Abstract

The Spoils System at Geneva

Will the Secretariat of the League of Nations become a dumping-ground for nationalist politicians? The danger of such a calamity has been recognized by the Assembly of the League in a resolution passed at the last session, and a warning has been sounded by the Foreign Policy Association in its "News Bulletin." Within the last few months much concern has been felt over developments within the Secretariat at Geneva. This body, which consists of 465 members representing thirty-four nationalities, day by day does the spade-work for the meetings of the Council, the Assembly, and the various commissions. The success of the League depends upon the intellectual capacity, but primarily upon the international-mindedness of its permanent officials. When Signor Anzilotti resigned from the Secretariat to become a judge on the World Court in 1921, the fourth committee of the Assembly voted to suppress as unnecessary the post of Under-Secretary-General which he occupied, but this action was finally reversed and another Italian appointed to the position, obviously for political reasons.