A.—sd.

in referring the Chinese Government's appeal to the Advisory Committee, remained seized of the appeal itself, and that the Chinese Government reserved the right if and when circumstances required it to ask the Council to take action in accordance with the procedure of Article 17 of the Covenant, which, in addition to Articles 10 and 11, had been formally invoked. The President's proposal was accepted by the Council. At the public meeting the following subjects were dealt with: — Advisory Committee on Traffic in Opium and other Dangerous Drugs. The report of the Rapporteur (the representative of Latvia) (Document C. 382 1937 XI), covers the report on the work of the Twenty-second Session of the Advisory Committee (see Document C. 285, M. 186, 1937, XI), and deals with a number of points, including the clandestine manufacture of narcotic drugs, the situation in the Far East, and the preparatory work for a conference to consider the possibility of limiting and controlling the cultivation of the opium poppy and the production of raw opium. The report was accepted by the Council, which passed the resolution with which it concludes. Reform of the Calendar. This is a subject which has been before the League for many years. It had been thought that there might be a sufficient measure of agreement to make reform possible, but the Rapporteur, the representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, was compelled to point out that the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit, which had had the subject in hand, had come to the conclusion that it was inexpedient, for the time being, to convene a conference to carry out a reform which, in present circumstances, would seem to have no chance of being accepted. It was proposed that the Council should remove the question from its agenda, reserving to itself the right to take it up at a later date should circumstances warrant. The representative of Chile, whose Government had actively concerned itself in the matter of the reform of the calendar, agreed that the question was not sufficiently ripe to be taken up by the Council, and he accepted the Rapporteur's suggestion. The Council concurred (see Documents C. 369 1937, VIII, and C. 385, 1937, VIII). Unification of Statistics relating to Road Traffic Accidents. The Rapporteur was the representative of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The purpose of his report was to move the Council to communicate the relative papers to Governments in order that they should in future draw up their statistics in accordance with the recommendations of the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit (Document 0. 276, M. 179, 1937, VIII). M. Litvinofi proposed that the Council should agree to the request of the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit, and instruct the Secretary-General to transmit the report of the Committee for the Unification of Statistics relating to Road Traffic Accidents to Governments, at the same time asking them to draw up their statistics in future in accordance with the recommendations and tables annexed to the report, and to inform him (the Secretary-General) before 31st December, 1940, of any experience they had gained, and to forward any observations they might see fit to make. The proposal was accepted (see Rapporteur's report, Document C. 384 1937 VIII). Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments. The Rapporteur to the Council on this subject was the representative of Turkey, who, when presenting to the Council his report (Document C. 383, 1937, IX), stated that it was for the Council at its next session, which would be held in the near future, to examine the question of the date of the next meeting of the Bureau of the Disarmament Conference (see also Documents Conf. D 177 Conf D. 178). The Appeal of Spain. In order to obtain a true perspective on this matter, I think it advisable to state at the outset that the first delegate of Spain, M. Negrin, the Prime Minister, addressed the Assembly on the morning of the 18th September, and in conclusion 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 (see Document C. 409, M. 273, 1937, VII) ; , (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. He then put forward the following motion, which was referred to the General Committee of the Assembly, in the first instance: — " The Assembly has decided to refer to the Sixth Commission the chapter of the report of the Secretary-General dealing with the Spanish situation." The question was then before two bodies of the League, and will be dealt with in the reports on both.

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