article S, paragraph 2-where the as.
sembly regulates the procedure at its
own me meetings.
Article Is, paragraph 6-where the
council. acts unanimously on a dispute
referred to it exclusive of one or more
Of the parties to the dispute, and par
agraph 10 Of the same arucle-where a
dispute has been referred to the assem-.
lily and action can only be taken where
the report made by the assembly Is con-
CURED in by the representatives of three
members of the league represented on
the council and q majority Of the other
members of the league exclusive in each
case OF the representatives Of the par
ties to the dispute. The question H..
does the johnson amendment protect
the United States in these particular
cases? In all other cases the vote Of
the United States could definitely defeat
any action to be taken either by the
council or assembly or both jointly. ami
br ng to nsHght the numerical advan-
tage lying with Great Britain through
their colonies having membership in tn !,
league. The Johnson amendment reads
as follows:
(One) Provided: when any member
Of the league has or possesses self
governing dominions or colonies or
rarts Of empires, which are also
members Of the league, the United
States shall have votes in the assem-
bly, or council of the league numeri-
cally equal to the aggregate vote of
such member of the league and its
se!f-governing dominions and. colo
nies and parts Of empire, in the
council or assembly of the league"
With it although by no means Il
part OF it should also be associated
the so-called Moses amendment to
Paragraph Of Article Is. (Two)
byNhorn1-or 1,a 70 no
assembly involves Il dispute between
one member of the league and anoth-
er member whose self-governing do
miniors or colonies or parts Of en-
pire are also represented in the as
sembly, neither the disputant mem
bers nor any Of their said dominicns.
colonies or parts # empire shall
have hold upon any phase Of the
question" I shall hereafter refer to
the TWO amendments together as the
Johnson amendment. The amendment
would undoubtedly apply to Article 1,
Paragraph 9, which provides for the
election Of new embers by two
thirds vote Of the assembly and in
such election we should have the
same rumber of votes under the
amenGment in the assembly as Great
Britain and her colonies combined.
II would also apply to Article S.
Paragraph .. which regulates the
procedure at meetings Of the assem-
bly,.
Article Il, Paragraph s, provides
that if a report by the council is
unanimously agreed to by the mem
berS thereof other than the repre-
sentatives of one or more of the par
ties to the dispute the members of
tie league agree that they will not
80 TO war with any party to the dis
pute which complies with the recon-
nendation of the report.
I do not claim as some Of my COL
leagues have claimed that the coo-
nies would not have a right to rep
resentation upon the council should
they be elected so to serve be-
lieve that as members of the league
they have the same privileges and
rights as all the other members Of
the league. They cannot, however, be
so elected under the first provision Of
Article Al of the covenant without
the unanimous consent of the as
SCiAiOiS NulSI liI(iule OUT SELVES,
or under tbs second provision Of Ar
ticle without the unanimous con-
sent Of the council which will also
include ourselves. 1t is inconceivable
to me that the United States should
ever consent to allow sovereign
state and one or more Of it's depend
encies to serve at the same time on
the council. In any event should it
do so under Paragraph 9 of Article Is
the dispute may be referred at the
request of either party to the dis
pute to the assembly. There are three
sorts of disputes under Article IS
where the interests of the United
States might be affected One-a dis
pute between the United States and
Great Britain: .two-a dispute be-
tween the United States and some
country other than Great Britain;
and three-a dispute between two
countries other than Great Britain
or the United States. I am assuming
that we can have no dispute with
one OF the colonies of Great Britain
that would not be a dispute with
Great Britain.
In the first case under paragraphs
6 and 10 of article Is. neither the
United States nor Great Britain
could take part in the proceedings of
the council or assembly because
both are parties to the dispute. The
British colonies could conceiyably
AXE part as outside members, not
parties to the dispute. The amend
ment would cure this difficulty. In
the SAC0Nd caSa Wbero for ;~Stcrno