The daily star-mirror. (Moscow, Idaho) 1911-1939, 1920-11-05
LEAGUE OF NATIONS
PREPARES TO WORK
FIRST MEETING AT GENOA, NO
VENEER Is, WILL TACKLE
BIG PROBLEMS.

NEW YORK-(By A. P.-One Of
the important questions to be con-
sidered by the Assembly of the Lea
que of Nations at it's first meeting,
beginning November Is, at Geneva,
will be the preparations required to
enable the League to use, if necessity
arises, the weapon of international
economic and financial blockade con-
templated in Article XVI of the Cove
nant.
A memorandum by Sir Eric Drum
mond, the Secretary General, now be
ing distributed to the members of
the League, and received here by it
to Enforce Peace shows that this
question will come before the Assem-
bly, on the recommendation of the
League Council in the form of a pro-
posal to appoint body to be known
as the international Blockade Com
mission. The Secretary General sug-
gests that this commission consist of
representatives nominated by the
countries entitled to permanent mem
bership in the Council, with the ad
dition of representatives of four 9th
er members of the League selected by
the Assembly, for the purpose Of
studying the problem and settling the
general plan of action, the organiza-
tion of the more permanent machin
cry required and the principles on
which it should work.
This question is of peculiar inter
est to the United States, because one
of the first problems such commits
sion would consider promises to be
the method of rendering a blockade
81 70 ich 70 NJ
members of the League In report
adopted by the Council of the Lea
que at the San Sebastian meeting in
August, M. Tittoni, the Italian repre-
sentatives, stated: cit should be
clear that the states members of the
League of Nations who declare the
blockade have the right to render 1t
effective against all states including
those who are not members of the
League, but they have not the right
to force the states who do not form
part of the League to declare the
blockade themselves"
Article XVI provides that, should
any members of the League resort
to war in disregard of it's covenants,
all the other members shall under
take Immediately to subject it to the
severance of all trade or financial re-
lations and the prevention of all fl
nancial, commercial or personal in
tercourse between the nationals of
the covenant-breaking state and the
nationals of any other state whether
a member of the League or not" and
that the members shall mutually sup
port one another in the financial and
economic measures taken under this
article
s'The use of this weapon" says the
Secretary General sis in certain cir
a specific duty imposed
by Article XVI This duty cannot be
carried out without great
loss of time and efficiency unless
there has been considerable previous
before the time at which
action is required.
"Situations might we'll arise in
which the knowledge that the weapon
is ready for use would have a very
salutary effect Many people think
that the League is founded more up
on good intentions than upon a cool
of the stern realities of
trouble. 1t is, there
fore desirable on general grounds
that while the first meetings of the
Council and the Assembly should give
the world the positive hope of remov-
ing misunderstanding and promoting
cooperation, they should
also show quite clearly that the mem
bers of the League as a whole are
if necessity arises, to en-
force their will by effective action
on any particular country which IN
the circumstances contemplated by
the covenant defies the general yer
dict of the world"
The memorandum calls attention
to one important difference between
the two forms of pressure economic
and military which the League may
use. as follows: Where a member
of the League resorts to war In dis
regard of specified covenants, all
other members of the League are by
the covenant itself specifically OBJ
Iigated to apply the economic weapon.
They are not similarly obliged to use
their military or naval forces. In
the latter case, the Article (XVD
onlv provides that it shall be the
duty of the Council in such cases to
recommend to the several govern
nents concerned what effective mil
tary or naval forces they shall sew
orally contribute"
The Secretary General is of the
opinion that the Article clearly con-
templates that, so far as possible,
the responsibility for enforcing &C.
onomic pressure shall be decentral-
zed, i. e., a primary responsibility
tests upon each government to take
action so far as it's own nationals and
,wn national machinery are concern
ID, arrangements being made by each
# them separately and not by single
authority"
At the same time, he concludes that
/ central coordinating authority will
,e required if the weapon of econ