HUNGARY.) This was pioneer work and the success achieved was a most valuable encouragement and example to financial restora tion in other countries in Europe. If currency fluctuations have now ceased practically throughout the world, this result—or at least the date at which it has been achieved—owes much to the first experiments in Austria and Hungary.
Settlement.—Reconstruction work of a some what different kind has been undertaken by the League in the set tlement of Greek refugees (see REFUGEES) who to the number of nearly 1,500,000 or more than a fifth of the population of Greece, fled back to Greece as a result of the Graeco-Turkish War, a task evidently beyond the unaided resources of the country. With the aid of the League a loan of £Zo,000,000 was raised and employed to settle the refugees in productive employment, mainly upon the land. The work, directed by a refugee settlement com mission, consisted of an American chairman and a British vice chairman, selected by the League, and two Greek members, chosen with the Council's approval by the Greek Government. The bulk of the refugees were housed, allotted land, and started on their new careers, with a small initial capital and the necessary equip ment. (Subsequently a second loan of L6,000,000 has been raised under League auspices, partly to secure financial stabilisation in Greece, and partly to complete the work of refugee settlement.) Bulgarian Refugees.—A similar problem, on a smaller scale, was in 1926 undertaken in Bulgaria. 12,250,000 was devoted to building houses and settlements under the control of a League Commissioner in conjunction with the Government. As in Greece it was found necessary to supplement this by a financial recon struction scheme. A plan involving a loan of i5,000,000 has been approved, but the loan has not yet (July, 1928) been issued.
Among other work carried on under the direction of the finan cial committee have been the introduction of a new and stable currency, later followed by a municipal loan, for Danzig; finan cial advice to Estonia and Albania; and a study, which is still con tinuing, of the problem of double taxation.
Meantime there has been patient work at the task of securing more "equitable treatment" for com merce in the spirit of Article 23 of the Covenant, and in removing impediments to international trade. Up to 1927 the most impor tant achievement in this sphere was the conclusion in Oct. 1923,
of a convention for the simplification of customs formalities. In addition, a convention has been arranged which has removed some of the obstacles to commercial arbitration. Work has also been done upon the equitable treatment of foreigners (the recommenda tion of a code of principles to guide Governments in their treat ment of foreign enterprises established in their territories) and the suppression of fraudulent trade marks.
In May 1927, the World Economic Conference, perhaps the most authoritative body of experts which has ever met to discuss world economic problems, immensely widened the range and changed the scale of this work. The conference was preceded by nearly two years of preparation on a wide international basis. When it met it showed, with sur prising force and unanimity, that now that currency fluctuations had practically come to an end the chief obstacle to economic progress was to be found in the weight, complexity and frequent changes of tariffs and trade barriers. It also advised that the de velopment of "international industrial agreements" (the so-called cartels) should be watched and reported upon, and made some recommendations as to agricultural questions. The Conference left a great mass of detailed work, mostly designed to remove or reduce "trade barriers" in their multifarious forms, to be executed under the direction of the Council with the help of its economic committee (a body consisting mostly of the chief officials of the Boards of Trade of the principal countries and meeting four times a year). A new permanent committee, "the economic consultative committee,' which meets annually and is in its range of quali fication and nationality a kind of miniature world conference, has also been set up to follow the general progress of the work. An important convention has been signed for the abolition (with lim ited exceptions) of all prohibitions (as distinct from tariffs) on exports and imports. It is too early to estimate the general re sults, but the review of the first year (ending May, 1928) showed that the rapid upward movement of tariffs had apparently been at least arrested. Much depends, both for world prosperity and for the establishment of the conditions favourable for peace, upon the future success of the policy so authoritatively recom mended by the Conference.