notorious Article 23(h) of the Hague Regulations concerning Land
Warfare.

THE LECTURE

I. In my first lecture on the League of Nations I recommended the
following three rules to be laid down by a League of Nations:

Firstly, every State must submit all judicial disputes to an
International Court of Justice and must abide by the judgment of such
Court.

Secondly, every State previous to resorting to arms, must submit every
political and non-judicial dispute to an International Council of
Conciliation and must at any rate listen to the advice of such Council.

Thirdly, the member States must unite their forces against such State or
States as should resort to arms without previously having submitted the
matter in dispute to an International Court of Justice or to an
International Council of Conciliation.

And I added that these three rules cannot create a satisfactory
condition of affairs unless four problems are faced and solved, namely:
The Organisation of the League, Legislation by the League,
Administration of Justice and Mediation within the League. My lecture
to-day will deal with two of these problems, namely the Organisation and
the Legislation of the League.

Let us first consider the Organisation of the League. Hitherto the body
of civilised States which form the Family of Nations and which, as I
pointed out in my first lecture, is really a League of Nations evolved
by custom, has been an unorganised Community. This means that, although
there are plenty of legal rules for the intercourse of the several
States one with another, the Community of civilised States does not
possess any permanently established organs or agents for the conduct of
its common affairs. At present these affairs, if they are peaceably
settled, are either settled by ordinary diplomatic negotiation or, if
the matter is pressing and of the greatest importance, by temporarily
convened International Conferences or Congresses.

II. It is true there are the so-called Great Powers which are the
leaders of the Family of Nations, and it is therefore asserted by some
authorities that the Community of States has acquired a certain amount
of organisation because the Great Powers are the legally recognised
superiors of the minor States.

But is this assertion correct? The Great Powers, are they really the
legally recognised superiors of the minor States?

I deny it. A Great Power is any large-sized State possessing a large
population