304 J.-A. PEMBERTON
added that he very much hoped that as a result of this committee’s work,
‘a way will be found to restore the prestige of the League and to achieve
the objects for which it was founded.’^224
He then stated that one would have wished that during a period of
such reflection, there would have been no major outbreak of hostili-
ties, and that the Eighteenth Assembly might have been able to focus
its attention on the LON’s work in the financial, economic and human-
itarian fields. However, he added, the conflict which had ‘broken out
in the Far East,’ had made ‘necessary some immediate and explicit con-
sideration of the function of the League as a political organisation.’^225
Bruce reaffirmed the declaration made by the Australian delegation at
the assembly in 1936: that Australia remained committed to the prin-
ciples enshrined in the covenant. However, he then observed that the
events of recent years had ‘indisputably disclosed the practical impossibil-
ity of putting into full operation’ those principles when it came to action
in response to international disputes ‘by a League from which some of
the greatest States in the world are absent.’^226 Turning to the situation
of China which, as Bruce noted, had invoked three of the ‘vital politi-
cal articles’ of the covenant, namely, Articles 10, 11, 17, in view of the
recent Japanese aggression, Bruce stated the following:
It is imperative that we should face unflinchingly the reality with which
this action confronts us. Nothing could be more fatal to the prestige and
future welfare of the League than that we should attempt, by some mean-
ingless formula, to postpone or side-step facing the issues involved and
defining the League’s attitude and position. Moreover, honour and the
permanent interests of the League itself demand that China should not be
misled into believing that she can rely on forms of assistance which may
not be forthcoming.^227In regard to the Sino-Japanese dispute, Bruce recommended that
the council should endeavour to arrange a conference of those pow-
ers, whether members or non-members of the LON, which had a vital
(^224) LON, special supplement, OJ, no. 169 (1937), 75.
(^225) Ibid., 75–6.
(^226) Ibid., 76.
(^227) Ibid.