'League of Nations, Conference for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War, Geneva, 17th June 1925' [‎47r] (100/138)

(i) The temper
in which it was
P 011 ''' t0 wticli the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. attached, we understood,
•considerable importance, though it was not specifically mentioned in the
correspondence with the Government of India, was the assertion in the
•Convention of the right of High Contracting Parties to search for and detain
consignments of fire-arms or munitions in transit through their territories,
when believed to be m course of illicit conveyance to a destination in another
part or their tenitones, or m the prohibited or special zones.
.? n ^ 0: ^ these desiderata has been secured in full by the
new (Jonvention/**
11.—The Conference.
I. From time to time during the period of the Conference divergences
of view revealed themselves between various delegations, or, more often,
groups of delegations, wide enough to justify the alarmist rumours that conducted,
grew up, that a split was inevitable and that the Conference would break
down. In every case, however—with the exception of the Persian
^delegation s stand on what was, in reality, a fictitious issue—the apparent
impasse was resolved. That this was so may be regarded as evidence of
the earnest desire that animated those participating in the Conference to
show that it did not pass the wit of man to achieve a measure of agreement
on so disputable a matter as the international traffic in arms, and of the real
existence of that spirit of conciliation " which was invoked so freely, indeed
ad nauseam, in committee, sub-committee or plenary session. On the other
hand, the Convention was signed on the spot only by eighteen delegations out
of the forty-four present, and, though this number of signatures will probably
be increased by the date—30th September 1926—to which the Convention
remains open for signature,! it would be exaggeration to suggest that
anything like unanimity was achieved or eyen indicated. The optimist,
however, will note that the list of States whose representatives signed the
convention includes five of the Great Powers, and, with the exception of
"Czecho-Slovakia and Belgium, the principal arms-producing countries.
8. That the Conference was conducted in so harmonious a manner was
due, we think, in considerable measure, to the fact that to many of the
delegates or their technical assistants the matters under discussion were
■ oft-trodden^ ground ; many had taken part in the lengthy discussions of the
Arms Traffic problem in the Temporary Mixed Commission and Permanent
Advisory Committee of the League; many were well known to each other
personally, and their points of view on many aspects of the problem were no
less well known. This familiarity with the subject under consideration and
with others' standpoints created a friendly atmosphere, in which debate was
carried on rarely with heat and never with any display of fanaticism,
notwithstanding the fact that appeal was made from time to time to those
humane motives that fanatics are apt to claim as their own. It may be
suggested (and the suggestion is somewhat borne out by the number of
delegations that abstained from recording a vote, even when decisions
of the greatest importance were being taken) that the remembrance of
the failure to bring the St. Germain Convention into force, and the
experience gained in the proceedings of the Temporary Mixed Commission
promoted a feeling that it was not worth while to press any point to
extremity; and certainly a cynical view of the prospects of any real fruits
from their labours was not difficult to find among certain of the delegates.
Whatever the causes, the Conference was singularly devoid of any
" incident "t; and for this fact much credit is due to the President, Count
Carton de Wiart, who handled the large international assembly in his charge
with extreme patience and great tact. It is true that one heard the criticism
that he allowed the General Committee to remit various questions to the minor
•committees without sufficient direction as to the principles which were to be
observed as guide by these committees; but we venture to think that he
was wise to deal with the mass of often conflicting proposals, amendments,
and counter-amendments that were put before the General Committee, by
* For the attainment of tlie first and the failure to attain the third, fourth and fifth
please see, respectively, paras. 84 (6), 47, 103-5 and 65.
t See Protocol of Signature.
+ If the withdrawal of the Persian Delegation be excepted; but even this occurrence
•caused no sensation.