breach of Article XII, the provisions of Article XVI shall be applicable as against the State taking such action. If both parties to the dispute when so invited refuse to accept the obligations of membership in the League for the purposes of such dispute, the Executive Council may take such action and make such recommendations as will prevent hostilities and will result in the settlement of the dispute. ARTICLE XVIII The High Contracting Parties agree that the League shall be entrusted with the general supervision of the trade in arms and ammunition with the countries in which the control of this traffic is necessary in the common interest. ARTICLE XIX To those colonies and territories which as a consequence of the late war have ceased to be under the sovereignty of the States which formerly governed them and which are inhabited by peoples not yet able to stand by themselves under the strenuous conditions of the modern world, there should be applied the principle that the wellbeing and development of such peoples form a sacred trust of civilization and that securities for the performance of this trust should be embodied in the constitution of the League. The best method of giving practical effect to this principle is that the tutelage of such peoples should be entrusted to advanced nations who by reason of their resources, their experience or their geographical position, can best undertake this responsibility, and that this tutelage should be exercised by them as mandataries on behalf of the League. The character of the mandate must differ according to the stage of the development of the people, the geographical situation of the territory, its economic conditions and other similar circumstances. Certain communities formerly belonging to the Turkish Empire have reached a stage of development where their existence as independent nations can be provisionally recognized subject to the rendering of administrative advice and assistance by a mandatory power until such time as they are able to stand alone. The wishes of these communities must be a principal consideration in the selection of the mandatory power. Other peoples, especially those of Central Africa, are at such a stage that the mandatary must be responsible for the administration of the territory subject to conditions which will guarantee freedom of conscience or religion, subject only to the maintenance of public order and morals, the prohibition of abuses such as the slave-trade, the arms traffic and the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the establishment of fortifications or military and naval bases and of military training of the natives for other than police purposes and the defense of territory, and will also secure equal opportunities for the trade and commerce of other members of the League. There are territories, such as Southwest Africa and certain of the South Pacific Islands, which, owing to the sparseness of their population, or their small size, or their remoteness from the centers of civilization, or their geographical contiguity to the mandatory state, and other circumstances, can be best administered under the laws of the mandatory state as integral portions thereof, subject to the safeguards above mentioned in the interests of the indigenous population. In every case of mandate, the mandatory state shall render to the League an annual report in reference to the territory committed to its charge. The degree of authority, control, or administration to be exercised by the mandatory State shall, if not previously agreed upon by the High Contracting Parties, in each case be explicitly defined by the Executive Council in a special Act or Charter. The High Contracting Parties further agree to establish at the seat of the League a Mandatory Commission to receive and examine the annual reports of the Mandatory Powers, and to assist the League in insuring the observance of the terms of all Mandates. ARTICLE XX The High Contracting Parties will endeavor to secure and maintain fair and humane conditions of labor for men, women and children both in their own countries and in all countries to which their commercial and industrial relations extend; and to that end agree to establish as part of the organization of the League a permanent Bureau of Labor. ARTICLE XXI The High Contracting Parties agree that provision shall be made through the instrumentality of the League to secure and maintain freedom of transit and equitable treatment for the commerce of all States members of the League, having in mind, among other things, special arrangements with regard to the necessities of the regions devastated during the war of 1914-1918. ARTICLE XXII The High Contracting Parties agree to place under the control of the League all international bureaux already established by general treaties if the parties to such treaties consent. Furthermore, they agree that all such international bureaux to be constituted in future shall be placed under the control of the League. ARTICLE XXIII The High Contracting Parties agree that every treaty or international engagement entered into hereafter by any State member of the League shall be forthwith registered with the Secretary-General and as soon as possible published by him, and that no such treaty or international engagement shall be binding until so registered. ARTICLE XXIV It shall be the right of the Body of Delegates from time to time to advise the reconsideration by States members of the League of treaties which have become inapplicable, and of international conditions, of which the continuance may endanger the peace of the world. ARTICLE XXV The High Contracting Parties severally agree that the present Covenant is accepted as abrogating all obligations inter se which are inconsistent with the terms thereof, and solemnly engage that they will not hereafter enter into any engagements inconsistent with the terms thereof. In case any of the Powers signatory hereto or subsequently admitted to the League shall, before becoming a party to this Covenant, have undertaken any obligations which are inconsistent with the terms of this Covenant, it shall be the duty of such Power to take immediate steps to procure its release from such obligations. ARTICLE XXVI Amendments to this Covenant will take effect when ratified by the States whose representatives compose the Executive Council and by three-fourths of the States whose representatives compose the Body of Delegates. ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON UPON RE- OF THE PEACE CONFERENCE, APRIL 28, 1919.1 MR. PRESIDENT: When the text of the covenant of the league of nations was last laid before you I had the honor of reading the covenant in extenso. I will not detain you to-day to read the covenant as it has now been altered, but will merely take the liberty of explaining to you some of the alterations that have been made. The report of the committee has been circulated. You yourselves have in hand the text of the covenant and will no doubt have noticed that most of the changes that have been made are mere changes of phraseology, no changes of substance, and that, besides that, most of the changes are intended to clarify the document or, rather, to make explicit what we all have assumed was implicit in the document as it was originally presented to you. But I shall take the liberty of calling your attention to the new features, such as they are. Some of them are considerable, the rest trivial. The first paragraph of article 1 is new. In view of the insertion of the covenant in the peace treaty specific provision as to the signatories of the treaty, who would become members of the league, and also as to neutral states to be invited to accede to the covenant, were obviously necessary. The paragraph also provides for the method by which a neutral state may accede to the covenant. The third paragraph of article 1 is new, providing for the withdrawal of any member of the league on a notice given of two years. The second paragraph of article 4 is new, providing for a possible increase in the council should other powers be added to the league of nations whose present accession is not anticipated. The last two paragraphs of article 4 are new, providing specifically for one vote for each member of the league in the council, which was understood before, and providing also for one representative of each member of the league. The first paragraph of article 5 is new, expressly incorporating the 1 Senate Doc. No. 7, 66th Congress, 1st session. 124 |