Council Meeting

After a full week of arduous labor in the famed Doria Palace at Rome, the Council of the League of Nations wound up its session; and its members scattered to the four winds.

The work effected:

Arms Parley. A decision by the U. S. Government to attend the League's conference on the control of arms and munitions of war* was read to the Council and received with outspoken satisfaction. It was then decided to call the conference for May 4, 1925.

Protocol Delay. Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain, chief British delegate, stated that his Government, which has just come into office, had not yet had time to consider the protocol or to confer with the Dominions over what was to be their common attitude toward it. He accordingly asked for an adjournment, which was to be an adjournment and nothing more than an adjournment--the Geneva protocol was not to be considered dead. The delay requested was unanimously voted by the Council. The whole protocol question (TIME, Oct. 13) was thereby shelved until the March meeting of the Council.

Palestine. Discussion of the Mandates Commission's report revealed the fact that Sir Herbert Samuel, British High Commissioner for Palestine, while attempting to establish a Jewish National home, had neglected his paramount duty of developing the territory in the interests of the inhabitants. Cognizance of the fact was taken that Sir Herbert's duties as home-builder and Arab-protector were contradictory. Mr. Chamberlain warmly defended the High Commissioner; and, at the end, the report was referred to the Governments concerned. No League action was to be taken in connection with an Arab appeal against the civil administration of Palestine.

Saar Basin. A protest by Germany charging that France compelled German children to attend French schools in the Saar area in an effort to bias them politically was discussed by the Council. Eventually, a plebescite is to decide whether the Saar Basin (rich coal area) is to belong permanently to France or Germany; hence the German fears.

Charity. On an Italian motion, the appointment of a committee to study the question of founding a fund, to which Governments would be obliged to contribute, to be used for relief in cases of national disasters, such as earthquakes, etc., was authorized. The British delegate demurred, said that the British found it more practical to appeal to individual generosity in such cases.

Law. The Council appointed George W. Wickersham, onetime Attorney General of the U. S. and present member of the Manhattan law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, to be a member of the international committee for the codification of international law. Other members were appointed from Sweden, Italy, Japan, Britain, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, China, Germany, Portugal, Poland, Czecho-Slovakia, San Salvador and Argentina. Dr. K. H. L. Hammerskjold, onetime Swedish Premier, was named as Chairman.

Education. Acceptance was voted of the French Government's offer to found at Paris an International Institute for Intellectual Cooeperation.

Egypt. Contrary to expectations (TIME, Dec. 1 et seq.), the recent Egyptian imbroglio was not discussed. Egyptians in Rome, however, tried successfully to get their case before the Council.

The Council then disbanded to meet again in March in the "Capital of the League of Nations"--Geneva, where henceforth all Council meetings are to be held.

* This Conference is in no wise connected with the International Disarmament Conference that is to spring either from acceptance of the League's protocol or from an invitation of the President of the U. S.