Abstract

What Hope for Disarmament?

The article focuses on the draft disarmament treaty by the Preparatory Commission as a working text for the First General Disarmament Conference. In reaching its decision the Council of League of Nations will presumably be guided by the resolutions of the Assembly, which at its September meeting urged the dangers of delay. The draft deals with effectives that is, the personnel of land, naval, and air forces, and with methods of limiting material. The third part deals with the budgetary limitation including the total expenditure on land, sea and air forces. The last part of the article is the most useful in the draft treaty. It proposes, with the concurrence of almost every state, valuable machinery for execution of the treaty. A Permanent Disarmament Commission is to be set up at the seat of the League of Nations. It is to be composed of experts appointed by non-members as well as members of the League and is to meet at least once a year. It will hear complaints of violation and receive statistical information from the governments showing the strength of their respective armed forces and their expenditures on national defense.