A.—s

Codification op International Law. This matter was under consideration for some two years by a Committee of Experts appointed under a resolution of tlie Assembly of 1924. A large number of documents lias been issued, and the following were before the First Committee : C. 196, M. 70, 1927, V. ; C. 197, M. 71, 1927, V. ; C. 198, M. 72, 1927, V.; C. 199, M. 73, 1927, V.; C. 200, M. 74, 1927, V. ; C. 201, M. 75, 1927, V. ; C. 202, M. 76, 1927, V.; C. 203, M. 77, 1927, V.; C. 204, M. 78,1927 V.; C. 205, M. 79,1297, V. ; C. 206, M. 80, 1927, V. ; C. 207, M. 81, 1927, V. ; and A. 18. The Committee of Experts considered that five subjects were ripe for codification, but the Council of the League decided to reduce this number to three, those selected being —Nationality; territorial waters ; and the reponsibility of States for damage done in their territories to the personal property of foreigners. Accordingly, these are to be considered by a Conference, but careful preparation is necessary, and the First Committee thought that this work should be done by a preparatory committee of five, in conjunction with the Secretariat of the League. Questions of date and place of Conference were discussed by the committee. On the first it was impossible to make a pronouncement, but it was thought that the work should be sufficiently advanced for a Conference to be called in 1929. The place of meeting recommended is The Hague. The two subjects with which the Conference will not deal are piracy and diplomatic privileges and immunities. Of other questions which the Committee of Experts considered, two formed the subject of special recommendations —i.e., procedure of International Conferences and procedure for the conclusion and drafting of treaties ; and the exploitation of the products of the sea. The former question is to be investigated by the Secretariat of the League. The latter requires a more thorough investigation before there can be any thought of a Conference, and, in view of the danger of extermination of many of the denizens of the sea, it is believed that the Economic Committee of the League can best undertake the work of investigation. The prevention of the extinction of the whale by a system of catching under license has become an important matter to New Zealand since she assumed responsibilities in the Ross Sea area, and I have no doubt the Government will look forward with interest to the report of the Economic Committee. It is not out of place to point out the connection between the question of territorial waters and the preservation of denizens of the ocean. The First Committee's report is Document A. 105, and the Assembly passed the resolution with which it concludes on the 27th September. Early in the session the delegate of Paraguay proposed the following resolution : — » " The Assembly, having in view the importance and urgency of preparing, for the use of all nations, a Code of International Law, invites the Council to entrust the Committee of Experts with the preparation of a general and comprehensive plan of codification of international law, paying due regard, as far as possible, to the work of codification which is being carried on in America." This was referred to the First Committee. It would perhaps have been better to await the results of the Conference referred to above before putting forward a resolution of this kind. The First Committee was sympathetic, but thought it advisable to wait until the Assembly was in a position to draw up a programme of future work for the Committee of Experts. The Assembly took note of the First Committee's report (Document A. Ill) on the 27th September. SECOND COMMITTEE. Question op Alcoholism. Consideration of this matter was postponed from the Seventh Assembly. It was therefore inscribed on the agenda of the Eighth Assembly, and by it referred to the Second Committee. The question raised by the Governments of Finland, Poland, and Sweden, and supported by those of Belgium, Denmark, and Czecho-Slovakia, was restricted to the prevention of illicit traffic—that is to say, consideration of means on an international scale to prevent smuggling into those countries where prohibition is in force (Document A. 19). It has been said that the League, having taken up the question as to the best means of restricting, and possibly eliminating, the illicit traffic in opium and other dangerous drugs, is the authority to take in hand the question of alcoholism, but I think it must be admitted that discussion would not have stopped at the prevention of smuggling. If a State has adopted prohibition, surely it must look to its own resources to enforce the law, and, if these are not sufficient, endeavour to conclude agreements with other States in which the contraband traffic has its origin. There are certain questions connected with alcoholism with which the League can and does concern itself —i.e., its effect from the point of view of health, and the part it plays in prostitution and vice— that is to say, the abuse of alcohol. In the discussion in the Second Committee an attempt was made to justify consideration of the question by the League by quoting Article 23 of the Covenant, the inference being that alcohol is a dangerous drug. One can easily imagine the position in which the committee, having members representative of the great wine-growing countries, would have found itself had discussion been allowed to develop on this basis. Had the framers of the motion merely suggested something in the direction of an international conference, leading up to a convention, perhaps the opposition would not have been so strenuous ; but, unfortunately for themselves, they suggested that if it was found undesirable to establish a special organ of the League to deal with the matter, the International Bureau against Alcoholism at Lausanne might be prepared to undertake investigation on behalf of the League. The opposers of the motion carried the war into the enemy's camp, and one speaker remarked that if it was a question of binding the League to support the International

5