TREATY'S REFERENCE TO SWITZERLAND

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Covenant was published February 14, and in the meeting five weeks later between the League of Nations Commission of the Interallied Peace Conference and representatives of neutral states, Switzerland made ten out of the 27 proposed amend

ments.

TENDER OF HOSPITALITY TO LEAGUE

Mr. Calonder, president of the Political Department of the Federal Council, that is, minister for foreign affairs, wrote to President Clemenceau of the Peace Conference and to the president of its League of Nations Commission in a letter dated March 22 as follows:

At the close of the semi-official conference called to learn the views of neutrals, Lord Robert Cecil declared that the States invited to this conference would be welcomed in the League of Nations.

I take this opportunity to inform you that Switzerland would consider it a great honor to be able to offer the hospitality of its territory in case the League of Nations should desire to establish its seat in our country.

The Swiss Government and people would be happy and eager thus to manifest their keen desire to collaborate in the work of world pacification undertaken by the authors of the pact. The political and humanitarian conditions of the Helvetian Confederation, its democratic institutions, its geographical position seem to recommend it to the choice of the conference over which you preside.

Now and in the future, I can assure you that the federal, cantonal and municipal authorities would be glad to offer the League all the facilities and advantages it might desire.1

This suggestion was followed and the draft passed by the Peace Conference at its plenary session, April 28, named Geneva as the seat of the League. When the treaty was handed to the Germans on May 7, it contained an article respecting Switzerland, which was unchanged during the negotiations and appears in the treaty signed on June 28 as follows:

Article 435. The High Contracting Parties, while they recognize the guaranties stipulated by the Treaties of 1815, and especially by the Act of November 20, 1815, in favor of Switzerland, the said guaranties constituting international obligations for the maintenance of peace, declare nevertheless that the provisions of these treaties, conventions,

1Annexe au Message du Conseil fédéral à l'Assemblée fédérale concernant la question de l'accession de la Suisse à la Société des nations, 223.

declarations and other supplementary Acts concerning the neutralized zone of Savoy, as laid down in paragraph 1 of Article 92 of the Final Act of the Congress of Vienna and in paragraph 2 of Article 3 of the Treaty of Paris of November 20, 1815, are no longer consistent with present conditions. For this reason the High Contracting Parties take note of the agreement reached between the French Government and the Swiss Government for the abrogation of the stipulations relating to this zone which are and remain abrogated.

The High Contracting Parties also agree that the stipulations of the Treaties of 1815 and of the other supplementary Acts concerning the free zones of Upper Savoy and the Gex district are no longer consistent with present conditions, and that it is for France and Switzeriand to come to an agreement together with a view to settling between themselves the status of these territories under such conditions as shall be considered suitable by both countries.1

The same text is Article 375 of the Treaty of Peace with Austria, signed September 10, 1919, and Article 291 of the Treaty with Bulgaria, signed November 27.

REPORT ON LEAGUE AND VOTE TO ACCEDE

The Federal Council sent a message to the Federal Assembly, August 4, 1919, which is a very extensive study and analysis of Switzerland's relations to the League. Accompanying this message was a project of law which contemplated that "a fourth chapter (League of Nations) will be added to the federal constitution of May 29, 1874." The Federal Assembly on November 21 voted the following decree:

The Federal Assembly of the Swiss Confederation, after having taken notice of a message from the Federal Council, dated August 4, 1919, stating that the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland, recognized notably by the Act of November 20, 1815, is considered, by Article 435 of the Peace Treaty concluded on June 28, 1919, by the Allied and Associated Powers and Germany, as an international engagement for the maintenance of peace, and that the perpetual neutrality of Switzerland must, in accordance with Article 21 of the pact of the League of Nations. not be considered as being incompatible with any of the provisions of the said pact; hoping

1 On May 5, 1919, the Swiss Government sent a note to the French Government expressing its adherence to these terms. Proper observance of the terms respecting the zones created some difficulty during the war and the understanding in the article was based upon an exchange of notes in 1914.

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that the present League of Nations will expand in a future not far distant in such a manner as to become universal, decrees:

Article 1. Switzerland accedes to the pact of the League of Nations adopted on April 28, 1919, by the Peace Conference assembled in Paris.

The provisions of the Federal Constitution concerning the promulgation of federal laws are applicable to the ratification of the amendments affecting said pact and to the approval of conventions of all kinds which have connection with the League of Nations.

The decisions relative to the denunciation of the pact or to withdrawal from the League of Nations must be submitted to vote of the people and the cantons.

Article 121 of the Federal Constitution concerning popular initiative also applies to decisions relative to the denunciation of the pact or to withdrawal from the League of Nations.

