File 2908/1907 Pt 3 ‘Persian Gulf:- Quarantine; German complaint’ [‎118v] (236/250)

In your Despatch No. 27 of the 2 l 7th ultimo you state that the
actual'signing of the Convention, which is to take place on the 3rd
instant, will be preceded hy a sitting of the full Conference, and t hat
this sitting will afford an opportunity for placing again on record, it
desired, any of the reserves which you have attached to your acceptance
of the conclusions of the Conference. , , ,. T
In order to remove any possibility of future misunderstanding, 1
consider it of importance that, as a general rule, any reserves made in
Conference should, if they affect the interpretation placed by His
Maiestv’s Government on the language of the Convention, or limit the
extent ^of their acceptance of the stipulations of the Convention, be
repeated at, and duly recorded in the protocol of the final sitting of the
Conference, that is, on the occasion of the signing of the Convention.
Unless this procedure he observed there is an appreciable risk that the
qualifications attached bv His Majesty s Government to their obligations
may he lost sight of and “forgotten, particularly when the proems verbaux
of the proceedings are voluminous or defective. In the present instance
the extent and 'complicated nature of the discussions in the various
Committees, and the rapidity with which the work has been despatched
render the observance of this precaution highly desirable.
As regards the proposal for the establishment of an International
Bureau, I concur with you that the addition of the conclusions of the
Conference on tiiis head, as an annex to the Convention, make it
essential that your reserve should be repeated before the Convention is
signed.
The Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. question is another in respect of which too much
care cannot be taken to make clear the precise nature of the obligation
undertaken by you on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, especially
as the text of the Convention dealing with the proposed establishment
of a sanitary station on the Island of Ormuz, and, in particular, with
regard to the method for providing funds for the purpose, is not altogether
free from ambiguity.
I therefore request that you will repeat the declaration made at the
sixth full sitting of the Conference, and also add to it a statement to the
effect that it must be understood that:—
( 1 .) The Convention shall not he open to the construction that it is
incumbent on the Mixed Commission to find the funds
from the accumulations of past years or from any other
source, except with the assent of all the delegates on the
Mixed Commission.
(2.) The establishment shall be deferred until the Board of Health at
Constantinople has been reformed in the manner provided by
the Convention.
You should also make a declaration with regard to the British
Dominions beyond the Seas, and request that it may he inserted in the
protocol of signature. As India and the Straits Settlements have not
yet decided to accede at once, as in the case of the Convention of 1897,
you should declare that the present Convention will not be applicable
to any of the Colonies, Possessions, or Protectorates of His Britannic
Majesty until a notification to that effect shall have been made to the
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the French Republic by His Britannic
Majesty’s Representative at Paris, on behalf of such Colony, Possession
or Protectorate.
I assume that before the text of the Convention is finally settled a
stipulation will have been introduced, similar to that in the Venice
Convention, providing that the arrangement will remain in force for
successive periods of five years each, subject to termination on notice
given six months before the conclusion of any of these periods,
and that power will be reserved to the High Contracting Parties to
bring about through the diplomatic channels, any modifications which
they may consider necessary to introduce in the Convention or its
Annexes.