The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-10-21

late also to certain financial and eco- homie matters and to matters of in- ternational transit.
 The Assembly And Council.
 To carry out these objects the League of Nations has been organ ized into an assembly and council 1 The assembly is composed of dele- gates of all the states belonging to the league. each delegation having | only one vote and the majority rul- ing. The council might be called the | standing committee of the assembly. It is composed of one government delegate from each of the four great l powers, France, Great Britain, Italy and Japan, and one delegate from each of six smaller powers, the latter l to be selected by the majority vote of the assembly. Thus the assembly consists of all the delegates, and the council has only ten delegates of | which France, Great Britain, Italy and Japan must be a part. The as sembly meets here at Geneva once a year in September; the council meets 1 every two months.
 These two bodies are the live act ing parts of the league and every | thing below them is made up of sub l ordinate branches. The secretariat- general is a clerical force devoted to l carrying out the decrees of the coun- ] Gil and assembly. It gathers tnfor- matin for them. outlines future work as directed and makes plans and specifications and methods of action. It Is the great source of information as to every subject with which the l league has to deal, and 1t may be called upon by all the members at will. This body consists of a secre- tary general, Sir James Eric Drum mond, K. c. M. G., c. B., who for years | ha a a nj three well known English statesmen Asquith, Balfour and Grey. He has under him about $50 experts, clerks, and officials of one kind or another and he can call in experts from all over the world when occasion de- mands.
 In addition to this body there is the international court of justice, con- sisting of II judges and four deputy 1 judges elected for 97 years by the as semly and council. which sits at The Hague, and the international labor office, which has its headquarters here separate and apart from the sec retariat- general. which alone occu- | pies the so-called world palace of | peace.
 The head of the labor office is MT. l Albert Thomas, who was minister or munitions in the cabinet of France during the war and who has long been prominent in advanced move ments regarding all matters of labor from an international standpoint. He has an even greater number of clerks than the secretariat- general and he is an important part of the | league.
 l What The League Is Doing. | This is a bare outline of the con- stitution of the League. What 1t has accomplished and what it is doing | T aC1r af is newspaper. During my stay I have had talks with Sih James Eric Drum mond and Mir. Albert Thomas and also with many of the experts and officials from dozen different prominent countries including Japan. I am impressed with the earnestness and confidence that all seem to have. and with their plain common sense point of view of world troubles. There are in the secretariat alone as active workers, representatives of 3l different nations, and perhaps an equal. or greater number in the labor organization. These men are experts on all matters relating to their own country and there is scarcely a sub feet which cannot be more or less threshed out on the ground. The meetings of the council and the as- where the active representatives of the nations come together to discuss not only their own differences, but similar matters relating to their fel low nations of other parts of the world. I understand the greatest courtesy prevails at these meetings and that they are really bringing the governments and peoples of the world closer together.
 O O O
 What It Costs.
 All this is being done at very small cost I see no signs of extrav- agance anywhere and the work par takes of great industry and practical common sense administration. So far the annual expenses are only about S5000,000 a year. small sum to run the whole universe when the United States government alone costs more than three billions. These five millions are contributed by the sev- eral nations belonging to the league. according to their theoretical ca- pacity to pay. With some, I may say in passing, that the payment is theoretical only.
 O O O
 What the League Hns Accomplished.
 And now a few words to what the league has done. I have before me report as to that from one of the officials. It consists of 72 pages of legal cap typewriter manuscript the whole weighing one pound and nine ounces; it contains, I estimate at least 25,000 words My report