THE COUNCIL OF THE LEAGUE AND THE PROTECTION OF MINORITIES Since its creation, the Council has at almost every session been called upon to consider questions connected with the protection of racial, linguistic or religious minorities. Mention should be made in the first place of the steps taken by the Council to pre pare the declarations concerning the protection of minorities made by Albania, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The first part of this article contains information concerning the work of the Council in this domain.
The Council has also had occasion to establish, in a series of resolutions which have been examined in the previous pages, the procedure applicable to petitions addressed to the League of Nations concerning the protection of minorities. It is not necessary to dwell here at any length on this aspect of the Council's work, which has already been studied in a previous section of this article. Nor is it necessary to revert to the discussions of the minorities committees of the Council with regard to minority petitions.
Finally, the Council has dealt with a number of definite cases connected with the situation of certain minorities in various coun tries. These questions, which in most cases had formed the subject of petitions addressed to the League, were placed on the Council's agenda through the action of certain members of the Council, who, in accordance with the procedure, had been asked to examine them. The complicated nature of thes' clues tions makes it impossible to give even a brief summary of the main facts. It has seemed preferable, therefore, merely to give a list of the various minorities and the questions concerning them considered by the Council, indicating the sessions at which they were examined.
Situation of the Muslim Minority of Albanian Origin in Greece.—Council sessions of Sept. and Dec. 1924, and March, June and Sept. 1925.
Bulgarian and Greek Protocols for the Protection of the Greek Minority in Bulgaria, and the Bulgarian Minority in Greece.—
Council sessions of Sept. 1924 and March and June 1925.
Minorities in Upper Silesia.—Since the coming into force of the convention on Upper Silesia between Germany and Poland the Council has dealt with a number of minorities questions which it has had to consider in virtue of one or another article of this convention. These were mainly concerned with schools. So far back as its session in March 1924, the Council examined a case connected with the opening of three German minority schools in Polish Upper Silesia; at its session in March 1927, it was called upon to settle a question of principle concerning the admission of children to German minority primary schools in Polish Upper Silesia. Subsequently, at its session in March, June and Sept. 1928, the Council had to examine a number of questions connected with German minority schools in Polish Upper Silesia.
The Council further examined, at its session in March 1926, a petition concerning the personal status of Karl Michalik, a member of the Polish minority in German Upper Silesia, and a petition from the "Union of Poles in Germany" concerning the payment of certain indemnities by the German Government. Finally, at its session in June, Sept. and Dec. 1928, the Council examined two petitions concerning the security of the Polish _ minority in German Upper Silesia, and the German minority in Polish Upper Silesia respectively.
Jewish Minority in Hungary. (Question of the "Numerus clausus".)—Sessions of Sept. 1922 and Dec. 1925.
Position of the Polish Minority in Lithuania.—Council sessions in March, June and Sept. 1925.
German Minority in Poland.—(a) Question of colonists of Ger man race in Poland, and (b) Acquisition of Polish nationality. The Council was engaged in examining these questions from its session in Dec. 1921, until its session in June, 1924. On each of these questions the Council asked for an advisory opinion from the Permanent Court of International Justice.