The Alaska daily empire., 1920-11-06
LEAGUE WILL USE ECONOM|CWEAP0N
 WITH OFFENDERS


 NEW YORK, Nov Gone of the important questions to be considered by the Assembly of the League oi Nations at it's first meeting begin ming November 15, at Geneva, will be the preparations required to enable the League to use, if necessity arises, the weapons of international econo- mic and financial blockade contem- plated in Article XVI of the GOV enant.
 A memorandum by Sir Eric Drum mond, the Secretary General, now being distributed to members of the League, and received here by the League to Enforce Peace shows that his question will come before the Assembly, on the recommendation of the League Council in the form of a proposal to appoint a body to be known as the International Blockade Commission. The Secretary General suggests that this commission con sst of representatives nominated by the countries entitled to permanent membership in the Council, with the addition of representatives of four other members of the League select ed by the Assembly, for the purpose )f studying the problem and settling he general plan of action, the organ ization of the more permanent mach inery required and the principles on which it should work.
 This question is of peculiar in terest to the United States because one of the first problems such com mission promises to consider would be the method of rendering a block ade effective against states which are not members of the League. In re port adopted by the Council of the League at the San Sebastian meeting in August. M. Tittoni, the Italian rep resentative stated: Tt 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 bedSdc, buI tuey HcNe hoI iIlC iloh' to force the states who do not form rart of the League to declare the blockade themselves"
 Article XVI provides that. should any member of the League resort to war in disregard of its covenants, all the other members shall under take immediately subject it to the severance of all trade or financial relations K and the pre- yention of all financial, commercial or personal intercourse between the nationals of the covenant-breakinS state and the nationals of any other state whether a member of the Lea gue or not" and that the members shall mutually support one another n the financial and economic meas tres taken under this article.
 'The use of this weapon" says the Secretary General. lis in certain cir 2umstances a specific duty imposed by Article XVI. This duty can not 5e effectively carried out withcdt great loss Of time and efficiency ur- less there has been considerable preparation before the time at winch lction is required.
 Situations might well arise in which the knowledge that the weapon is ready for use would have d very salutary effect. Many people think that the League is founded more upon good intentions than upon cool consideration of the stern realities )f international trouble. It is there ore desirable on general grounds hat while the first meeting of the Council and the Assembly should give the world the positive hope of "emOving misunderstanding and pro hitting international cooperation, they
 hould also show quite clearly that
 he members of the League on the whole are determined, if necessity rises, to enforce their will by eff fective action on any particular coun- try which in the circumstances con
 emplated by the covenant defies the general verdict of the world