WORK OF THE LEAGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 231, 30 September 1929, Page 10

WORK OF THE LEAGUE.

.„• SOLDIER-ADMINISTRATOR'S REVIEW. i ■ • ADDRESS BY SIR GEORGE RICHARDSON. [. Prefacing his remarks by saying that he did not like public speaking, but lie had a sense of du,ty, and he* thought it his duty to fake" an opportunity of .explaining the League, Major-General Sir- George Richardson gave a most lucid and instructive address on the .League of Nations, on Saturday evening to members and friends of th'c Federal tion of University Women. _Sir George. Richardson . said that President Wilson was officially recognised as the.foundev,.of the League, but he could not help feeling, that the real founders, were "those who fell in the war. Fifty-six nations were- members of the League, representing, a bout 85 per cent of. the world's;;, population. He masked the gathering. to think of the League as a human.'body, 'with the Council representing ..the bead, the Assembly, the trunk, ' the- Permanent Secretariat the legs,, the'; International Court and the. Labour.'.Office' the arms. Sir. George Puchardsoii , sketched in very clear: manner. , the .working V)f the or°uni.*ation,;..descriWng 'lipw the- Council Ulet frequently,..h.QW ( .the Assembly met once:ay.car,' and delegated'mud* "to committees, how. the!. Secretariat-kept' the whole machine -going/ how the International Court''settled questions of law,

and Labour. Office collected great'niasses about labour economic conditions and sought conditions. He spoke of the presence of women dele-gates,-and said the time might come when New Zealand would send a woman to Geneva. All the positions in the Secretariat, members of which were required to think internationally and speak two languages, were open to women, right up to the secretaryship, •and. pay was according to position. \Tho speaker dealt frankly with the difficulties in the way of securing disarmament, owing'to the fear of nations lest security be imperilled. The success of the League really depended on the interest of the peoples behind the Governments. How-many people in New Zealand- took'."a- "real interest in the sufficient, interest to join the League of Nations Union? The League \Vas; not a perfect 'instrument, but it was '.a noble ideal, and it had already done a great deal for the world, both in the prevention df. wars and in various directions of international co-operation. He".instanced the economic saving of Austria, the work of the health committees and the raising of working class standards hy the Labour Office. Sir George Richardson answered several questions. One on mandates drew from him a most interesting account of the thoroughness with.which the Mandates Commission did its work. Most of the members of this. Commission had had dministrative experience, and they were fully ; supplied with information about the mandated territories. The result was a most searching inquiry into the administration of these territories, in pursuit of the ideal that these must be governed in the interests of the natives.