Of the Greco-Bulgarian treaty of exchange, it is enough to say that while the working of its machinery has been slow, it has already laid the foundation for an unmixing of the population in Greek Macedonia and in parts of Bulgaria, which in the long run, though at the cost of great personal suffering, is likely to lead to satisfactory results.
The other personal and economic problems which have been raised by the refugee movements above described have been dealt with partly by individual Governments and partly by the League of Nations. To take the Russians first, many Governments throughout Europe accorded them particular privileges and gave them much State help, estimated at £2,000,000 per annum—in particular Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria deserve men tion. The League of Nations and the International Labour Of fice also played a considerable part through the action of the dele gations established in Constantinople and in the Baltic States, Rumania, China, Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia, Germany, Poland, France and other countries, in breaking up the most disastrous congestions of refugees in places where no employment could be found, for example, in Constantinople and Greece, in placing some hundreds of thousands in employment in no fewer than 5o differ ent countries; in securing for the refugees in many countries legal protection, freedom of movement in search of employment and a new form of so-called "League of Nations Passport" which has secured the recognition of over 5o Governments, under which they were enabled to travel from one country to another; and even in securing for a small number who desired it, repatriation to their native land. Under the auspices and with the help of these League offices, large movements of Russian refugees were carried out to France, where some thousands have been settled as tenant farmers and in industry, to the United States, to Canada, to South America and to other countries where employment could be found.
For the Greek refugees the League has done still more. Through its machinery a loan of £12,000,000 for their settlement in agri cultural and other employment was obtained, and under the in ternational control of a League commission this settlement has been carried out with remarkable success. On June 12, 1926, the Council of the League of Nations announced their intention of recommending a loan of £2,250,000 to the Bulgarian Government to assist the settlement of the Bulgar refugees. The conditions
for administration and security were similar to those laid down in the case of the Greek refugee loan.
For the Armenians the same passport privileges and legal pro tection were obtained through the machinery of the League as had previously been obtained for the Russians. Their dispersal from places where they were concentrated in too great numbers, for example, from Greece, was also assisted by the agents of the League. This assistance took the form of an appeal for funds for the establishment of a national home in the Caucasus, and of the creation in co-operation with the mandatory Power and the In ternational Labour Office of a series of agricultural colonies and urban settlements in Syria to relieve the congestion of the refugee camps in Beirut, Alexandretta and Aleppo.
The effect of this League of Nations action is likely to be cumulative, and considerable as are its short period results in mitigating the sufferings of the refugees and in helping to solve the economic problems caused to the Governments concerned, its long period results are likely to be more important still. By the various kinds of action which it has undertaken, the League has helped to remove centres of disaffection and discontent; it has helped to build up the prosperity of different portions of the world ; and it has helped to raise, by the distribution and settle ment of industrious and highly educated refugees, the standards of civilization in various portions of the globe. It is, therefore, possible to say that, as the result of the generosity of a number of Governments and of their enlightened co-operation through the machinery of the League, the ultimate results of the refugee movements will be better than even the most optimistic could have ventured to expect.
See League of Nations Official Journal, 3rd year, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, II and 12 ; 4th year, Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, io and II; 5th year, Nos. 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 1o, II and 12 ; 6th year, Nos. 3, 4, 7, lc. and II ; 7th year, Nos. 4, 7, 10, II and 12; 8th year, Nos. 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and II ; 9th year, Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8. (F. NA.)