The Ward County independent., 1921-12-22

Chilli a statement that direct negoti-
ations between the two powers might
be able to resolve the difficulty.
Albania
Poor little Albania, country with
out a frontier, which was last year ad-
mitted to the League in a moment OF
I enthusiasm, appealed this year to the
Assembly in a most dramatic manner
by the delegate rising in his place to
| read the report Of an ultimatum de-
Iivered by the Serbian authorities to
certain Albanian troops and followed
within a few hours by the opening of
an armed attack. Immediately action
was taken and world wide publicity
followed the announcement; the Serbi-
ans at once abandoned their policy OF
silence and lack of interest and the As
sembly decided to send an impartial
commission at once to Albaniaatoofihd
out exactly what the facts are. Since
the meeting of the Assembly, the
frontiers of Albania have been, fired
and Great Britain has requested the
Council to inquire into the situation
produced by the alleged Serbian ag-
gressions in Albania. This was, real
ly a test case of the Leagues eff.
ficacy as an instrument for holding
it's members in check for protecting
the weaker brother.
The Council threatened Serbia with
the application of Article: 1ti; of. the
Covenant which provides for the, &C.
onomic blockade of the country, if
Serbia did not Immediately withdraw
| her troops from Albania and Serbia
was invited to send delegates to the
meeting. All the discussions were
open to the public and. the net result
of this was that the, Prime Minister Of
Serbia gave solemn undertaking to
withdraw the troops at once beyond
the frontiers. To quote his own
words "in order to avoid the dangerous
might result if the Council of the
League were. to apply to the Serb
Croat- -Slovene' State the measures pros
vided in Article Is Of the Covenant.
Humanitarian and Social Questions
There was . large number Of hui
manitarian and social questions which
the League has rapidly taken unto it.
self, or perhaps it would be more
trathfuf to say that it has had thrust
upon it. These questions were such
as the very serious one of Traffic in
Women and Children. Last June, q
Conference Of "a states met in Geneva
and drew up Final Act and on the
proposal of the British Delegation, the
Assembly decided to convert this Final
Act into Draft Convention. Before
leaving Geneva, arrangements were
made to forward to all nations of the
world, the Convention for ratification
in the usual way.
Thus the longest forward step yet
taken to prevent the traffic in women
and children across national frontiers,
was taken by the Assembly.
An important step forward in the
suppression of Opium Traffic was also
made. The Assembly did more than
approve the proposal for an investi-
cation into the limit of production. It
added the wholly new field of cocaine
and other similar drugs which are be-
ginning to prove as baneful to the
West as opium has been to the East,
and the League has now moved out to
the broad field of striking not only at
the root Of the opium question, but Of
preparing the ground for an attack on
drugs which are becoming very dam
gerous abuse in Europe and America.
Let it be understood of course that
all this applies only from the inter-
national point of view, and does not in
any way affect the laws of each indi-
vidual country in regard to these
abuses.
| The Assembly also served as the
greatest sounding board to the world
for the Russian Famine that has yet
been available. DR.. Nansen, who had
just completed Relief Agreement
with the Soviet authorities, was able to
make & tremendous appeal to the pub
lie conscience and the feelings of com.
passion Of the world. ..1'''. -
The pitiful condition Of thousands
OF Armenian women and children in
Asia Minor who were dragged off to
harems or sold as slaves, was brought
before the Assembly in the report of
a special commission.
The Assembly decided to appoint in
Constantinople Commissioner of the
League Of Nations, who should serve
as head of that whole movement, both
official and otherwise, to seek out and
return to their homes the victims Of
this terrible human tragedy.
Two other cases of international
tragedy in which the good offices of
the League have been sought, namely,
the. prevention Of Typhus in Poland
and the Repatriation Of War Prisoners
were reported to the Assembly. Both
OF these have been remarkably sue
cessful. Some 100000 men have
been repatriated from Russia against
total expenditure of 400, 900 pounds.
Such, roughly, is the record Of the
second Assembly. 1t is, on the
whole, a record Of modest confidence
and appreciable success. You could
probably point many questions which
it touched not at all, but that is not
the point. The Assembly must be
judged not by what it did not do, but,
on the contrary, by what it has done,
and there can be no contest whatso-
ever, because, if the Assembly like all
| -. -