PREFACE By decision of November 30, 1923, the Reparation Commission invited the following distinguished individuals to act as the First Committee of Experts to "consider the means of balancing the budget and the measures to be taken to stabilize the currency" of Germany: The First Committee of Experts held meetings continuously from January 14, 1924, until April 9, 1924, in Paris, except for one fortnight in Berlin. The report was rendered to the Reparation Commission under date of April 9, 1924, and was divided into three parts as follows: Part I states the Committee's conception of the task, the conclusions reached and the broad outline of the plan decided upon. Part II indicates the considerations which guided the Committee to their conclusions, in particular so far as they result from certain aspects of the actual financial and economic condition of Germany. Part III consists of a series of annexes which give the technical detail of several proposals and should be read as a supplement to the respective portions of Part I. Included in the report is a Summary of Part I which states concisely the main features of the plan decided upon and the principal factors essential to its successful execution. This Summary will be found in this International Conciliation document and will probably be entirely satisfactory for the majority of readers. For the use of scholars engaged in research, however, the only authoritative statements are to be found in the full text of the plan.1 The second part of this International Conciliation document contains the questions submitted September 28, 1923, by the Council of the League of Nations to the Special Commission of Jurists and the replies given by the latter body, with comments by Lord Parmoor on the questions and replies. The Special Commission of Jurists which met at Geneva, from January 18 to 24, 1924, was composed as follows: The importance of the conclusions reached by the Special Commission of Jurists can hardly be overestimated. Though the questions placed were the result of the dispute in September, 1923, between Italy and Greece concerning the murder August 27, 1923, of General Tellini at Janina, the replies to these questions define the rights, duties and limitations of the Council of the League of Nations in cases similar 1 For the text of the plan see: World Peace Foundation Vol. VI, No. 5. Boston, Federal Reserve Bulletin, May, 1924, Washington, (with complete annexes). to that which resulted from the Corfu incident. The reply to the fifth question defines the responsibility of a state, in-` volved by the commission of a political crime in its territory. Each of the replies forms a fundamental basis for timely action in future international incidents which might lead to grave results had not these precedents been established and made a matter of public record. NICHOLAS MURRAY BUTLER NOTE. For information on the Corfu crisis see: World Peace Foundation Vol. VI, No. 3, Boston. New York Times, October 7, 1923, article by Dr. Manley O. Hudson. Contemporary Review, October, 1923, "Italy and Greece." Our World, October, 1923, “Mussolini and the League." Literary Digest, September 15, 1923, "Mussolini's Defiance of the League of Nations." |