The first session of the International Labor Conference, which met in 1919 before the League of Nations was officially in existence, decided that it had authority to admit states to membership in the Organization. The following were admitted at that session:

See the notes following the comprehensive list of League of Nations membership under article 1 of the treaty of peace with respect to the status of Austria, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Paraguay.

Japan ceased to be a member of the League of Nations on March 27, 1935 but continued its membership in the International Labor Organization until November 2, 1938.

Several states which withdrew from the League of Nations maintained their membership in the International Labor Organization, with or without notice to that effect.

ARTICLE 2 [388].

The permanent organisation shall consist of:

(1) a General Conference of Representatives of the Members and,

(2) an International Labour Office controlled by the Governing Body described in Article 393.

ARTICLE 3 [389].

1. The meetings of the General Conference of Representatives of the Members shall be held from time to time as occasion may require, and at least once in every year. It shall be composed of four Representatives of each of the Members, of whom two shall be Government Delegates and the two others shall be Delegates representing respectively the employers and the workpeople of each of the Members.

2. Each Delegate may be accompanied by advisers, who shall not exceed two in number for each item on the agenda of the meeting. When questions specially affecting women are to be considered by the Conference, one at least of the advisers should be a woman.

3. The Members undertake to nominate non-Government Delegates and advisers chosen in agreement with the industrial organisations, if such organisations exist, which are most representative of employers or workpeople, as the case may be, in their respective countries.

4. Advisers shall not speak except on a request made by the Delegate whom they accompany and by the special authorization of the President of the Conference, and may not vote.

5. A Delegate may by notice in writing addressed to the President appoint one of his advisers to act as his deputy, and the adviser, while so acting, shall be allowed to speak and vote.

6. The names of the Delegates and their advisers will be communicated to the International Labour Office by the Government of each of the Members.

7. The credentials of Delegates and their advisers shall be subject to scrutiny by the Conference, which may, by two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present, refuse to admit any Delegate or adviser whom it deems not to have been nominated in accordance with this Article.

ARTICLE 4 [390].

1. Every Delegate shall be entitled to vote individually on all matters which are taken into consideration by the Conference.

1

2. If one of the Members fails to nominate one of the non-Government Delegates whom it is entitled to nominate, the other non-Government Delegate shall be allowed to sit and speak at the Conference, but not to vote.

3. If in accordance with Article 3 [389] the Conference refuses admission to a Delegate of one of the Members, the provisions of the present Article shall apply as if that Delegate had not been nominated.

ARTICLE 5 [391].

The meetings of the Conference shall be held at the seat of the League of Nations, or at such other place as may be decided by the Conference at a previous meeting by two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present.

ARTICLE 6 [392].

The International Labour Office shall be established at the seat of the League of Nations as part of the organisation of the League.

ARTICLE 7 [393].

[The International Labour Office shall be under the control of a Governing Body consisting of twenty-four persons, appointed in accordance with the following provisions:

[The Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall be constituted as follows:

[Twelve persons representing the Governments;

[Six persons elected by the Delegates to the Conference representing the employers;

[Six persons elected by the Delegates to the Conference representing the workers.

[Of the twelve persons representing the Governments eight shall be nominated by the Members which are of the chief industrial importance, and four shall be nominated by the Members selected for the purpose by the Government Delegates to the Conference, excluding the Delegates of the eight Members mentioned above.

[Any question as to which are the Members of the chief industrial importance shall be decided by the Council of the League of Nations.

[The period of office of the Members of the Governing Body will be three years. The method of filling vacancies and other similar questions may be determined by the Governing Body subject to the approval of the Conference.

[The Governing Body shall, from time to time, elect one of its members to act as its Chairman, shall regulate its own procedure and shall fix its own times of meeting. A special meeting shall be held if a written request to that effect is made by at least ten members of the Governing Body.]

1. The International Labour Office shall be under the control of a Governing Body consisting of thirty-two persons:

Sixteen representing Governments,

Eight representing the Employers, and
Eight representing the Workers.

2. Of the sixteen persons representing Governments, eight shall be appointed by the Members of chief industrial importance, and eight shall be appointed by the Members selected for that purpose by the Government Delegates to the Conference, excluding the Delegates of the eight Members mentioned above. Of the sixteen Members represented six shall be non-European States.

3. Any question as to which are the Members of chief industrial importance shall be decided by the Council of the League of Nations.

4. The persons representing the Employers and the persons representing the Workers shall be elected respectively by the Employers' Delegates and the Workers' Delegates to the Conference. Two Employers' representatives and two Workers' representatives shall belong to non-European States.

5. The period of office of the Governing Body shall be three years. 6. The method of filling vacancies and of appointing substitutes and other similar questions may be decided by the Governing Body subject to the approval of the Conference.

7. The Governing Body shall, from time to time, elect one of its number to act as its Chairman, shall regulate its own procedure, and shall fix its own times of meeting. A special meeting shall be held if a written request to that effect is made by at least twelve of the representatives on the Governing Body.

Note to XIII, 7 [393]

The text of this article is that of an amendment adopted by the International Labor Conference on November 2, 1922, which came into force on June 4, 1934.

The Council of the League of Nations on September 30, 1922 decided that the eight members of the International Labor Organization at present of chief industrial importance were, in French alphabetical order: Germany, Belgium, Canada, France, Great