The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1920-12-20
LEAGUE NATIONS
LIVING SUCCESS
MOST DELEGATES QUITE SAT-
ISFIED. OPINION EXPRESSED
THAT ORGANIZATION HAS
DONE ALL THAT COULD BE
EXEcTED OF 1T IF NOT MORE
FINAL DAY MUCH OcCU-
PIED BY DISCUSSION


PIED BY DISCUSSION
Geneva, Dec. 18.-The first
meeting of the assembly of the
league Of nations closed this even
ing in a, burst of Neloquence after
passing through one of the fullest
days of it's existence in a rather agi-
tated and not always clear debate.
In farewell. speeches, Paul Hy-
mans, president of the assembly and
DIR. Giuseppe Motta, president of
Switzerland, told the. delegates the
first assembly had proved the
league was living. organism and a
success. The opinion expressed by
the delegates who have participated
most actively in the work of the as
sembly is that it has done all that
could be expeced Of it, if not more.
A number of pet projects have
met with disaster; yet there are few
if any, delegates who remained for
the entire assembly that will leave
dissatisfied with the work of that
body.
The final day was marked by an
other encounter between the Eng
lish delegation and the representa-
tives of the British dominion, Lord
Robert Cecil acting for South
Africa and C. J. Doherty for Cana
da.
Lord Robert Cecil and Mr.. Do
herty criticised the council for hold
ing back information about man
dates and supported the recommen-
dations of the mandates committee
the most important of which were
that the assembly express the opin-
ion that the resources of the terri
tories under mandate should not be
exploited by the manufactures for
their own profit or for the profit of
the allies and that the recruiting of
troops should not be allowed in
such territories.
The recommendations were adopt
ed unanimously, Mr.. Balfour con-
tenting himself by saying they
would have no effect, instead of
voting against them.
Esperanto fell a victim to a
sharp assault by Gabriel Hanotaux
when the committee reported in IA
vor of the expression by the assem-
bly, with the object of encouraging
the general teaching of Esperanto
in the public schools with view to
making it eventually an internation-
al language and the language of the
league. After a debate the assembly
voted against the proposal.
M. Hymans in his closing speech,
dwelt upon the fact that the session
of the assembly demonstrated to all
the value of the league of nations.
"The league has developed a con-
sciousness," he said "and now are
solves to live, and, will live. Through
the ;aetting up. Of an international
court of justice, the assembly had
established a house of rights, and a
place Of peace"
The activities Of the assembly re-
specting typhus he declared to be
magnificent demonstration Of hu-
man solidarity. When the assembly
spoke Of disarmament, NJ. Hymans
said, the members Of that body dis
played keen anxiety to lift the
weight Of armaments from the
shoulders of the world but at the
same time realized that in the pres
ent unsettled conditiin of Europe
nothing better could be done than
had been.
He referred to the fraternal
spirit shown by the assembly the
members of which were separated
only by shades of opinion, not by
principles. He appealed to the youth
of the world, the men of tomorrow,
those who fought in the great war
70 construct a moral world indie
pensable to the future of mankind
and concluded: "Let us continue our
ascending march towards the stairs