A.—sB.

(d) Both languages may equally be employed in all the Courts of Justice of the Sanjak, including the Supreme Court, and members of minorities may express themselves in their mother tongue. (e) Both official languages may be employed in the Assembly, the records of the Assembly shall be drawn up, and all laws shall be published, in both languages. (/) Administrative regulations and instructions shall be published in both languages. (g) The public may employ either language at their own choice in their relations with the administration, and shall receive replies in the same language. Article 13 provides that in order to ensure liaison between the Government of Syria and the Government of the Sanjak in respect of matters of common concern, each Government shall accredit a Commissioner to the other, and each Commissioner shall be consulted in advance on any measures affecting the interests of his Government. Article 14 provides that international agreements concluded by the State of Syria shall apply to the Sanjak, subject to the provisions laid down in Articles 15, 16, 17, and 18. Articles 22, 23, and 24 deal with demilitarization. The Sanjak shall be demilitarized and it shall be forbidden throughout the territory of the Sanjak :— (1) To maintain or assemble any land, naval, or air armed forces, or to introduce such forces into the Sanjak for any purpose whatever, even that of transit; (2) To institute any form of compulsory military service ; (3) To manufacture, introduce (even for transit purposes), or to maintain, whether on behalf of the public authorities or of private persons, arms, ammunition, or implements designed or intended for land, sea, or air warfare ; (4) To construct or maintain works designed or intended for land, sea, or air warfare. In connection with demilitarization, paragraphs 27 to 35 of the Committee's report are of interest. Articles 25 to 33 of the Statute deal with minorities. All inhabitants of the Sanjak shall enjoy full and entire protection for their lives and liberties, without distinction of birth, nationality, language, race, or religion. They shall be entitled to practise freely, both in public and in private, any faith, religion, or creed the practice of which is not incompatible with public order and morality. All citizens of the Sanjak shall be equal before the law and shall enjoy the same civil and political rights, without distinction of race, language, or religion. Articles 34 to 37 deal with Customs administration. The Customs regime shall be the same for the Sanjak and Syria, which together shall constitute a single Customs territory within which goods shall circulate freely. A Mixed Commission, consisting of four representatives of Syria and two representatives of the Sanjak, and including the two Commissioners set up as liaison officers under Article 13, shall be set up for the purpose of ensuring unity of administration. Articles 38 to 42 deal with monetary administration. It is worth noting that other countries may participate in the Syria-Sanjak monetary system. Articles 43 to 53 deal with the Port of Alexandretta over which Turkey shall have the right to make use to the fullest extent of the port for her transit trade. The postal administrations of Syria and Sanjak shall conclude an agreement for the provision of a uniform service. The Fundamental Law of the Sanjak provides that legislative power be exercised by an Assembly consisting of a single Chamber of forty members elected for a period of four years, the elections for the Assembly to be conducted in two stages—at the first stage all male citizens of the Sanjak over twenty years of age who have not been disqualified by loss of civic rights, &c., and who can'read and write shall register in the presence of delegates of the Commission mentioned in Article 15, as members of one of the following communities : Turkish, Alawite, Arab, Armenian, Greek Orthodox, Kurdish, and other. These men will elect deputies who will provide a sort of electoral college for the election of members of the Government. This is the second stage. Each community is to be assured of a minimum number of deputies as laid down in the report. Voting shall be by secret ballot, and the elector votes from a list of candidates of the community to which he has declared himself to belong. Candidates for election at the second stage must be at least twenty-five years of age. It will be seen that the electoral system is based on literacy, minimum age-limits, and the exclusion of females. Representatives are also elected according to communities, thus maintaining the existing divisions. The whole of the proceedings involved in the first elections held in the Sanjak shall be organized and supervised by a Commission appointed by the Council of the League. This Commission shall be composed of nationals of States members of the League other than France and Turkey, to whom shall be attached local representatives of the communities. The committee's opinion is that public offices and employments in the Sanjak should be reserved for its own citizens, though that should not preclude the Government from securing, under contract, the services of technical experts from abroad. In presenting the report to the Council, Mr. Sandler (the representative of Sweden, Rapporteur) thought that both the Statute and the Fundamental Law should come into force as soon as possible and suggested 29th November, 1937. He further suggested that the Council ask the President to begin by the appointment of a Commission of five members, which will start by carrying out the necessary preparatory inquiries and other work involved in the first elections.

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