A.—s.

The sub-committee appointed by the Sixth Committee had meetings after the 15th September, and on the 24th of that month its report, or rather reports, came before the main Committee. One report (Document A. 68, 1937, XII) is entitled " Modern Means of Spreading Information utilized in the Cause of Peace," and the other (Document A. 71, 1937) " Means of Spreading Information at the Secretariat's Disposal." The first deals solely with broadcasting and the cinematograph. On it I would offer two observations only. The first concerns the Convention on the Use of Broadcasting in the Cause of Peace, signed last year on behalf of New Zealand, but not yet ratified. Personally, I think it would be of advantage for the Dominion to ratify. The second observation concerns the recommendation accepted by the Sixth Committee that the further questions to be studied by the Intellectual Co-operation organization should be the subject of consultation between the organization and an ad hoc Committee of Experts, which would be responsible for co-ordinating the proposed programme. The scope of the second of the sub-committee's reports is sufficiently indicated by its title, but I would remark here that the invitation of the President of the New York World's Fair, 1939, to the Secretary-General of the League to take part in the Exhibition, is, at any rate, an indication, if no more, of the interest which the League's work excites in the United States of America. Of course, any exhibition by the League must be worthy of the League, and careful planning is necessary. A credit for work of preparation is to be put at the disposal of the Secretariat. Both reports came before the Assembly on the 2nd October and were accepted by that body, which passed the following resolution : — " The Assembly— " Approves the report of the Sixth Committee and the proposals contained therein. " It decides, on the proposal of the Fourth Committee, to insert in the budget for the coming year a supplementary credit of 12,000 Swiss francs." See also Document A. VI/s/c. 1/1. Spain. The Prime Minister of Spain, Senor Negrin, brought directly and forcefully before the Assembly his Government's charge that certain foreign Governments had aided in fomenting rebellion in Spain, and that, violating alike international law and their own pledges of non-intervention, they had given military, naval, and aerial assistance to the rebels. He pointed to the failure of nonintervention ; he referred to boasts by leaders of foreign Governments of their activities in Spain; he contrasted these with the obligations and the rights established by the Covenant of the League of Nations; for his Government he requested — (1) That the foreign aggression of which Spain has been the victim be recognized; (2) that, in consequence of this recognition, the League of Nations examine the means of putting an end to this aggression; (3) that the Spanish Government once more have the right to acquire freely all the war material it may consider necessary ; (4) that the non-Spanish combatants be withdrawn from Spanish territory; (5) that the measures of security to be adopted in the Mediterranean be extended to Spain, and Spain be assured her legitimate participation in them. In the Sixth Committee, as might be expected, widely different opinions were voiced; and the differences, again as might be expected, arose not from different views as to the facts, but rather from the different philosophies held or from the tenacity or otherwise in adhering to a line of policy by the various Governments represented at Geneva. In a world in which ideological conflicts are real, in which the ways of orderly peace and co-operation are openly challenged, any representative Assembly such as the League or its Sixth Committee will inevitably face the clash of diametrically opposite views. Having regard to this elementary fact, the substantial unanimity arrived at as to the League's appropriate immediate attitude to the conflict in Spain is noteworthy. This " immediate " attitude —the adjective is stressed, for nothing but a short-run policy was sketched in the resolution presently to be quoted —was defined in a unanimous report by the Sixth Committee's drafting sub-committee. The drafting sub-committee consisted of representatives of the United Kingdom, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Spain, Argentine, Mexico Norway, Poland, and Yugoslavia, under the chairmanship of M. Santos (Colombia). After a two days' discussion in the main Committee, in which there seemed little semblance of agreement, the subcommittee entered upon its difficult task of finding a generally acceptable formula. The representative of Spain (Senor del Vayo) had supplemented his Prime Minister's Assembly speech with detailed and documentary evidence of Fascist intervention in Spain; he condemned the so-called policy of nonintervention not less for its ineffectiveness than for the fact that in principle an embargo against supplies to the lawful Government of his country was a violation of international law; he contrasted the terrorism of the intervening powers with the seeming infirmity of purpose of others who might be expected to stand loyally by democratic principles and their Covenant obligations; and he again urged the right of the Spanish Government to obtain from the League the five measures as requested by her Prime Minister and mentioned above. Following this moving appeal, the representatives of France and the United Kingdom spoke in defence of the policy of non-intervention, though with undisguised misgivings as to its observance. Mexico's representative, in contrast, proclaimed without ambiguity that Spain was the victim of a war of aggression, that the provisions of the Covenant were applicable, and that the five-point request of the Spanish Government was entirely justified. The representative of Norway agreed that the League could not remain aloof from the Spanish question; he favoured the suggestion already made by the New Zealand representative that the League might secure a cessation of hostilities, making possible a genuine and peaceful expression of the Spanish people's will. The representative of the Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, having spoken on this issue in the Assembly (21st September, 1937), restated his country's general support of the Spanish Government's appeal, urging that a firmer stand by Governments loyal to the League would have ended the war and

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