The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1926-10-22
THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS
AND THE ALCOHOL
QUESTION
From Board Of Temperance.

been received from our cores
pondents at Lausanne, Switzerland:
In September, 1925, an inter-
national conference against alco-
holism, in which Is governments
were represented, met at Geneva and
thoroughly examined some of the
international aspects of The alcohol
question. Among the detailed reso-
Iutions adopted by the conference
there was one OF more general
character which requested the
League of Nations to interest itself
in the alcohol question, as it does
in that of opium.
This wish was taken up by the
government of Finland, and the
Finnish delegation to the With
Assembly of the League Of Nations
decided to present proposal relat-
ing to alcoholism. AS soon as the
text of the proposal and OF the
accompanying explanatory statement
had been adopted, the Finnish dele
cation got into touch with the
Swedish and Polish delegations who
promised to give their signature tc
the proposal The Belgian and
Czechoslovakian Minister OF Foreign
Affairs had previously given their
adhesion of principle; an unfortunate
combination of circumstances alone
prevented them from signing the
Finnish proposal.
Accordingly, on the 14th OF Sep
TENDER. NJ. Setala, Minister OF
Foreign Affairs and first delegate of
Finland; M Zaleski, Minister OF
Foreign Affairs and first delegate of
Poland; M. Lofgren, Minister OF
Foreign Affairs and first delegate OF
Sweden, presented to the Assembly
Of the League of Nations proposal
drawn up as follows
"The undersigned venture to re-
quest that the Assembly should de-
eide to include in the programme OF
the work of the League of Nations
the question of alcoholism and
should ask the Council to take
measures to this effect"
In the explanatory statement
which precedes the text of the pro-
posal the three delegations note that
the League of Nations is being called
upon every day more and more to
deal with the alcohol question; BY
the Mandates Commission which has
to deal with the importation and
consumption of liquor in the man
dated territories, by the Child We'll
fare Committee, which has decided,
subject to ratification by the AS
sembly, to include in its programme
the question of alcoholism in its
relation to children and young
people. In the most civilized coun-
tries the need is felt of internationa!
action against alcoholism, especially
in the case of liquor smuggling,
which can only be efficaciously dealt
with by international conventions
embracing the largest possible num-
Der of countries.
The anti-alcoholic associations
have for long time been requesting
Nations; they did SO at their Paris
International Conference in 1919,
at that of Geneva in September,
1925, and finally the XVIIIth Inter
national Congress against alco-
holism held at Dorpat last July
associated itself with these appeals
Resides other international ques-
tions the solution of which it has
been the power to facilitate, the
League of Nations, with all the
authority at its command could
undertake a co-ordinating' action for
the future settlement OF the alcohol
question. There are Emergencies OF
opinion on this subject. Accord
ingly the question demands exami
nation. The different Governments
the different currents of opinion
could unite in this task; one may
hope that this work, undertaken in
the. spirit of the League OF Nations
and on the asis of impartial sclen
tific research, will, bear fruit which
will prove beneficial to humanity.
According to the rules OF the
League OF Nations, all proposals sub
mitted to the Assembly must be re
ferred in the first place to the
Agenda Committee which, in its
turn, proposes the manner OF deal
ing with them to the Assembly.
The Agenda Committee, presided
over by Lord Robert Cecil, after
having examined the proposal made
by the three delegations, esteemed
that, in view of the great Importance
of the alcohol question, thorough
discussion on this subject in Com
mission and at the general Assembly
was scarcely possible so near the
end of the session, and it proposed
that this debate be referred to the
next Assembly in 1927. This pro-
posal was unanimously accepted, the |
authors of the proposal being them
selves in agreement with it. Ac-