A.—5A,

France and Iran—to make arrangements for the selection, despatch to Spam and working on the spot of an International Commission. The Commission was accordingly appointed, consisting following : — General B. Jalander (President), (Finland), Brigadier-General A. L. M. Molesworth. (United Kingdom), Lieut.-Colonel A. Homo (France), and to it was attached a certain number of personnel, including some Secretariat On the 14-th October the Commission as a body was constituted and was ab proceed with its work. On the 15th January the Commission submitted an interim report (Document C 34 M. 18, 1939, IX), and to this I refer you. For the purpose of corisideratianbytheCouiicl this report was accompanied by a short report by the Committee of Three (Document C 39, 1939 IX) which summarizes the history of the question and concludes with a draft resolution which the Rapporteur the representative of Iran, asked the Council to pass. Immediately after the report of the Committee of Three had been read the President of the Council called upon those of his who had notified him of their intention to speak, and he successively invited the representatives of France Belgium the United Kingdom, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, New Zealand and Spain (the representative of which had been invited to occupy a seat at the Council table) to address the an oocas i on on which to give expression to political views. The Council had before it the report on the accomplishment of a considerable volume of work m difficult and, sometimes, dangerous conditions, and it learned with satisfaction that the work was likely to be completed remarks in the Council were on general lines ; of thankfulness that, with the goodwill of the Spanish Government, something had been achieved, and of regret that m the twentieth century opportunity was taken in armed conflicts of starving and killing innocent people. opportunity was gpoke a few words of thanks to the Council and the Commission for their collaboration. He reiterated the determination of his Government to withdraw from its army all non-Spanish combatants, but, at the same time, he thanked these combatants for their efforts on behalf of the whole Spanish people. He very properly limited his remarks to the subject in hand, reserving to himself the right to speak on other phasesof the Spams i question on another occasion. The Council then passed the following resolution. of the provisional report by the International Military Commission entrusted with the verification of the withdrawal of non-Spanish combatants m Spain (Document C. 34, M. aUotted tQ Inter national Military Commission for the discharge of its duties for a period of one month on the understanding that if on the expiration of that period, a further prolongation should prove to be necessary, the questio will be submitted to the Committee of Three. 3. Addresses its Governmell t f or having furnished to the Commission all facilities for the purpose of enabling it to discharge its task undei the best possible conditions ; "(b) And also to those Governments which were good enough to place at tiie disposal of the League of Nations the services of the officers constituting the International Military Commission ; , " Pays a tribute to the members and staff of the Commission for the perspicacity and scrupulous conscientiousness which they displayed in the discharge of a difficult and complex taSk "4 Without prejudice to any opinion it may express after receiving the final report of the'international Military Commission, takes note of the opinion formed by that Commission concerning the extent and effectiveness of the withdrawal so far carried out by the Spanish Government; "5. Adopts the report of the Committee of Ihree. The third meeting of the Council was held on the afternoon of the 17th January when, m addition to the item " Appeal of the Chinese Government," with which I will deal later, the following were discussed in private session . Situation in Spain-Withdrawal of Non-Spanish Combatants : Expenses of the International Commission. The documents are numbered C. 13, 1939, X and C. 47, 1939, X, the latter being the report of the Rapporteur the representative of China. The Council was required to confirm the action of its Chairman in authorizing expenditure and to make provision for meeting future expenditure, question involved is one of simple administration, and the Council took the necessary steps. Appointments. (a) Economic Committee. M Stucki, of the Swiss Public Service, had been an active and valuable member of the Economic Committee for some years. Having been appointed to represent Switzerland m Paris, he felt that hb™™ tofa 3d no longer pem.it of his Serving the Lee s ue on its Eoonom.c Commute., and he

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