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2 Brit. Y.B. Int'l L. 150 (1921-1922)
The Work of the League of Nations

handle is hein.journals/byrint2 and id is 156 raw text is: THE WORK OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS

By REGINALD BERKELEY,
Barrister-at-Law of the Middle Temple.
ON January 10, 1920, the League of Nations came into
existence as a political institution. Previously it had been an
unrealised conception. The bringing into force of the Treaty
of Versailles, in the forefront of which the Covenant of the
League had been embodied, gave it life. It had been provided
that upon the deposit of ratifications by three Great Powers
and by Germany the Treaty should take effect; and upon that
date the necessary ratifications took place.
Directly the Treaty of Versailles was ratified it became
necessary for the League to take action. Under Article 48 a Com-
mission, three of whose members were to be appointed by the
Council of the League, was directed, within fifteen days of the
coming into force of the Treaty, to delimit the frontier lines
prescribed for the Saar Valley; and there were several other
matters of urgency, such as the appointment of the High Com-
missioner for Danzig, and of the Governing Commission of the
Saar Valley, which, although not specifically directed to be
perforLled within a definite time, called for early consideration.
Furthermore, there was the whole organisation of the League
to undertake. It had also to be arranged when and where the
Assembly should meet. A large amount of valuable preliminary
work had been carried out by the Secretary-General, Sir Eric
Drummond, who had selected a highly qualified international
staff and obtained temporary premises for accommodating the
League in London. But all his arrangements were necessarily
of a provisional nature and required the confirmation of the
Council.
No time was lost in calling the Council together. On the
morning of January 16, within a week of the coming into force
of the Treaty, the Council met in the Salle de l'Horloge of the
French Foreign Office. M. Leon Bourgeois, the eminent French
representative, was unanimously elected to the chair. The
Secretary-General was invited to take his seat on the left of the
150

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