The Committee of Three, appointed by the Council of the League of Nations to consider the recently presented proposal for a change in the procedure of the submission of complaints by the national minorities, met here today in order to discuss the problem. The Committee consists of Sir Austin Chamberlain, Senor Quinones, and De Leon Adachi.
Neither the proceedings of the meeting and the memoranda submitted to the Committee by the powers of the Little Entente and governments of Poland and Greece were made public. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency learns on good authority, however, that the memoranda identically constructed, challenge in strong terms the proposal put forward by Senator Dandurand of Ottawa and amended by German Foreign Minister Stresemann for making easier the access of the national minorities to the League of Nations in submitting their complaints.
The memoranda declare that the governments of the countries which have accepted the stipulations for the protection of the national minorities were prepared to grant these minorities complete equality of treatment similar to that of their other nationals. However, they are reluctant, quite legitimately they declare, to agree to the new proposals since they hold it to be inconsistent with the principle of equality when they are asked to assume obligations which are not accepted by all other powers. They also feel, they contend, that such a step would be prejudicial to the establishment of interial tranquility which is the primary condition for consolidation of the sitution created by the peace treaties.
The memoranda of the Little Entente powers further contend that the promise of their territorial integrity, once guaranteed, has never been given. Under the circumstances, the least they can demand is that the obligations in regard to the minorities be construed in a most restricted sense without being extended, even indirectly, in their application. The memoranda go further than that. They challenge the authority of the Committee of Three to decide on the matter, arguing that the Council of the League of Nations has merely adopted the rules of procedure based on the legitimate aim of the clauses for the protection of the minorities, but which, nonetheless, exceed obligations laid down in the treaties.
These rules cannot therefore be introduced without the consent of the countries concerned. The governments of Poland and Greece declare, therefore, that under the circumstances they cannot accept the proposals of the representatives of Canada and Germany.
Mrs. Carrie Pollak of Cincinnati, widow of Emil Pollak, has added $20,000 to the Emil Pollak Endowment Fund of the University of Cincinnati, it was announced.
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