A.—sa,

Protection of Civilian Populations against Bombing from the Air in Case of War. This matter was considered by the Third Committee of the Assembly, which drafted a resolution for submission to the Assembly. The resolution was duly passed. It contained two recommendations addressed to the Council—(l) that arrangements should be made with the Government of the United Kingdom that the Committee of Investigation operating in Spain should send copies of its reports to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations so that he might have them circulated to States members, and (2) that there should be taken into consideration any other appeal arising out of the bombing from the air of civilian populations directed to establishing, by means of an international committee, cases of recourse to practices condemned under the principles of international law . and 'collect for impartial study any material that might be of use. The representative of Iran acted as Rapporteur. He suggested, in regard to the first recommendation, that it was for the representative of the United Kingdom to inform the Council of the steps which he thought his Government could take. As to the second recommendation, all the Rapporteur thought was necessary for the time being was for the Council to take note of it, and in this the Council concurred. The representative of the United Kingdom having been invited to speak, said that his Government were prepared to communicate copies of the Investigation Committee's reports to the Secretary-General. Consideration of this item afforded the representative of China an opportunity to make a statement, which is recorded in the minutes of the meeting. The Chinese representative did not propose discussion of the Chinese case on this occasion, but he warned the Council that it was the intention of his Government to ask the Council to consider it at a later session. Situation in Spain : Proposal by the Spanish Government relating to the Withdrawal of Non-Spanish Combatants. This significant proposal of the Spanish Government is dealt with in my report on the Assembly. It was considered by the Sixth Committee, which drafted a resolution. This resolution was passed by the Assembly on the 30th September, 1938. The operative part of it provides for the acceptance of the Spanish Government s proposal, including the sending to Spain of an international commission to supervise the withdrawal of foreign combatants. Under the resolution it was the duty of the Council to name a Commission. The President himself acted as Rapporteur, and the representative of Spain was invited to take a seat at the Council table. After a few introductory words the President proposed that a Council commission of three, composed of representatives of the United Kingdom, France, and Iran, should be appointed with the duty (i) to appoint a small committee at once ; (ii) to establish contact with the Secretary-General with a view to determining the conditions under which the commission is to operate and all the relevant budgetary and administrative arrangements ; (iii) to establish contact with the competent representative of the Spanish Government; (iv) to submit'a report on the question to the Council at its session in January, 1939. He then brought forward a draft resolution reading as follows : — " The Council — " Bearing in mind the statements made by Government representatives during the discussions in the Sixth Committee and the Assembly concerning the question submitted by the Spanish Government with regard to the withdrawal of non-Spanish combatants ; " Noting that the Non-intervention Committee has drawn up a plan for the withdrawal from Spain of the foreign nationals taking part in the conflict in that country ; " Being anxious not to prejudice in any way the execution of this plan, which has already been accepted by the Spanish Government— " (a) Adopts the present report; " (b) Decides to despatch to Spain an international commission, whose duty it will be,, making use of the facilities provided by the Spanish Government, to note the measures of withdrawal taken by that Government, and report on their effectiveness, on the disposal of the persons thus withdrawn, and on the extent to which it considers that the withdrawal is complete ; " (c) Declares that no responsibility is assumed by the Council either for the method of withdrawal or for the evacuation of the persons withdrawn ; " (d) Takes note of the Spanish Government's statement that it undertakes to afford the commission every guarantee, facility, and assistance that the latter may think needful for the performance of its duty ; (c) Appoints a committee of three members, consisting of the representatives of the United Kingdom, France, and Iran, whose duty it will be to constitute, despatch, and, so far as necessary, direct the working of the commission ; "(/) For this purpose, authorizes the Secretary-General to draw the necessary funds from the 1938 budget—item 2 (c) (i) : ' Unforeseen expenditure (political) ' — up to a maximum of 250,000 Swiss francs ; " (0) Authorizes the Secretary-General, in agreement with the Committee of Three, to take such other action or measures as may be necessary to give effect to the present resolution." This was put to the vote and carried with two abstentions by Bolivia and Peru. The representative of Bolivia questioned whether the sending of a commission would not create a precedent

26