These are only general principles. In themselves they would be of small value. But it was hoped by the authors of the Cove nant that the action of the permanent machinery of the League would in time enable its members to give effect to the purpose of Article 8; and that thus great strides would be made towards the disarmament which everyone desires. In this respect, as in others, the authors of the Covenant were careful not to travel too fast ; they laid foundations on which those who were to wield authority in the League could later build.
By providing in Article 18 for the publica tion of all treaties, the Covenant may be regarded as again going beyond the essentials of a League of Nations. Yet no reasonable man can doubt that, under the diplomatic system which prevailed before 1914, secret treaties of alliance, directly by their mere existence and indirectly through the mistrust which they created, were one of the serious causes of international conflict.
Article 22 of the Covenant introduces a new prin ciple into international affairs which is certainly extraneous to the central purpose of a league. The mandates system which it creates is a great experiment in the government by advanced peoples of backward territories and races. The main principles are simple. The Article is based on the proposition that back ward peoples and territories are not for the future to be exploited for the exclusive benefit of those who govern them ; that, on the contrary, their interests and well-being constitute a sacred trust of civilisation and that the way in which they are ruled is a matter of interest to the world at large. The Article therefore lays down that in the government of such territories the interests and progress of the inhabitants must be the guiding purpose of the administration. The methods by which their interests are to be protected and their development secured vary, of course, in every case with the nature of the territory and the character of the people concerned. But in every case the fundamental principles are the same ; and to secure the observance of them the Covenant imposes on the mandatories a duty to make annual reports for submission to a permanent mandates commission; which is, in turn, to report to the Council. Here again the Covenant relies on publicity and public opinion as a guarantee that Article 22 will be faithfully carried into effect. (See MANDATES.)
International Co-operation.—With regard to international co-operation, the Covenant in Articles 23 and 24 goes a great deal further than might be considered essential. It provides in general terms for the establishment of a labour organisation (which in fact has been elaborated separately by another agreement; see INTER NATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION) ; for the equitable treatment of commerce ; for the development of freedom of transit ; for League supervision of the traffic in arms; for League action in matters of public health and for the general supervision by the League of all official, and also, if necessary or useful, of unofficial, inter national offices established for international purposes of general interest. The general effect of these provisions is to make the League what it is clearly desirable that it should be—a central organism through which international activities of every sort can be co-ordinated and, when useful, assisted by the Council and the secretariat. There can be no doubt that the result of this must be to prevent waste of effort and promote efficiency in the conduct of international business of every kind.
In the last place the Covenant, by Article 26, provides a method by which it can itself be amended; and this, it may be held, is not an essential of a league. It is true that the Covenant might have been regarded as an ordinary international treaty, valid, as most treaties are now made, for a certain fixed period, at the end of which it might have been renewed or changed by the ordinary methods. But it was precisely because the authors of the Covenant did not regard it as an ordinary inter national treaty that they provided a special means for amend ment ; and there can be no doubt that, morally, Article 26 is of great significance, and that practically it may prove to be of great constitutional value. It still leaves it difficult to secure amendment of the terms of the Covenant. It can only be done if all the members of the Council and the majority of the mem bers of the Assembly are agreed. But the fact that amendment is definitely envisaged is in itself important.