Mutual Guarantees

The League of Nations Disarmament Commission published the full text of its Treaty of Mutual Guarantees. The Treaty will be submitted to the Assembly of the League at Geneva in September.

The Treaty, if accepted by the Assembly, will remain in force for 15 years. The main object of the Treaty is to have countries in the same part of the globe pledge aid to one another in case of unprovoked attack. This is really Lord Robert Cecil's idea, formulated to overcome U. S. objections to Article X of the League Covenant.

It is considered in Article IX of the Treaty that mutual guarantees would afford ample security to the contracting parties; therefore a reduction of armaments is rendered feasible. All the Powers would inform the League "of the reduction of armaments which they consider proportionate to the safety furnished." Afterwards the League would allot armaments to each nation after due consideration of their reports. These allotments would be subject, if necessary, to revision every five years.

The most interesting articles of the Treaty are:

"Article I. The high contracting parties, solemnly declaring aggressive warfare an international crime, severally undertake that none of them will be guilty of its commission against another."

" Article II. The high contracting parties jointly and severally undertake to furnish assistance in accordance with the provisions of the present treaty to any one of their number should the latter, after having reduced its armaments in accordance with the present treaty, be an object of aggression."

"Article X. No high contracting parties shall be under obligations in principle to cooperate in a continent, other than the one in which they are situated, in military, naval or air operations undertaken in connection with the general or supplementary assistance provided for by this treaty."

The Assembly of the League should not be confused with the Council. The former is a deliberative body which controls League policy; the functions of the latter are entirely executive.