Norwich bulletin., 1920-05-05
DISARMAMENT PROCEEDINGS
 OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

Washington, May 4-(By The A Pl | Necessity of deciding whether disarm- 1 ament proceedings of the League of Ma ! tions are to be conducted by military men | directly or by civilians with the mili- tary officials of each member nation as technical advisers will face the council of the league when it assemblies this month at Rome. Appointment Of the per manent armament commission to advise the council. which is to Joe taken up at Rome, must be preceded, in the view of league officials. by announcement of poli- cy on this point.
 Under Artilce TX of the League of Nations covenant, the permanent arma- ment commission is to be charged with advising the council on matters connect cd with carrying out Article 1 and VIII Of the covenant
 Article I provides that new members of the league must accept regulations as to armament prescribed by the league in ordes to be admitted, while Article VIII provides that the council shall formulate plans for submission to mem- Der states for reduction of armaments. As now projected. the duties of the commission would be divided specififcal- | ly into a number of phases to deal with | each point mentioned in the covenant articles. Part of it's functions would be 1 to conduct the full and frank exchange | | vided for; but is scope would extend to l include certain aspects Of life treaty with Germany. particularly with reference to I German ar1naments, and to similar DOT tions of other peace treaties to be made.
 It is hoped by those arranging the pro- l gramne, it is understood, that definite plans can be prepared for submission | at the first meeting of the assembly of | the league in regard to permissible arm- I c1.s-, and also regarding the exchange of mil itary information by members. Other phases of the commissions work prob ably would require more time.
 As the covenant does not specify the composition of the permanent armament
 commission, the council is expected tc
 determine whether it shall consist of
 military men or civilians with adequate
 staffs of military and naval advisers. Il
 the task is placed in the hands of the
 military through appointment to th'
 commission. it has been suggested tha
 each member nation should name ar . army officer, a navy officer and an ail
 service officer to constitute its commis sion. Should the theory of civilian con trol be approved, however, singh
 civilian commissioner from each powe with a technical adviser from eacl
 branch of the service, naval, military o
 air probably would be named.
 One additional arrangement contem
 plated is that the armament of any par
 ticular member nation should be unde
 review by the commission, additiona representatives from that nation woul , be invited to join the permanent dele . gation on the commission for that pur
 pose.
 The council will also have before it a |, Rome the proposals of the league to abo . ish war which played a part in the las = l British elections This programme fir - cludes establishment of an internations police force under authority of the leagu
 and by expansion of Article VII or otf i, erwise after the creation of the intel e national force, to require disarmament ( < all nations except for. the purpose ( = | maintaining internal order.
 Another suggestion to which the leagu ' to abolish war adheres was that pr
 vate manufacture of war munitions 5 prohibited and that the League of N; ~ tions undertake to procure and suppl Q all munitions in the future from inte 70 national sources controlled by u # league
 IL There has been nothing to indica
 what course the council would follow
 dealing with these suggestions, but it W. , said to be likely tha. they would !. referred to the permanent armamei H commission when that body was create