Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in their own countries;

The High Contracting Parties, moved by sentiments of justice and humanity, as well as by the desire to secure the permanent peace of the world, agree to the following.

ORGANIZATION

The more important provisions governing the establishment and conduct of the International Labor Organization may be indicated by quotation and summary as follows:

Article 387. A permanent organization is hereby established for the promotion of the objects set forth in the preamble. The original members of the League of Nations shall be the original members of this organization, and hereafter membership of the League of Nations shall carry with it membership of the said organization.

Article 388. The permanent organization shall consist of: (1) a general conference of representatives of the members and, (2) an International Labour Office controlled by the governing body described in Article 393.

Article 389 provides that a general conference of representatives of the members "shall be held from time to time as occasion may require, and at least once in every year,” the conference to be "composed of four representatives of each of the members, of whom two shall be government delegates and the two others shall be delegates representing respectively the employers and the workpeople of each of the members." Provision is made also for the appointment of advisers to the delegates, these to be allowed to speak in place of the delegates with whom they may be respectively associated. The non-government delegates are to be chosen "in agreement with the industrial organizations, if such organizations exist, which are most representative of em

ployers or workpeople, as the case may be, in their respective countries."

Articles 390-92 give details of procedure at the conference, provide that the conference shall meet at the seat of the League of Nations, or elsewhere as decided by a twothirds vote of conference delegates, and stipulate that the International Labor Organization shall be established at the seat of the League of Nations as part of the organization of the League.

Article 393 provides for the constitution of a governing body of twenty-four persons, twelve to represent the governments, six the employers and six the workers. It is provided that of the twelve persons representing the governments eight shall be nominated by the members of chief industrial importance, and four shall be nominated by the members selected for the purpose by the government delegates to the conference, excluding the delegates of the eight members mentioned above. The period of office of members of the governing body was fixed at three years.

Article 394 provides for the appointment of a director of the International Labor Office by the governing body and Article 395 for a staff. In outlining the functions of the International Labor Organization, Article 396 states they shall

include the collection and distribution of information on all subjects relating to the international adjustment of conditions of industrial life and labour, and particularly the examination of subjects which it is proposed to bring before the conference with a view to the conclusion of international conventions, and the conduct of such special investigations as may be ordered by the conference.

It will prepare the agenda for the meetings of the conference.

Articles 397 and 398 cover details of procedure, and with regard to expenses Article 399 states that

each of the members will pay the travelling and subsistence expenses of its delegates and their advisers and of its representatives attending the meetings of the conference or governing body, as the case may be.

All the other expenses of the International Labor Office and of the meetings of the conference or governing body shall be paid to the director by the secretary-general of the League of Nations out of the general funds of the League.1

Articles 400-404 provide that (a) the agenda for all meetings of the conference shall be settled by the governing body; (b) the director shall act as secretary of the conference" and shall transmit the agenda so as to reach the members four months before the meeting of the conference"; (c) governments of the members may formally object to the inclusion of any item or items in the agenda, such objections to be effective, however, only if sustained by a two-thirds majority of the votes cast by the delegates present at the conference; (d) the conference may regulate its own procedure, but voting is void "unless the total number of votes cast is equal to half the number of the delegates attending the conference"; and (e) technical experts may be added to any committees appointed.

The obligations and rights of members of the International Labor Organization with reference to the adoption and observance of its recommendations and draft conventions are set forth as follows:

Article 405. When the conference has decided on the adoption of proposals with regard to an item in the agenda, it will

1 The first portion of this section has been interpreted by the governing body as requiring only that each member of the International Labor Organization who is for the time being elected to a seat on the governing body shall pay the expenses of the governmental representative on the governing body, the expenses of a representative of employers or workers to be paid directly from the funds of the International Labor Office.

rest with the conference to determine whether these proposals should take the form: (a) of a recommendation to be submitted to the members for consideration with a view to effect being given to it by national legislation or otherwise, or (b) of a draft international convention for ratification by the members. In either case a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the delegates present shall be necessary on the final vote for the adoption of the recommendation or draft convention, as the case may be, by the conference.

In framing any recommendation or draft convention of general application the conference shall have due regard to those countries in which climatic conditions, the imperfect development of industrial organization or other special circumstances, make the industrial conditions substantially different and shall suggest the modifications, if any, which it considers may be required to meet the case of such countries.

A copy of the recommendation or draft convention shall be authenticated by the signature of the president of the conference and of the director and shall be deposited with the secretary-general of the League of Nations. The secretary-general will communicate a certified copy of the recommendation or draft convention to each of the members.

Each of the members undertakes that it will, within the period of one year at most from the closing of the session of the conference, or if it is impossible owing to exceptional circumstances to do so within the period of one year, then at the earliest practicable moment and in no case later than eighteen months from the closing of the session of the conference, bring the recommendation or draft convention before the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies for the enactment of legislation or other action.

In the case of a recommendation, the members will inform the secretary-general of the action taken.

In the case of a draft convention, the member will, if it obtains the consent of the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, communicate the formal ratification of the convention to the secretary-general and will take such

action as may be necessary to make effective the provisions of such convention.

If on a recommendation no legislative or other action is taken, to make a recommendation effective or if the draft convention fails to obtain the consent of the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, no further obligation shall rest upon the member.

In the case of a federal state, the power of which to enter into conventions on labor matters is subject to limitations, it shall be in the discretion of that government to treat a draft convention to which such limitations apply as a recommendation only, and the provisions of this article with respect to recommendations shall apply in such case.

The above article shall be interpreted in accordance with the following principle:

In no case shall any member be asked or required, as a result of the adoption of any recommendation or draft convention by the conference, to lessen the protection afforded by its existing legislation to the workers concerned.

Article 411 states that any member has a right to file a complaint with the International Labor Office if not satisfied that any other member is securing the effective observance of a convention both have ratified. A commission of inquiry to consider the complaint and report thereon may be appointed by the governing body. The next three articles deal with the constitution and procedure of such a commission of inquiry.

Provision is made for reference of complaints to the Permanent Court of International Justice:

Article 415. The secretary-general of the League of Nations shall communicate the report of the commission of inquiry to each of the governments concerned in the complaint, and shall cause it to be published.

Each of these governments shall within one month inform the secretary-general of the League of Nations whether or not it