Imperial Valley press., 1919-04-17


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League, those states being selecte,
| Jy the Body of Delegates. The En-
| ecutive Council so constituted is Civ
en- authority to formulate plans 70
the reduction of armaments Cart
VllD; to advise how the evils of pri
vate manufacture of munitions cal
be prevented Cart. FllD; to advis,
upon the means by which the integ
.ty and independence of the mem
bers of the League may be preserved
case of aggression, or danger
thereof Cart. Xl. to propose what
shall be done if a state fails to car
Iy out the award of an arbitration
by which it has agreed to abide Cart
MID; to formulate plans for per
maneAt court Of international jus
tice Cart. XIF); - inquire into dis
pdteS between states and make rec
concentrations thereon (Or refer tn
matter to the Body of Delegates fo
Inquiry, and to propose measures I
2ive effect to its own unanimous rec.
concentrations in such cases CAR
NN). If state goes to war con
nary 70 its covenants and thereb.
ii avs upon itself the senction pre-
yided in the agreement Of the men
cHs, it is the duty of the EeXecu
tive Council to recommend Wha
military or naval forces the mem
Lels cf the League shall several
contribute to protect the covenant
II the League Cart. NVD. TIL
Council can further prescribe III,
ondiJ'ons upon which y state no
member of the League shall accep
he obligations of membership fo'
he purpose Of particular dispute
md in case of refusal it NAV tax
such action and make such recon
mendations as will prevent hostilitie
Art. XVID.
Powers of the Council Purely Advis
cry.
SO far the authority of the EXecu
sive Council, with regard to tn,
members of the League, is strictl.
limited to consultation and making
recommendations, which the member
# the League are under no obligation
to accept unless they please.
Except in Three Cases.
l can, in fact, find only three case
n which the Council is given tn,
oCwer to make any orders, regula
,ions or decisions binding upon tn,
members of the League or limiting
,heir freedom of action. The frs
)f these arises when the Council act
ng in a judicial or arbitral capacit.
unanimous, except for the parties t,
h dispute. In that case a state i
ound not to so to war with an,
hp
and to take part il
he punishment of any other state
hat goes to war with a party ST
Cart. XVI. To that eX
-ent d unanimous decision of thu
Council in case of dispute is bind.
ing on the members Of the League
and no one would probably desire
that it should be otherwise.
Another case of binding decision
relates to the reduction of arma
ments. When the Council has deter
for the consideration and &C
ton Of the several governments, Wha1
armament is fair and reasonable, ant
the plan is adopted by them, the lin
its thus adopted by those govern
ments cannot afterward be exceeded
the permission Of the Council
{ Art. Wild. in this case the Cove
nant forbids a member of the League
TO increase its armament without thu
of the Council. but onl.
after the member has specially anC
consented to a genera
plan of reductions.
The Position of Mandatory.
The third case is that of man,
datory for backward people. "Tht
degree of authority, control or ad
to be eXrcised by the
state" is to "be explicitly
defined in each case by the EXecu-
tive Council in a special act or char
ter Cart. XIX). 1t has been assert
ed that state selected as q man
datory presumably by the EXecu
tive Council, although this is not eX
pressly stated, is under an obliga
ton to accept. | can find in the
Covenant no provision to that effect
or implied; nor would sucl
an obligation appear reasonable. IL
France, Italy, the United States OF
any other of the fourteen states OF
the committee intended that if the
Council should select their country az
to take charge OF Russii
it would be obliged to accept, seem.
TO me in the highest degree improb
able, and the same thing is true o.
less difficult mandates. 1t is a gen.
aral principle that in any documen
an intention, not expressed and il
itself irrational, is not to be implied
No doubt a spirit of fairness would
prevent a nation engaged with Others
in a common effort for human wei,
fare, from shirking all burdens ii
has not expressly agreed to assume
but that is a very different thinf
frcm an obligation to accept any bur
den that NAV be thrust upon it. The
matter should of course, be made per
fectly clear in the final draft
The principle Of mandatories seem
to me highly meritorious. 1t has,
understand, two objects, one to pre-
vent maltreatment of the native pop
ulation, and the other to prevent ?
selfish monopoly of products tha'
NAV he essential to the industry anC
prosperity OF the world. For boti
these purposes there is clearly :
right of collective supervision anC
coontrol, at least by all the nations
that have taken part in the conques
Of the colonies and territories con