The citizen., 1920-10-07
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
FuI6Ilment Of Pledge
Prof. J. r. Robertson

Tn view Of the unfounded assertions
about the League Of Nations, which
one Is constantly reading in the pa
pers and hearing from the platform,
II becomes Increasingly necessary to
emphasize the Covenant" Of the
League, as the only trustworthy basis
for judgments that are reliable.
Statements repeated secondhand are
as likely as not to be misinterpreta-
tions, II not misrepresentation
Many fantastic presentation Of what
the League would do, inspiring dis
trust or even fear, loses its force un-
der this treatment.
In every discussion Of the League
II must be remembered that Il Is an
accomplished fact, already function
ing in world affairs and doing things
that have never been done before.
Since the last article was written two
important disputes have been entrusted
to the League, with every appearance
Of confidence and with possibility Of
peaceful settlement.
The League Of Nations is not q
fanciful, idealistic scheme, concocted
by a set Of visionary theorists. II
came into existence out Of hot strug-
gle Of real life, TO meet needs that
were very real and could not be met
in any other way. IL was its prac-
ticability alone that won for IL the
support Of Europe's leading states
men.
In previous articles the high aims
Of the League have been shown; the
composition and machinery of organ
ization" as provided in a Council, an
Assembly and a Court Of Justice.
The duties, powers and relations Of
each to the other Of these parts Of
the organization were briefly outlined.
II remains to speak Of one other fea-
ture of the League, which seems Of
minor Importance and yet is of far
greater significance than at first ap-
pears.
The Covenant says that in the
League there shall be "secretariat. .
This is composed Of q secretary gen.
eral and as many secretaries as may
he necessary. The secretary general
is to be appointed by the Council,
subject TO the approval Of the As
sembly and the secretaries are to be
selected by the secretary-general, sub
ject to the approval Of the Council.
The duties of these officials are
such as usually fall to a secretary.
A greater Importance attaches to the
Office, however, from the fact that
they are permanently located with a
headquarters" at the "seat Of the
League" They are always "on the
ground" ready to receive notice of
anything that needs attention. They
are authorized to call meetings of the
League in case of emergencies.
Moreover, the Covenant" provides
that "every convention Of interna-
tional engagement" shall be registered
with the Secretariat, and that no
treaty or international engagement
shall be binding until II is so regis
tered, and these shall be published
by a League organ as soon as pos
sible.
Is II not apparent that device Of
great value is thereby created to do
away with secret arrangements, which
throughout the ages have been a
great source of mischief. The sus-
picions Of nations have often become
aroused, just because they never
knew the facts. In 1914 the mutual
mistrust with Misunderstanding
due to secret arrangements, was a
large factor in the fearful outcome.
The "secretariat" Is also the medi-
um for distribution of information In
regard TO call matters of international
interest" It is only necessary to
think upon this few moments to
realize what a benefcent instrument
in world affairs such feature Of the
Leagues organization may become.
II this is not practical, it is hard to
understand the meaning of that word.
A knowledge Of the purpose, COM
position, and organization of the
League quite naturally leads to con-
sideration of methods provided for a
fulfillment Of the pledges or agree
ments made by the nations which
sign.
II must be frankly admitted that
the whole plan rests primarily upon
confidence" between nations; and it
is the belief of the writer that IL
should be so. Confidence is the foun-
dation Of all social life. Without II
all human relationship would become