The corporation is constituted for the purpose of educating the people of all nations to a full knowledge of the waste and destructiveness of war, its evil effects on present social conditions and on the well-being of future generations, and to promote international justice and the brotherhood of man; and, generally, by every practical means to promote peace and good will among all mankind.-By-laws of the Corporation. It is to this patient and thorough work of education, through the school, the college, the church, the press, the pamphlet and the book, that the World Peace Foundation addresses itself.-Edwin Ginn. The idea of force can not at once be eradicated. It is useless to believe that the nations can be persuaded to disband their present armies and dismantle their present navies, trusting in each other or in the Hague Tribunal to settle any possible differences between them, unless, first, some substitute for the existing forces is provided and demonstrated by experience to be adequate to protect the rights, dignity and territory of the respective nations. My own belief is that the idea which underlies the movement for the Hague Court can be developed so that the nations can be persuaded each to contribute a small percentage of their military forces at sea and on land to form an International Guard or Police Force.Edwin Ginn. *Incorporated under the laws of Massachusetts, July 12, 1910, as the International School of Peace. Name changed to World Peace Foundation, December, 22, 1910. WORLD PEACE FOUNDATION PAMPHLETS Published by WORLD PEACE FOUNDATION 40 MT. VERNON STREET, BOSTON, MASS. Single numbers, 5 cents. Sample copies on request. Quantity rates vary with cost of production. General Secretary, Edward Cummings. Corresponding Secretary and Librarian, Denys P. Myers. PAGE XII. XI. FINANCIAL RECONSTRUCTION OF AUSTRIA AND OF HUNGARY Advisory Committee Meetings and work Questionnaire Conferences XIV. THE HEALTH ORGANIZATION 185 192 194 194 194 195 196 197 199 XVI. ECONOMICS AND FINANCE Provisional Economic and Financial Committee 212 214 214 215 International Hydrographic Bureau International Association for Child Welfare International Committee on Agriculture. APPENDIX I. THE COVENANT OF THE League of NATIONS 234 235 237 240 Greco-Bulgarian and Greco-Turkish Emigration Commissions 241 243 243 243 244 245 246 246 246 249 APPENDIX II. PERMANENT COURT OF INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE-PROTOCOL OF SIGNATURE AND STATUTE. 261 APPENDIX III. REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS ON THE 271 I. ORIGIN The establishment of a League of Nations was one of the purposes of the World War. All belligerents and the neutrals accepted the idea that when the war should end provision should be made for a permanent institution to promote peace. Unlike previous wars, the World War was fought on so large a scale that belligerent Governments found it necessary to make definite statements of their war aims in order to convince their peoples to carry on the conflict to a conclusion. The idea of a League of Nations was perhaps the most effective of the war aims serving that purpose. The armistice with Germany was concluded upon the basis of the Fourteen Points of January 8, 1918. The 14th point was: A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike. This engagement and the great interest in the matter manifested by all peoples made it necessary to give the subject a definite place in the negotiations of the Preliminary Peace Conference. At its second plenary session on January 25, 1919, the Preliminary Peace Conference passed the following resolution: The Conference, having considered the proposals for the creation of a League of Nations, resolves that: (1) It is essential to the maintenance of the world settlement, which the Associated Nations are now met to establish, that a League of Nations be created to promote international co-operation, to insure the fulfilment of international obligations and to provide safeguards against war. (2) This League should be treated as an integral part of the general treaty of peace, and should be open to every civilized nation which can be relied on to promote its objects. (3) The members of the League should periodically meet in international conference, and should have a permanent organization and secretariat to carry on the business of the League in the intervals between the conferences. The Conference therefore appoints a committee representative of the Associated Governments to work out the details of the constitution and the functions of the League. The commission as appointed consisted of the following delegates of states: United States of America-President Wilson and Edward M. House; British Empire-Lord Robert Cecil, Lieut. Gen. Jan C. Smuts; France-Léon Bourgeois, former premier, former minister of foreign affairs, and Ferdinand Larnaude, dean of the faculty of law, University of Paris; Italy-Vittorio E. Orlando, premier, and Vittorio Scialoja, senator; Japan-Baron Makino, former minister of foreign affairs, member of the Diplomatic Council, and Viscount Chinda, Japanese ambassador at London; Belgium-Paul Hymans, minister of foreign affairs; Brazil-Epitacio Pessôa, senator, former minister of justice; Greece-Eleftherios Venizelos, premier; Poland-Roman Dmowski, president of the Polish National Committee; In ten sessions, February 3-13, this commission worked out a project, which was presented in a report to a plenary session of the Preliminary Peace Conference on February 14 and was published to the world for suggestions. On March 20 and 21 a committee of the commission heard representatives of neutral states respecting changes which they desired. The neutrals represented were: Argentine Republic, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Salvador, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Venezuela. In three sessions on March 22 and 24, the commission revised the draft and finally on April 10 and 11 gave the Covenant of the League of Nations its final form. The text was formally adopted at a session of the Preliminary Peace Conference on April 28, 1919. In editing the results of the negotiations of the Preliminary Peace Conference, the Covenant was made to constitute Part I of the treaties of peace. At its final session on April 11, an organization committee was provided for by a resolution, which was made effective by the Preliminary Peace Conference on April 28. The organization committee held its first meeting at the Hotel Crillon, Paris, on May 5, 1919. |