Authors: Frank Moorhouse
By the end of the 'twenties, the League staff had duplicated more than ten million sheets of paper â about a million pages a year.
It is doubtful whether the League of Nations could have functioned without the invention of the duplicating machine which came to be commonly known by the company name of Roneo or Gestetner.
It was introduced into office work in 1899. It was a rotary duplicating machine using a wax stencil cut on a typewriter without the ribbon, or by hand, using a pointed steel stylus.
The stencil was stretched over a perforated drum and ink was supplied by a roller inside the drum as it was rotated.
As a sheet of paper was fed through in contact with the drum, an impression of the work cut onto the stencil was transferred to the paper.
The turn of the handle produced one copy.
This process was necessary to allow the circulation of multiple copies in an organisation. To print the copies using a printing press would have been too expensive and would have taken too long.
Before the duplicating machine, the original document from which copies were to be made was produced by ink to which had been added sugar or gum. A wet tissue was pressed onto the original.
From this developed the letterpress, where a strong aniline ink was used and the impression transferred by hand pressure to a tray of gelatine. Again, impressions could be made of the original by pressing damp paper onto the gelatine.
Carbon paper was then developed, which allowed up to six copies.
But the duplicating machine was perfect for an organisation the size of the League because a wax stencil could give up to 1,000 copies in a couple of hours.
Later heavy-duty stencils were developed which could give up to 5,000 copies without wearing out.
President Woodrow Wilson described the Covenant as â⦠a practical and humane document. There is a pulse of sympathy in it, and yet it is intended to purify, to rectify, to elevate.' He saw the first biblical covenant as being between Man and God. The world now needed a covenant between Man and Man.
On the ship from Australia to London on her way to take up her appointment, Edith read
A Handbook to the League of Nations
written in 1919 by Sir Geoffrey Butler KBE, MA, Fellow, Librarian and Lecturer in International Law and Diplomacy of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. This book contains a copy of the Covenant.
Australia made a small contribution to the format of the Covenant. At the meeting of the 7th Assembly in September 1926, the Delegate from Australia, Mr John Latham, moved: âThe Assembly instructs the Secretary-General to cause the paragraphs of the articles of the Covenant to be numbered in all future editions published by the Secretariat.'
He said that he thought his proposal did not require an elaborate defence. Few documents were so often discussed and dealt with in many publications as the Covenant of the League of Nations; unfortunately it was somewhat difficult to refer to the Covenant owing to the length of certain of its articles. He argued that it was not an amendment to the Covenant, as such.
The motion was adopted without opposition.
The following is the original League of Nations Covenant as adopted in 1919 together with Sir Geoffrey Butler's commentary. The
Covenant was amended, from time to time, during the life of the League.
(Million upon million of lives had been lost in the five years of the War. Million upon million had been wounded. Horrors innumerable, experienced and apprehended ⦠A new spirit of freedom and of independence was the heritage left to mankind by those who had fallen in the War: the common sense of their legatees seemed to resolve that the best war memorial that could be erected to them was an instrument for the perpetuation of this spirit. Mankind was prepared to give the League of Nations its chance
.
The document that has emerged is not the constitution of a super-State, but, as the title explains, a solemn agreement between sovereign states, which consent to limit their complete freedom of action on certain points for the great good of themselves and the world at large. It is no more derogatory to their sovereign independence so to do than for a Rugby football club to bind its action, permanently in effect, by the regulations of the Rugby Union. Such sacrifice on its part is a necessary condition of each club performing its own functions without producing chaos in the world of Rugby football, as those who remember the game half a century ago will bear full witness.)
THE COVENANT
The High Contracting Parties, in order to promote international cooperation and to achieve international peace and security by the acceptance of the obligation not to resort to war, by the prescription of open, just, and honourable relations between nations, by the firm establishment of the understandings of international law as the actual rule of conduct among Governments, and by the maintenance of justice and a scrupulous respect for all treaty obligations in the dealings of organised peoples with one another, agree to this Covenant of the League of Nations.
ARTICLE I
The original Members of the League shall be those of the Signatories which are named in the Annex to this Covenant and also such of those other States named in the Annex as shall accede without reservation to this Covenant. Such accession shall be effected by a Declaration deposited with the Secretariat within two months of the coming into force of the Covenant. Notice thereof shall be sent to all other Members of the League.
Any fully self-governing State, Dominion, or Colony not named in the Annex, may become a Member of the League if its admission is agreed to by two-thirds of the Assembly, provided that it shall give effective guarantees of its sincere intention to observe its international obligations, and shall accept such regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its military, naval and air forces and armaments.
(It is arguable that this article is the Covenant's most significant single measure. By it the British Dominions, namely, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, and Canada, have their independent nationhood established for the first time. There may be friction over small matters in giving effect to this internationally acknowledged fact, but the Dominions will always look to the League of Nations Covenant, as their Declaration of Independence. That the change has come silently about, and has been welcomed in all quarters through the British Empire, is a final vindication of men like the United Empire Loyalists.)
Any Member of the League may, after two years' notice of its intention so to do, withdraw from the League, provided that all its international obligations and all its obligations under this Covenant shall have been fulfilled at the time of its withdrawal.
ARTICLE II
The action of the League under this Covenant shall be effected through the instrumentality of an Assembly and of a Council, with a permanent Secretariat.
(The Secretariat has immense possibilities of usefulness and a very wide field will be open for the energy and initiative of the first Secretary-General. A reliable supply of facts and statistics will in itself be a powerful aid to peace.)
ARTICLE III
The Assembly shall consist of Representatives of the Members of the League.
The Assembly shall meet at stated intervals and from time to time as occasion may require, at the Seat of the League or at such other places as may be decided upon.
