§ Mr. B. RILEYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs how many petitions from or on behalf of national minorities have been presented to the League of Nations Secretariat from 1919 to date; how many of these petitions have been declared receivable; how many have been considered by the Council of the League; and how many decisions have been arrived at by the Council?
Mr. A. HENDERSONIn reply to the first two parts of the question, it is only since June, 1929, that the Secretariat of the League has been instructed to prepare and publish each year a return of petitions declared receivable and non-receivable respectively. The figures for 1929–30 were given in a reply to the hon. Member for Flintshire on 9th March last. The returns for 1930–31 will be available shortly. Before June, 1929, such figures were not issued, and I am unable to supply them. In reply to the last two parts of the question, the Council has dealt with and given decisions on eight minority petitions coming before it under the ordinary procedure. This does not include 32 petitions relating to Upper Silesia, which are dealt with under a different procedure in accordance with the German-Polish Convention of 1922.