Journal de Genève
- Elections to the Council
- “La Perle du Lac” — Disagreement over the price
- Small talk — About a pirate
The page questions a larger League Council while discussing the local land and legal arrangements needed for the institution’s growth in Geneva. Beside these arguments, a Fairbanks interview offers a lighter encounter with a visitor enchanted by Swiss scenery. The expanded reading reveals political institutions, urban property and popular cinema on the same page.
Excerpts from the Council editorial, the Perle du Lac dispute and the Fairbanks encounter. The property passage crosses a column boundary; the rest of its legal analysis is not fully translated.
Translation
Elections to the Council
Elections to the Council
The Assembly has decided to increase the number of elected Council members to nine.
One may now regret this hasty decision, whose purpose is already out of date. It had two aims: to enable Spain, if not Brazil, to remain in the League, and to enable Poland and China to be elected to the Council. With Brazil and Spain withdrawing, the first objective has taken care of itself. So has the second, since it would have been easy to bring Poland and China into the Council as it is currently constituted.
Unfortunately, the Assembly’s decision is final. Although the Assembly theoretically always has the right to contradict itself and repeal its own decisions, that prospect seems most unlikely at present.
The Council will therefore have fourteen members from now on.
“La Perle du Lac” — Disagreement over the price
“La Perle du Lac”
Geneva thus has an obvious interest in the success of this undertaking. But why compulsorily acquire the “Perle du Lac”? Agreements have been reached amicably for the other plots. Here, however, there is disagreement: the League of Nations offers 650,000 francs, in accordance with the federal experts’ valuation, whereas the owner wants 930,000 francs.
Before examining the substance of the matter, however, a point of law must first be clarified. Through his lawyer, Maître P. Caulin, Mr Wilsdorf challenges the Grand Council’s right to order the compulsory acquisition of his property, citing Article 6 of the Geneva Constitution and Article 198 of the law of June 15, 1895.
Small talk — About a pirate
Small talk
About a pirate
“Switzerland,” Douglas Fairbanks tells me, “Switzerland—what a fascinating country. Tiring, too,” he adds mischievously, “because at every step a new view catches your eye, and you must keep looking right and left, ahead and behind, if you want to see the landscape properly. Whereas this!” (And Douglas, the man of the woods—he has a reputation to live up to!—Douglas, the man of nature, draws me to the broad window overlooking vast, terrifying New York.) “This—do you think this is beautiful?” My silence says it all. We understand each other and return to our seats.
Context
Who should have a voice on the League Council?
The League divided Council membership between permanent powers and countries elected by the Assembly. Elected seats had already increased from four to six in 1922; the 1926 expansion raised them to nine. The editorial opposes this further enlargement because it believes the diplomatic bargains behind it have fallen away. The underlying problem is representation: admitting more states gives them influence over security decisions, while making agreement among Council members more demanding.
Why building an international headquarters became a local controversy
In 1926 the League Assembly approved an international architectural competition for a new headquarters. Such an institutional ambition also required land, compensation and decisions by Geneva’s authorities. At Perle du Lac, the gap between the League’s valuation and the owner’s demand was 280,000 francs. Wilsdorf’s objection went beyond bargaining over that sum: it challenged whether the canton could compel the transfer at all. The dispute connects international Geneva’s growth with the powers and costs borne locally.
The screen adventurer at the window
Fairbanks starred in the 1926 adventure film The Black Pirate, an ambitious production filmed in two-colour Technicolor. The encounter’s title and its playful “man of the woods” description draw on his adventurous screen persona. Rather than describe a stunt, the writer puts that energy into a conversation about scenery: Fairbanks pulls him to the window and demands a verdict. The familiar film hero becomes an animated companion whose enthusiasm gives a Swiss reader a flattering view of home.
Original
Les élections au Conseil
Les élections au Conseil
L’Assemblée a décidé de porter à neuf le nombre des membres élus du Conseil.
On peut regretter aujourd’hui cette décision hâtive dont le but est déjà périmé. On avait en vue deux choses : permettre à l’Espagne, sinon au Brésil, de ne pas quitter la Société; permettre à la Pologne et à la Chine d’être élues au Conseil. Après la retraite du Brésil et de l’Espagne, le premier de ces objets se liquide de lui-même. Le second se liquide également, car il eût été facile de faire entrer la Pologne et la Chine au Conseil tel qu’il est actuellement composé.
La décision de l’Assemblée est malheureusement définitive, et bien qu’en théorie, l’Assemblée ait toujours le droit de se contredire et d’abroger ses propres décisions, une semblable éventualité paraît, à l’heure actuelle, bien improbable.
Le Conseil aura donc désormais quatorze membres.
« La Perle du Lac » — le désaccord sur le prix
« La Perle du Lac »
L’intérêt de Genève au succès de cette entreprise est donc évident. Mais pourquoi une expropriation forcée de la « Perle du Lac » ? — Pour les autres parcelles, une entente a pu être conclue à l’amiable. Pour celle-ci, il y a désaccord : la S. d. N. offre 650.000 fr., conformément à l’évaluation faite par les experts fédéraux, alors que le propriétaire en veut 930.000 fr.
Mais, avant d’examiner le fond de l’affaire, il faut tout d’abord préciser un point de droit. Par l’intermédiaire de son avocat, Mᵉ P. Caulin, M. Wilsdorf conteste en effet au Grand Conseil le droit de prononcer l’expropriation forcée de sa propriété, et, pour ce faire, il invoque les textes de la Constitution genevoise, art. 6, et de la loi du 15 juin 1895, article 198.
Menus propos — A propos d’un pirate
Menus propos
A propos d’un pirate
« La Suisse, me dit Douglas Fairbanks, la Suisse, quel pays fascinant. Fatigant aussi, ajoute-t-il, malicieux, car à chaque pas, on est attiré par un aspect nouveau et il faut sans cesse regarder à droite, regarder à gauche, devant et derrière si l’on veut bien voir le paysage, tandis que ça ! (Et Douglas, homme des bois, noblesse oblige ! Douglas, homme de la nature ! m’entraîne vers la large fenêtre d’où l’on découvre New-York immense et terrifiante)... ça, vous trouvez ça beau ?... » Mon silence est concluant. Nous nous comprenons et nous regagnons nos sièges.