Fifth Assembly

At Geneva in Switzerland, home of the League of Nations, the Fifth Assembly of the League met last week to consider matters of mighty moment.

Great throngs rushed to Geneva. The Secretariat of the League under the direction of Sir Eric Drummond, was a hive of industry. Statesmen, politicians, journalists, interested spectators seized every available accommodation that the venerable city could offer. More people were there than have ever been at any time in its whole history. All the great nations of the world (except the U. S., Russia, Germany) sent delegations, and, with those delegations, families and secretaries, stenographers, etc. In two days it was estimated that 20,000 people had poured into the city. Among the notables present were: Premier MacDonald, Premier Herriot, Premier Theunis. Among the Americans: Mr. ex-Associate Justice John H. Clarke, George W. Wickersham, Thomas W. Lamont, General Tasker H. Bliss.

Assembly was opened by the temporary President, Mr. Paul Hymans, Foreign Minister of Belgium, who in the course of an eloquent address, was thought to refer to the U. S. when he said:

"That the idea of the League of Nations has met opposition from skeptics is a matter of small importance, since skepticism is nothing but intellectual sloth or lack of insight. There is a tendency in certain quarters to oppose the idea of patriotism to the idea of international solidarity, as if they were conflicting and irreconcilable conceptions. The League of Nations does not supersede individual countries; it extends them, develops them and enlarges them, and countries that are members of the League do not lose an iota of these inalienable sovereign rights which are their protection and their pride."

In the afternoon of the first day Giuseppe Motta, ex-President of Switzerland, was elected President of the Assembly. No other business was disposed of, but tremendous interest was taken in Disarmament and Security which are to be fully discussed questions during the present session of the Assembly.

Among the agenda:

1) Disarmament and Security.

2) Consideration of reports on Austria, Hungary, Danzig, etc.

3) Admission of Germany into the League. (Discussion of this point was considered as "probable.")

Sir James Eric Drummond was nominated in 1919 by the late U. S. President Wilson as Secretary General of the League of Nations. Previous to that appointment he was employed in a number of important posts in the British Foreign Office. Sir Eric is 48 years of age, a half brother of and heir presumptive to the 15th Earl of Perth. He is of medium height and size. Above his dimpled chin are a pair of sparkling blue eyes and a small mustache. There is nothing about him to make him distinguished and it has been written of him that he would never be noticed in a crowd. A year ago in Geneva, he was often to be seen driving about in a Ford coupe.

He was chosen for the post of Secretary General because he had no pretension to statesmanship. At one time or another he has been in close touch with Premiers Balfour and Asquith and with Sir Edward (now Viscount) Grey. From this experience he has learned how to use men and how to execute orders. He has tremendous sympathy with new ideas and is a sound judge of human character, knows how far and how much a man could be depended upon. He is "the one man that could be relied upon to run the League without dominating it," and that is why he was chosen.

Sir Eric has made fewer public speeches than any other man so much in the public eye. It has been said that his official utterances can be counted on the fingers of one hand. He appears in public on the fewest number of occasions possible, which accounts to some extent for the dearth of personal knowledge about him. He is "the quietest, most self-effacing" of men.