Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-10
BY LAURENs II. sEELYE.

IRON the beginning had had
= keen but rather philosophical In
= terest In the League Of Nations.
4 Ten years of living In the Near
East has, however, enabled me
to hear the point OF view OF the
peoples there. They had expected
marvellous things Of the League. 1t was
to have settled their problems OF race.
religion and 'self-determination."
Through It's healing, almost miraculous
was to have arrived the
new day. Instead of this the League
remained off in the distance like sort
Of nolitical deus ex nachlna, to whom
PRAYERS and petitions have betn Wafteo
from hearts Of Oriental votarles. ne
deus has not thrust down mighty
hand to punish adversarles, 10 Wrlte
Iv For the most part the prayers ave
Ceased. and to the mention OF the name
"Tear1ie of Nations" shoulders are
shrugged and chins lifted in scorn.
with this background came 10 me
CITY of Geneva on the tenth anniversary
" The physical setting of the assembly
Is simple enough to suit an early
quaker. The corner stone mas oeer
laid for the new "palals winch Is 70
house the activities Of the secretariat
and proyide q meeting place Tor the
assembly,; but in the meantime the
league uses buildings of the city OF
Geneva with the exception OF the IN
fernational Bureau Of Labor, which has
it's own building on the shore OF the
lake1. The place of the assembly is an
ordinary hall. with main floor and two
galleries. On the floor sit the oe!eg ga
tions from the governments holoing
membership in the League. the region
of the rostrum has three levels; tns
lowest on which stands tie speaker OF
the moment. fanked by oficial inter-
meters: the second, on which sits the
chairman of the assembly tthis year
representative from Salvador), hanked
by an Interpreter and representative
of the secretariat, and wide, hlgner
level for members Of the secretafiat.
The galleries inclose three sides OF the
hall. They are occupied by the press
and by visitors. The only decorations
are signs ordering silence ana re-
questing people not to applauo-notn1 Oh
which are disregarded by the visitors
and delegates. During the speaking OF
some representative not known to the
audience, the talking among delegates
and visitors becomes so loud that the
chairman periodically whacks on MS
desk, his interpreter rises and with
tone and enunciation quite tnaudiple
until one has heard him half dozen
times) requests silence" When q
man like BRAND or Macdonald or
Stresemann speaks, the crowd OF Vis-
itors enforces its own silence.
Meeting Is Described.
The assembly meeting opens with a
statement of business by the chairman
(seated), which is repeated In English
nv his INTERPRETER. The first speaker
mounts the tribune below him and
starts in. With pencil point interpreters
follow, their copies of the speech II 1t
Is written, or hastily Scribble their
Shorthand notes II it Is ex tempore. Eng.
fish or French speeches are translated
into the other language after the speak
er has finished; and speeches In non
official languages are transiaCeo 1nto
the two official languages by interpret
ers standing in the speakers place on
the tribune. During the speeches, and
especially during the interpretations
delegates walk in or out OF the nan,
greet each other soto voice, or take
their assigned seats. In the galleries
there is considerable movement to and
fro. due to the large number OF visitors
entitled to standing room only. IL De.
hooves the lucky holder OF an 1ndivldual
seat ticket to remember that the stand
ard of honesty in regard to seats Is
about the same as that OF college pro-
fessors in regard to BOOKS IA, an am
plifier functions sporadicany with gusts
of throaty articulation.
Naturally, the personnel Is varied.
Among visitors who pack the galleries.
at important sessions, one notices most
" intelligentSia type, American ana
Northern European, the English Ian
guage being most frequently heard
among them. II they cannot under
stand the speech or the interpreter, at
least they have seen the famous man,
and the following morning at O'Clock,
by paying so cents, any one can attend
Prof. Zimmern's Illuminating COM
rnentative lecture on the events and
speeches of the previous day. AS the
visitor looks down from the gallery to
the heads of the 50-odd nations seated
on the main floor, he is tempted to as
sert that the greatest unsolved problem
of the world is not disarmament or Sc
curity, but is that of the discovery OF an
eficacious hair-reStorer.
The official printed list Of delegates
and the floor plan provide study for the
visitors dull moments. He can watch
some distinguished or indistinguished
figure enter the door, follow him to his
seat, and then identity him by means
of the list Thumbing it further. he
meditates on what an Italian "plen1-
potentiafy (second class" means; he
notes that the British delegation leads
the world with 10 private secretaries,
and that the names of two ministers Of
religion are found among the delega-
tions, one a pastor from Denmark and
the other a priest from Germany-both
substitutes. He Is amazed to find in the
delegation from Holland the following
name, "Raden Adipati Ario Achmed
Djdjadiningrat" when fur
Their reading shows he was former re-
gent of Batavia in the Dutch East In
dies. Some 10 women also are listed
as degelation members or substitutes
from the following countries: Rumania,
Norway. Lithuania. Hungary Countess
Apponyi, who is delegate along with her
husband, Finland, Denmark, Canada,
Czechoslovakia, Australia and the Brit
ish Empire.
Delegates Seated Alphabetically.
The procedure is quite without the
ceremonial which the history books have
depicted as essential in international
intercourse. Was it not at the Congress
of Vienna that the problem of prec-
edence was solved by the representatives
simultaneously? Here the delegations
are seated alphabetically IN the hall.
Members walk in and out of the doors
since April 9, 1925, over very trying
period.
On November Erick Louw, FIRST
of the Union Of South Africa
to the United States, presented his
credentials to President Hoover. This
country will soon reciprocally establish
a legation in South Africa.