Background to the League > Aims, methods and activity of the League of Nations

32 —
The Assembly
In recognition of the deeply rooted idea that all States,
great or small, must have equal rights, all the Members
of the League are represented on a footing of complete
equality in the Assembly, where they have only one vote
and not more than three delegates each. This direct
participation of all the States Members naturally makes
the Assembly the supreme organ of the League, which
takes the initiative and decides upon general policy by
resolutions.
The Council and its Technical Advisers
Meeting as it does only once a year (in the absence of
special sessions), and comprising some fifty voters, the
great majority of whom represent small States, the
Assembly is not cut out for the part of an executive body.
That role, in practice, devolves on the Council.
The Council was originally to be composed of nine
members: five great Powers as permanent Members,1
and four non-permanent States elected by the Assembly.
The idea of this distinction between permanent and non¬
permanent seats is that the great Powers, having world¬
wide interests and heavy political and other responsi¬
bilities, must have permanent seats on the Council, while
for other Powers the principle of representation by the
countries elected by the Assembly can be accepted
without injustice.
1 United Kingdom, United States of America, France,
Italy, Japan. The defection of the United States reduced the
number of permanent Members to four3 till Germany came in
in 1926. In 1935, Germany and Japan left the League, but
in 1934 the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics received a
permanent seat on joining. There are therefore at present
four permanent seats on the Council, although in fact only
three are occupied since the defection (1936) and notice of
withdrawal (1937) of Italy.