Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-08-25
LEAGUE ADJUSTS
W0R[DQUEST|ONS,
OFFICIAL REPORTS
Detection of America Has
Little Effect on Work
of Organization.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Detdils oI the meetings OF the councll
of the league of nations not covered in
the cable dispatches have just reached
here, from Spain and they show par
! ucuiar activity on a program of COM
to be relied upon more than military or
naval force to keep the. peace of the
| world.
| The vital fact of today" writes one
OF OF tne oncials. who has no connection
OF course with the United States gov
eminent. is that the league of ma
tlons is In existence and is rapidly or
ganlzinS regardless Of Americas defec-
tion: 1t is the sheerest cant to say that
al tne other nations of the world can
not organize society for peace and CO.
Operation without America. Every day
olsproves it. The league is going on
courageously. Thirty-nine nations are
already bound by it's provisions which
.hey cannot ignore without violating
cannot destroy the present league it
cannot build up wholly new league.
II must either stay outside a community
OF nations organized for cooperation
ana Tor peace or come into that league
with such reservations as it thinks
necessary and with the purpose Of push
ing all those great movements for which
Stood
The foregoing view is expressed by
| '"o ioS Ho COHHcCliOU WIN
americas political controversy, but
elings out new point, namely. that,
lar from going on the rocks because
america did not enter it. the league
proceeding to draw together the
nat,ons OF the world and much of the
preliminary work of organization has
ALREADY been accomplished.
Summary Sent Here.
This suWmory OF the meetings at
l San sebastian also
tne secretariat of the league of ma
| tions:
FIRST. the ornaments commission,
Whlch has been misrepresented in the
onited states, has begun work on it's
| program. The actual powers of the
league of nations, with regard to ar
maments, may be summed up under
ing headings of inquiry, recommends
ton and the exercise of public opin-
ION. The leagues most definite pow
ers' perhaps. are contained in article
II, which provides that no new
member may be admitted to the
league until it accepts such regula-
uons as may be prescribed by the
league with regard to its naval, mill
! tary and air forces and ornaments.
me &c council may consider the question
OIL the ornaments of the world, draw
up what appears to be an equitable
oasis of ornaments and then submit
IT. to the various nations. The coun-
Gil mas no power to interfere on the
question of national ornaments be-
Sond this form of recommen dalton. .-
Second, methods of carrying out
the economic blockade and the meth
Cd of coercion against a state going
| TO war in defiance of the covenant
have been recommended to the as
sembly and the council of the league.
This is vital to America. because it
Is the greatest step ever taken to-
ward the prevention Of war, and be-
! cause. whether the United States is
IN the league or not. she will be
asked to cooperate with the other
nations against any nation viii CHI
thus made itself an international OUT
/ law. Immediate consideration of this
subject was felt to be essential, be-
cause such a blockade could not be
carried on without great loss of time
and efficiency unless there had been
considerable preparation. and because
| the mere knowledge that the weapon
is ready for use might have a very
salutary effect and because such
action would show that the members
OF the league are determined, if ne
icessity arises, to make it impossible
! for any nation to violate the care
fully drawn and accepted provisions
of the covenant.
Economic Blockade Automatic.
1T should be noted, perhaps, that
the obligation resting on each state
to apply a financial and economic
blockade against nt-breaking
state is automatic. 1t arises from the
livery fact of the violation of the COW
enant, thus differing fundamentally
from any military or naval obligation
| which may rest upon the members Of
the league. In the latter case, pro-
vision is made only that the council
shall recommend to the several gov
aernments what effective forces they
shall severally contribute, thus leav-
ing to each government the final de-
cision as to whether it shall or shall
not cooperate in the military or ma.
444val action. Final approval and
adoption Of the plans being drawn now
rest with 1.-THE meeting of the assembly
Of the league at Genoa on November Is,
when for the first time all the states
which have entered the league will
come together to agree upon the many
courses Of action drafted by commit.
tees thus far to minimize the causes
of international conflict and prevent
the actual outbreak of war.
Final Mandate Action Taken.
Third. the council of the league
has taken definite action with respect
to the fulfillment of the mandates Of
ttrusteeships over former German COL
vital because it not only aims to Sc
cure equality of commercial opportu-
nifty, but also seeks to prevent these
backward countries from generating
new wars.
Fourth. the draft scheme of the
permanent court of international JUS
tice drawn up by The Hage commit
tee, of which Elihu Root is member,
was ordered by the council to be cir
culated to all states of the league in
order to expedite it's adoption by the
assembly this November.
Fifth, the international financial
conference is to be held on September
oath, whether or not the allied gov
ernments fix the total Of Germany's
Indemnity. Economic reconstruction
in Europe, which owes the United
States ten billions of dollars, may be
vitality affected by this conference.
The United States is to be represented
unofficially by delegates named by the
Trasury Department"
The foregoing is by no means a
comprehensive picture of what has
been accomplished thus far by the
league of nations in perfecting its
organization, but it gives the exact
status of five main subjects, and since
the information does not emanate
from political or partisan source,
but disinterested people, it can be ac-
f1.rr7 n t@1