A.—5A,

ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTH SESSION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. New Zealand Government Offices, 415 Strand, London, W.C. 2, 26th January, 1939. Sir,— Accompanied by two members of my personal staff, Mr. C. A. Know les and Bliss J. R. MoKenzie, I arrived in Geneva late on the evening of the 15th January for the purpose of attending, as the representative of New Zealand, the one hundred and fourth session of the Council of the League of Nations due to open on the following day. The President of the session was M. Sandler, the Swedish Foreign Minister, and representative of his country on the Council. _ . The Council met for the first time, and in private, at twelve noon on the 16th January, but, in accordance with custom, official declaration of the opening of the session was postponed until the first public meeting. At this private meeting the only business transacted was the adoption of the agenda (Document C. 497 (1), M. 339 (1), 1938). To the list was added, by decision of the Council, an item relating to the Commission appointed to report on aerial bombardment in Spain. The SecretaryGeneral mentioned another matter due for consideration this year —i.e., the composition of the Council— but as no member present proposed its inclusion in the agenda it was left for the consideration of the next Assembly. The next meeting of the Council was held in the afternoon of the 16th January, first in private and then in public. At the private meeting the following questions (with the addition of the noting of staff appointments and promotions made by the Secretary-General since the last session of the Council, which, require only mention in passing (Documents C. 510, 1938, and C. 35, 1939) were dealt with : — Appointments. (a) Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium and other Dangerous Drugs. (i) Composition of the Committee.—Paper No. C. 32, 1939, XI, traces the growth of the Committee from eight to fourteen members (including the United States of America) in deference to the feeling of the Assembly that all nations specially concerned in either the growth or manufacture of opium or other dangerous drugs should be represented on the Advisory Committee. Even this increase was deemed insufficient, and eventually the Committee numbered twenty-five members. If we are to judge the value of the work done by a permanent organ of the League by the number of documents issued in its name, this Advisory Committee would certainly occupy first place, but, of course, that is not the way to gauge its value to mankind. Its contribution to international co-operation in the interests of the human race has been of inestimable benefit, and its authority is embodied in a series of conventions and agreements of first-rate importance. Owing to political changes and to other circumstances the composition of the Committee was eventually modified —at the opening of the Council session now under review it was composed of the representatives of twenty- three countries, which it is said truly represents the majority of the producing, manufacturing, and consuming countries which have a special interest in its work. The Rapporteur, the representative of Greece, proposed that the mandate of these countries should, be renewed for a period of three years, and that, in addition, Hungary should be invited to send a representative to meetings of the Committee. The Council concurred. (ii) Appointment of an Assessor. —For many years past Dr. de Myttenaere has acted as one of the Assessors to the Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium and other Dangerous Drugs, and the Council approved the recommendation of its Rapporteur that Dr. de Myttenaere be reappointed for one year. The other Assessor resigned in 1937 after a long period of service, but his replacement was deferred in order that the Advisory Committee might consider the nature of the questions on which it might need the assistance of experts (see Document C. 33, 1939, XI). (b) Committee of Experts for the Study of Demographic Problems. During the past few years it has become apparent that the study on parallel lines of demographic problems would heighten the value of certain investigations carried out by the League's technical organs. The Assembly of 1938 passed a resolution under which the Council was requested to constitute a special committee of experts to study demographic problems and especially their connection with the economic, financial, and social situation, and to submit a report on the subject which may be of practical value to Governments in the determination of their policies. The representative of Belgium, to whom the selection of the special committee had been entrusted, acted as Rapporteur and presented his report (Document C. 24, 1939, 11, A) to the Council. His recommendation that the following be appointed was accepted :— Mustafa Amer Bey (Egypt). M. Carlos Brebbia (Argentina). Mr. A. M. Carr-Saunders (United Kingdom). M. G. A. Demangeon (France). Mr. Carter Goodrich (United States of America). M. G. Jahn (Norway). M. Helio Lobo (Brazil). Dr. S. Manuila (Roumania). Sir Ramaswami Mudaliar, K.C.I.E. (India). M. J. Smolenski (Poland).

28