V.
MINUTES OF THE SEVENTEENTH MEETING OF THE COUNCIL, JUNE 27^TH.
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All the Representatives of the Members of the Council were present. The Secretary-General attended.

Spain was represented by M. DE REYNOSO, and Brazil by M. BLANCO.

The Representatives of Finland and of Sweden took their seats at the Council table

.M. HYMANS said that the Council had agreed at a previous meeting that the best method at arriving at a solution of the question of guarantees would be to endeavour to obtain an agreement between the Representatives of Finland and of Sweden, with the assistance of a Member of the Council. A consultation had taken place under his chairmanship, and he desired to submit the result of this consultation in the form of a definite text, which, if adopted by the Council, would be annexed to its resolution taken at a previous meeting on June 24^th.
The text containing the agreement, which had been reached by the two parties, was then read:

”1. Finland, resolved to assure and to guarantee to the population of the Aaland Islands the preservation of their language, of their culture, and of their local Swedish traditions, undertakes to introduce shortly into the Law of Autonomy of the Aaland Islands of May 7^th, 1920, the following guarantees:

”2. The Landsting and the Communes of Aaland Islands shall not in any case be obliged to support or to subsidize any other schools than those in which the language of instruction is Swedish. In the scholastic establishments of the State, instruction shall also be given in the Swedish language. The Finnish language may not be taught in the primary schools, supported or subsidized by the State or by the commune, without the consent of the interested commune.

”3. When landed estate situated in the Aaland Islands is sold too a person who is not domiciled in the Islands, any person legally domiciled in the Islands, or the Council of the province, or the commune in which the estate is situated, has the right to buy the estate at a price which, failing agreement, shall be fixed by the court of first instance (Häradsrätt) having regard to current prices.
”Detailed regulations will be drawn up in a special law concerning that act of purchase, and the priority to be observed between several offers.
”This law may not be modified, interpreted, or repealed except under the same conditions as the Law of Autonomy.

”4. Immigrants into the Aaland archipelago who enjoy rights of citizenship in Finland shall only acquire the communal and provincial franchise in the Islands after five years of legal domicile. Persons who have been five years legally domiciled in the Islands shall not be considered as immigrants.

”5. The Governor of the Aaland Islands shall be nominated by the President of the Finnish Republic in agreement with the president of the Landsting of the Aaland Islands. If an agreement cannot be reached, the President of the Republic shall choose the Governor from a list of five candidates nominated by the Landsting, possessing the qualifications necessary for the good administration of the Islands and the security of the State.

”6. The Aaland Islands shall have the right to use for their needs 50% of the revenue of the land tax, besides the revenues mentioned in Article 21 of the Law of Autonomy.

”7. The Council of the League of Nations shall watch over the application of these guarantees. Finland shall forward to the Council of the League of Nations, with its observations, any petitions or claims of the Landsting of Aaland in connection with the application of the guarantees in question, and the Council shall, in any case where the question is of a juridical character, consult the Permanent Court of International Justice.”

The council unanimously approved the terms of this agreement, and decided that it should be annexed to its resolution of June 24^th.
The Council expressed its gratitude to M. Hymans for his assistance in the work which had resulted so successfully.

The Representatives of Finland and Sweden withdrew.