Moreover, as the Swiss Delegation suggests, attention should be
directed to the fact that the present Protocol does not in any way
affect the special position of Switzerland arising out of the
Declaration of the Council at London on February 13th, 1920. As the
special position of Switzerland is in accordance with the Covenant, it
will also be in accordance with the Protocol.
III.
CONCLUSION.
No further explanations need be added to these comments on the
articles. The main principles of the Protocol are clear, as are the
detailed provisions.
Our purpose was to make war impossible, to kill it, to annihilate it.
To do this, we had to create a system for the pacific settlement of all
disputes which might arise. In other words, it meant the creation of a
system of arbitration from which no international dispute, whether
legal or political, could escape. The plan drawn up leaves no
loophole; it prohibits wars of every description and lays down that all
disputes shall be settled by pacific means.
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But this absolute character which has been given to the system of
arbitration should also belong to the whole of the scheme, to the
treatment of every question of principle. If there were one single gap
in the system, if the smallest opening were left for any measure of
force, the whole system would collapse.
To this end arbitration is provided for every kind of dispute, and
aggression is defined in such a way as to give no cause for hesitation
when the Council has to take a decision.
These reasons led us to fill in the gaps in the Covenant and to define
the sanctions in such a way that no possible means could be found of
evading them, and that there should be a sound and definite basis for
the feeling of security.
Finally, the Conference for the Reduction of Armaments is indissolubly
bound up with this whole system: _there can be no arbitration or
security without disarmament, nor can there be disarmament without
arbitration and security_.
The peace of the world is at stake.
The Fifth Assembly has undertaken a work of worldwide political
importance which, if it succeeds, is destined profoundly to modify
present political conditions. This year great progress in this
direction has been made in our work. If we succeed, the League of
Nations will have rendered an inestimable service to the whole modern
world. Such success depends partly upon the Assembly itself and partly
upon individual Governments. We submit to the Assembly the fruit of
our labours: a work charged with the highest hopes. We beg the
Assembly to examine our proposals with care, and to recommend them to
the various Governments for acceptance.
In this spirit and with such hopes do we request the Assembly to vote
the draft resolutions 1 and 2 that are presented with this Report.
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ANNEX D.
RESOLUTIONS.
RESOLUTION OF THE ASSEMBLY, SEPTEMBER 6TH, 1924.
The Assembly,