led by diplomatic
means, the three conciliators of each party in dispute shall meet to
investigate the matter, to report thereon, and to propose, if possible,
a settlement.

According to this proposal there would be in existence a number of
Councils of Conciliation equal to half the number of the members of the
League. Whenever a dispute arises, the Permanent Council of
Conciliation--with which I shall deal presently--shall appoint a
Chairman from amongst its own members. The Council thus constituted
shall investigate the case, report on it, send a copy to each party in
dispute and to the Permanent Council of Conciliation.

The _Permanent_ Council of Conciliation should be a _small_ Council to
be established by each of the Great Powers appointing one conciliator
and one deputy conciliator for a period of--say--five or ten years. The
reason why only the Great Powers should be represented in the Permanent
Council of Conciliation at the Hague is that naturally, in case coercion
is to be resorted to against a State which begins war without having
previously submitted the dispute to a Council of Conciliation, the Great
Powers will be chiefly concerned. This Permanent Council of Conciliation
would have to watch the political life of the members of the League and
communicate with all the Governments of the members in case the peace of
the world were endangered by the attitude of one of the members; for
instance by one or more of the members arming excessively. The Council
would likewise be competent to draw the attention of States involved in
a dispute to the fact that they ought to bring it before either the
International Court of Justice or their special Council of Conciliation.

This proposal of mine concerning mediation within the League of Nations
is, of course, sketchy and would need working out in detail if one were
thinking of preparing a full plan for its realisation. However that may
be, my proposal concerning a number of Councils of Conciliation has the
advantage that non-justiciable disputes would in each case be
investigated and reported on by conciliators who have once for all been
appointed by the States in dispute and who therefore possess their
confidence. On the other hand, the proposed Permanent Council of
Conciliation would guarantee to the Great Powers that important
influence which is due to them on account of the fact that they would be
chiefly concerned in case economic, military, or naval measures ha