The Assembly may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world.
At meetings of the Assembly each Member of the League shall have one vote, and may not have more than three representatives.
ARTICLE IV
(A smaller body is required to deal with emergencies; such a body is found in the Council, the central organ of the League, and a political instrument endowed with greater authority than any the world has hitherto seen. Its unanimous recommendations are likely to be irresistible.)
The Council shall consist of Representatives of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, together with Representatives of four other Members of the League. These four Members of the League shall be selected by the Assembly from time to time in its discretion. Until the appointment of the Representatives of the four Members of the League first selected by the Assembly, Representatives of Belgium, Brazil, Greece, and Spain shall be members of the Council.
With the approval of the majority of the Assembly, the Council may name additional Members of the League whose Representatives shall always be members of the Council; the Council with like approval may
increase the number of Members of the League to be selected by the Assembly for representation on the Council.
(It is through the machinery provided in this clause that the members of the late hostile alliance may hope to regain their position among the family of nations. It allows for admission of both Germany and Russia to the Council when they have established themselves as Great Powers that can be trusted to honour their obligations.)
The Council shall meet from time to time as occasion may require, and at least once a year, at the Seat of the League, or at such other places as may be decided upon.
The Council may deal at its meetings with any matter within the sphere of action of the League or affecting the peace of the world.
Any Member of the League not represented on the Council shall be invited to send a Representative to sit as a member at any meeting of the Council during the consideration of matters specially affecting the interests of that Member of the League.
At meetings of the Council each Member of the League represented on the Council shall have one vote, and may have not more than one Representative.
ARTICLE V
Except where otherwise expressly provided in this Covenant or by the terms of the present Treaty, decisions at any meeting of the Assembly or of the Council shall require the agreement of all the Members of the League represented at the meeting.
All matters of procedure at meetings of the Assembly or of the Council, including the appointment of committees to investigate particular matters, shall be regulated by the Assembly or by the Council, and may be decided by a majority of the Members of the League represented at the meeting.
The first meeting of the Assembly and the first meeting of the Council shall be summoned by the President of the United States of America.
ARTICLE VI
The permanent Secretariat shall be established at the Seat of the League. The Secretariat shall comprise a Secretary-General and such secretaries and staff as may be required.
The first Secretary-General shall be the person named in the Annex; thereafter the Secretary-General shall be appointed by the Council with the approval of the majority of the Assembly.
The secretaries and staff of the Secretariat shall be appointed by the Secretary-General with the approval of the Council.
The Secretary-General shall act in that capacity at all meetings of the Assembly and of the Council.
The expenses of the Secretariat shall be borne by the Members of the League in accordance with the apportionment of the expenses of the International Bureau of the Universal Post Union.
ARTICLE VII
The Seat of the League is established at Geneva.
The Council may at any time decide that the Seat of the League shall be established elsewhere.
All positions under or in connection with the League, including the Secretariat, shall be open equally to men and women.
Representatives of the Members of the League and officials of the League when engaged on the business of the League shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities.
(While resident in Foreign Courts, diplomats are exempt in a very great degree from the operation of the local law. Their persona are inviolable, unless they are actually plotting against the security of the state to which they are accredited, in which case they may be arrested and sent out of the country. They are free from legal processes directed against the person, unless they voluntarily consent to waive their privilege and appear in court. Their wives, families, and servants share the same immunities to a very considerable, but ill-defined, extent. Their property, too,
has many immunities, especially the official residence and except in extreme cases it may not be entered by the local authorities.)
The buildings and other property occupied by the League or its officials or by Representatives attending its meetings shall be inviolable.
ARTICLE VIII
The Members of the League recognise that the maintenance of the peace requires the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with national safety and the enforcement by common action of international obligations.
The Council, taking account of the geographical situation and circumstances of each State, shall formulate plans for such reduction for the consideration and action of the several Governments.
Such plans shall be subject to reconsideration and revision at least every ten years.
After these plans shall have been adopted by the several Governments, the limits of armaments therein fixed shall not be exceeded without the concurrence of the Council.
The Members of the League agree that the manufacture by private enterprise of munitions and implements of war is open to grave objections. The Council shall advise how the evil effects attendant upon such manufacture can be prevented, due regard being had to the necessities of those Members of the League which are not able to manufacture the munitions and implements of war necessary for their safety.
The Members of the League undertake to interchange full and frank information as to the scale of their armaments, their military, naval, and air programmes, and the condition of such of their industries as are adaptable to warlike purposes.
(This article makes it plain that here is to be no dictation by the Council or anyone else as to the size of national forces. There was a suggestion that a Commission be given a general power of inspection and supervision of armaments. It was rejected because such a power would not be tolerated by many national states and would cause friction and hostility to the idea of the League.
Preparation for war on a large scale cannot be concealed, while no inspection could hope to discover such really important secrets as new gases and explosives and other inventions of war.)
ARTICLE IX
A Permanent Commission shall be constituted to advise the Council on the execution of the provision of Articles I and VIII, and on military, naval and air questions generally.
ARTICLE X
The Members of the League undertake to respect and preserve against external aggression the territorial integrity and existing political independence of all Members of the League. In case of any such aggression or in case of any threat or danger of such aggression the Council shall advise upon the means by which this obligation shall be fulfilled.
(Here there would seem to be difficulty. Modern democracies are not easily worked up to the point of hostilities, particularly when the issue at stake is remote and to the public unfamiliar. Again, the incidence of the burden of declaring and conducting war is not uniform. The only way out seems to be in postulating of the ânew order' a desire to avoid and not provoke disputes, and in a thorough ventilation by all means known to experts of publicity of the points at issue.)