Article 2. The present federal decision shall be submitted to the vote of the people and the cantons as soon as the five great Powers shall have adhered to the pact.

Article 3. The Federal Council is charged with the execution of the present decree.

NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE POWERS

The Federal Council on December 6 sent an aide-mémoire to the so-called Supreme Council, transmitting the decree and expressing its opinion

that the vote of the Swiss people and cantons under the federal decree of November 21, 1919, which will be held as soon as circumstances permit, can not necessarily take place within the period provided by Article 1 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. It would be absolutely contrary to the constitutional customs of Switzerland to submit to the people a project of decree of which the juridic basis has not been established, the realization of the League of Nations depending upon the accession of all the states to which the Covenant accords a permanent representation on the Council of the League, on account of their special political importance.

A reply was given by France in the name of the Supreme Council on January 2, 1920. It was stated that the aide-mémoire "could not have a value as a declaration of accession.' It was observed that a "declaration of accession subordinated to the result of a referendum could not be regarded as an accession without reservation." Switzerland was corrected in respect to her statement that the League would come into being only on

the ratification of the five principal Powers; the Supreme Council reminded her that the treaty would be in force on the deposit of the ratification of three of the principal Powers. The Swiss Government was inclined to await action by the United States and the Powers took this method of telling her that the United States was not to be counted on.

Switzerland replied with a memorandum of the Federal Council on January 13, and on January 28 the Conference of Ambassadors wrote that "it belongs to the Council of the League of Nations to pronounce concerning the observations presented by your Government." On January 30 the Federal Council sent a note to the Governments represented in the Conference of Ambassadors in which it announced that the Secretary-General of the League of Nations had been requested to put the question of Swiss admission to the League on the calendar of its next meeting.

LEAGUE'S COUNCIL HEARS REPORT

This was done and at the second meeting of the Council Mr. Balfour served as reporter on the subject. In his presentation he explained that, although there were technical difficulties in the way, it was the intention of the framers of the Covenant that it was in the highest interests of the League of Nations and its future working that Switzerland should be what Switzerland desired to be namely, an original member of the League. Those difficulties were of two counts.

One touched upon the date of admission. A nation which desired to be accounted an original member must give in its adhesion within two months of treaty's coming into force, in other words, by March 10. The difficulty in that case was that the referendum required by the Swiss Constitution for dealing with matters of that sort might not be absolutely concluded by that date, although the representative body in Switzerland, the Federal Council, had quite distinctly and explicitly stated on behalf of those they represented that Switzerland desired to be a member of the League.

The other difficulty arose from the fact that the League of Nations had quite explicitly stated that the centuries-old neutrality of Switzerland was in the interests of peace, and was

DIFFICULTIES ALL OVERRULED

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therefore in conformity with the interest which it was the special business of the League of Nations to guard. On the other hand, complete neutrality in everything economic and military was clearly inconsistent with the position of a member of the League, and therefore at first sight there appeared to be some difficulty in connection with that. They were, however, clearly of opinion that Switzerland was prepared to accept conditions which would bring her within the conditions laid down substantially, if not formally, in the Covenant.

Therefore on that count also, as well as on the first count, they were of opinion that the difficulties which might conceivably be raised against the inclusion of Switzerland should be overruled by the Council, and they had overruled them accordingly.

LEAGUE COUNCIL VOTES RESOLUTION

The Council accepted this report and on February 13 adopted the following resolution1:

The Council of the League of Nations, while affirming that the conception of neutrality of the members of the League is incompatible with the principle that all members will be obliged to co-operate in enforcing respect for their engagements, recognizes that Switzerland is in a unique situation, based on a tradition of several centuries which has been explicitly incorporated in the Law of Nations, and that the members of the League of Nations, signatories of the Treaty of Versailles, have rightly recognized by Article 435 that the guaranties stipulated in favor of Switzerland by the Treaties of 1815, and especially by the Act of November 20, 1815, constitute international engagements for the maintenance of peace.

The members of the League of Nations are entitled to expect that the Swiss people will not stand aside when the high principles of the League have to be defended. It is in this sense that the Council of the League has taken note of the declaration made by the Swiss Government in its message to the Federal Assembly of August 4, 1919, and in its Memorandum of January 13, 1920, which declarations have been confirmed by the Swiss delegates at the meeting of the Council,2 and in accordance with which Switzerland recognizes and proclaims the duties of solidarity which membership of the League of Nations imposes upon her, including therein the duty of co-operating in such economic and financial measures as may be demanded by. the League of Nations against a covenant-breaking State,

1League of Nations Official Journal, March, 1920, 5758.

2 Gustave Ador, former president, and Max Huber, jurisconsult.