Mystery at Geneva | Page 8

to
membership several new nations, to whom it had extended the heartiest
fraternal welcome;... above all it had survived in the face of all its
enemies and detractors.... This present session was faced with a large
and important programme. But before getting on to it there must be
elections, votings, committees, a new President, and so forth.
The speaker sat down amid the applause proper to the occasion, a-nd

the interpreter rose to translate him into French.
An elderly English clergyman behind Henry tapped his shoulder with a
pencil and said, "What paper do you represent? I am reporting for the
Challenge. The Churches have not taken enough interest in the League.
One must stir them up. I preach about nothing else, in these days. The
Church of England is sadly apathetic."
"It is a fault churches have," said Henry. "All the same, the Pope has
telegraphed a blessing."
Those who would fain follow the French interpreter hushed them.
Henry leant over, and watched Latin America conferring among itself,
looking excited and full of purpose. Latin America obviously had
something on its mind.
"What interests them so much?" he wondered aloud, and the journalist
next him enlightened him.
"They've made up their minds to have a Latin American President
again. They say they make a third of the Assembly, and it's disgraceful
that they don't have one every year. They don't want Edwardes again;
they want one who'll let the Spanish- Americans get on their legs every
few minutes. Edwardes had lived abroad too long and was too
cosmopolitan for them. They're going to put up a really suitable
candidate this time, and jolly well sec he gets it. He won't, of course.
But there may be the hell of a row."
"That will be very amusing," said Henry hopefully.
They were taking the votes of the delegates for the committee on the
credentials of delegates. Suppose, thought Henry, that in that hall there
were one or more delegates whose credentials were impcachable;
delegates, perhaps who had come here by ruse with forged authority, or
by force, having stolen the credentials from the rightful owner... It
might be done: it surely could be done, by some unprincipled
adventurer from a far country. Perhaps it had been done, and perhaps
the committee would never be the wiser. Or perhaps there would be a

public expost.... That would be interesting. Public exposes were always
interesting. Henry's drifting glance strayed to the platform, where the
Secretariat staff sat, or went in and out through the folding door. There,
standing by the door and watching the animated scene, was Charles
Wilbraham, composed, pleased, serene, looking like a theatrical
producer on the first night of a well-staged play.
Yes, public exposes were interesting....
The committee was elected and the Assembly dispersed for lunch, over
which they would occupy themselves in lobbying for the Presidential
election in the afternoon. Henry saw Charles Wilbraham go out in
company with one of the delegates from Central Africa. No doubt but
that the fellow had arranged to be seen lunching with this mainstay of
the League. To lunch with the important... that should be the daily goal
of those for whom life is not a playground but a ladder. It was Charles
Wilbraham's daily goal: Henry remembered that from old days.
At the afternoon session the Assembly voted for a President and six
Vice-Presidents. It took a long time, and considerable feeling was
involved. Five candidates were proposed: Roumania suggested a
French delegate, Great Britain an Albanian bishop, Japan the senior
British delegate, Central Africa an eminent Norwegian explorer, and
the Latin Americans put up, between them, three of their own race.
Owing to unfortunate temporary differences between various of these
small republics they could not all agree on one candidate.
After what seemed to Henry, unversed in these matters, a great deal of
unnecessary voting on the part of the Assembly and of the Council, it
was announced that the delegate for Norway, Dr. Svensen, was elected
President. Amid cheers from those delegates who were pleased, from
those who had self-control enough to conceal their vexation, and from
the public in the galleries (for Dr. Svensen was the most widely popular
figure in the Assembly), the new President took his place and made the
appropriate speech, in his sonorous English. Many in the hall were
bored, some because the new President was known to be in with the
English, who are not always liked by other nations; some because he
spoke English readily and French ill, and most of them understood

French readily and English not at all; others because he was of the party
which was bent on carrying out certain measures in Europe for which
they saw no necessity.
However, Dr. Svensen, a brief person and no word-waster, did