1931 - Annual Convention

              S E V E N T E E N T H A N N U A L C O N V E N T I ON 61
T h r o u g h " Interdependence," the official organ of the League of Nations
Society in Canada, eornes a suggestion that the 18th of May, the anniversary
of the first Hague Peace Conference in 1899, ' be chosen and celebrated as
" W o r l d Peace Day," w i t h a simultaneous world- wide movement to commem­orate
the day as o r i g i n a l l y fixed, in the belief that t h e objective should act as
a stimulus to the various peace societies all over the w o r l d and enforce great
enthusiasm into their preparations; and that special arrangements be made, in
each country f o r the observation of the day. It is thought that such a pro­gramme
carried out all over the world on the one day must impress those
who have not given the subject serious thought. ( I believe a resolution
a r i s i n g from this suggestion w i l l come before the convention later.)
I must take it for granted fhat you followed the reports emanating from
the E l . v e n t h Assembly of the League of Nations which met in ' Geneva last
September, as the time allowed for this report permits only general comments.
The attendance was the largest in its history, including several Dominion
P r i m e M i n i s t e r s ( our own among the number) who were present for the first
time. I am sure we were all very proud of the appointment of the Hon. Irene
P a r l b y as a representative.
It is impossible to outline, ever so briefly, the enormous amount of w o rk
attempted during this session. That results were not altogether up to expec­tations
can not be wondered at; when " many men of many minds" meet in
debate it is difficult to reconcile v a r y i n g opinions q u i c k l y . As P h i l l i p Sno'wden
said, " i f nobody has ( had his own way the result is g e n e r a l l y satisfactory."
The opinion^ of one unofficial observer is " that the present international
s i t u a t i o n is very serious, more serious perhaps than at any time since the sign­i
n g of the Versailles Treaty. In consequence the League of Nations has
reached a c r i t i c a l stage in its development." This, the writer claims, is not
the fault of officials in the departments of peace endeavor, who are most
efficient, active and enthusiastic; ' but it is largely due to the attitude of a
number of state members on Whose good will depends the strength of the
League, and their reluctance to make concessions or compromises.
Students of international relations give several reasons for v i e w i n g w i th
some concern the present state of international society; a few of these are
the increasing tendency of tariff r i v a l r y ; the comparatively fruitless results of
the conference dealing w i t h the treatment of foreigners; the failure of the
conference on a customs truce; the lack of progress made in the limitations
of armaments and the unsuccessful attempt at codification of International
L a w on three subjects.
On the other hand flhere arc reasons for sounding a more optimistic note.
L a r g e bodies move slowly and we must learn to " possess our souls, w i th
patience" if a l l our hopes and desires are not realized i n a decade, w h i c h Sir
Robert Borden likens to a " moment in the life of a nation." Certainly the
conclusion of the Pact of Paris and the proposal that the League Covenant
be brought into harmony with it, was a great advance. The growing power
and influence of the Permanent Court of Justice in s e t t l i n g i n t e r n a t i o n a l dis­putes
is most encouraging. Submitting to their findings and decisions means
the nearest approach that is possible and the elimination of recourse to arms
for settlement of national disputes.
Progress has certainly been made in i n t e r n a t i o n a l a r b i t r a t i o n , international
security, the protection of minorities ' and the means by which disarmament
may be brought about, and yet there is still far to go before governments
have been brought to that state of mind where their national policies in all
things shall be founded upon Che principle that war has been definitely re­nounced.