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'LEAGUE OF NATIONS.
0TATEMENT BY Mi. BALFOUR.
QUESTION OF DISAiBMAMEHT.
THE MMADATES.
Iondon, June 17.
l1 the lloter of Commons tlis eveming
W!r. Cecdl i. Harmsworth (Under-Secretary
State for ioreagn Affairs, replying to
Squetion asked by Colonel John iGretton
tCoalition. Unionist, Burton), said that
members of t&e League of Nations had con
Iributed, so tar. £t170,000 to its funds.
On the vote for British r;moassies and
Closular services, under which the expenses
of the League tall, Mr. Arthur J. balfour
ellaimed that the League had rendered
already considerable service to the world.
ihc permanent secretariat ot the League
would remain in London until the general
ameting of the League was held in No
vember, when its future would be decided.
IHe mentioned that an ollice had been
established for the registration of Itr?u .?s,
rod henceforth no treaty v.otld b,. . aut
uless it was registered and open oIr In
Spection. The question of the division of
Lbe expenses among the members of the
League would be submitted to experts at
the International Financial (onference to,
be held in Brussels.
Dealing with the fourn permanent cout
sdittees established under the League
eOfo armaments health, transit.,
ind international justice respeotively
--Mr. Balfour emphasised the inm
portance of the work of the Armaments
mnittee, but lie pointed out that every.
thing depended on the nations supporting
the policy of disarmament.. If each nation
declined to adopt disarni.ment on the
[cund that armaments were necessary for
ita security then the tragedy for the
Teague of Nations and the world would be
great indeed.
Referring to ther league in connection
tith the Peace Treaty Mr. Balfour mention
Pd the appointment of a commission to
delimit the Sarre Valley, as well as an
Sernational body to administer that re
n. The League had appointed a High
mominsioner for Danzig who had framed
for Danzig a Constitution which had given
general satisfaction.
The League was also dealing with the
.iestion of the threatened.spread of zymo
rc diseases from the east to the west, es
pecially in Poland. It had acted through
the Red Cross Societies, and appealed to
the nations for funds. It was also super
sisins the return of prisoners of war from
Bussit and was considering the questiorns
of international finance and the disloca
tion of credit, concerning which a meeting
bf cperts of the world would be held.
The League was doing its beet to find a
Furopean power to undertake the mandate
pver Armenia. Mr. Balfour proceeded to
protest against the activities of enthusi
p.ts who were urging the creation of a
Buper-state to direct a force levied ano
paid by the sovereign States of the world.
Loi declared that tile proble of bringing
order out of chaos must be doealt with by
.he Sutpreme Council of the Allies. Those
bo were throwing that burden upon the
heauge were doing it the gr'ttest possible
would assuredly break down and the most
promising effort made hitherto in the d?
eetion of a new civilisation would be de
Mr. 11. it. %squtith eapreswedl the hope
that the victorious Powers would not ibe
ulow in bottinc an example with regard
to disarnaaeltt. lie asked whether
Polish aggression did cnet come within Ar.
ti?ce No. 11 of the Covenant of the League
and whether ite inuandate for Palestine
had emanated from the League. He in
quired similarly with respect to Mesopo
tamia. lie ur-ed the winding up of the
Supreme Council in order to let the League
becomo a reality.
Lord Robert Cecil declared thlat, the lack
of a fornmal decision with regard to the
nArmenian mandate was producing very de
plorable conditionst He urged that these
matters should be settled at the earlie.st
possiblo moment. There was no room for
bwa supreme international bodies such as
the Supreme Council and the Council oat
the League of Nations. With regard to
America, it, was diflicult for us to dicuss
freely her position, but he was sure that
uolting would encourage our friends in
Ameriac. more than to be able to argue
with tiem that. as the League had ac
complishcd so much in the preservation
of peace, it was undesirable. that they
should stand aside in the great work.
Referring to the question of the man
dates, Mr. Balfour said that the terms or
the mandates were to be decided by the
Peace Conference, but the use to which
the mandates should be put was to be lets
to the League of Nations. That was in
tended at the Paris Conference. and conse
quently it, was regrettable that the man
dates were not ready. He could not say
it. was a matter for which the League
should be blamed. It was due to the faot
that. the negotiations hlad taken a longer
time than was anticipated. The League
would come in when the mandatory
Powers accepted the responsibility for car
tying out the mandates
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