“The system of ‘mandatories under the League of Nations,’ when applied to territories which were formerly colonies of Germany, the system which has been practically adopted and will be written into the plan for the League, raises some interesting and difficult questions:
“The one, which is the most
prominent since it enters into nearly all
of the international problems presented,
is—Where does the
sovereignty over these territories
reside?
“Sovereignty is inherent in the very conception of government. It cannot be destroyed, though it may be absorbed by another sovereignty either by compulsion or cession. When the Germans were ousted from their colonies, the sovereignty passed to the power or powers which took possession. The location of the sovereignty up to the present is clear, but with the introduction of the League of Nations as an international primate superior to the conquerors some rather perplexing questions will have to be answered.
“Do those who have seized
the sovereignty transfer it or does Germany
transfer it to the League of Nations?
If so, how?
“Does the League assume possession
of the sovereignty on its
renunciation by Germany? If
so, how?
“Does the League merely direct
the disposition of the sovereignty
without taking possession of it?
“Assuming that the latter question is answered in the affirmative, then after such disposition of the right to exercise sovereignty, which will presumably be a limited right, where does the actual sovereignty reside?
“The appointment of a mandatory
to exercise sovereign rights over
territory is to create an agent
for the real sovereign. But who is
the real sovereign?
“Is the League of Nations
the sovereign, or is it a common agent of
the nations composing the League,
to whom is confided solely the duty
of naming the mandatory and issuing
the mandate?
“If the League is the sovereign,
can it avoid responsibility for the
misconduct of the mandatory, its
agent?
“If it is not the League,
who is responsible for the mandatory’s
conduct?
“Assuming that the mandatory in faithfully performing the provisions of the mandate unavoidably works an injustice upon another party, can or ought the mandatory to be held responsible? If not, how can the injured party obtain redress? Manifestly the answer is, ’From the sovereign,’ but who is the sovereign?
“In the Treaty of Peace Germany
will be called upon to renounce
sovereignty over her colonial possessions.
To whom will the
sovereignty pass?
“If the reply is, ‘The
League of Nations,’ the question is: Does
the
League possess the attributes of
an independent state so that it can
function as an owner of territory?
If so, what is it? A world state?