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'League of Nations, Conference for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War, Geneva, 17th June 1925' [‎53v] (113/138)

The record is made up of 1 volume (65 folios). It was created in 1925. It was written in English and French. The original is part of the British Library: 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. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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18
C.—Inevitable
connection with
publicity of
manufacture.
among eastern European States is a producer of munitions on a large scale >
Taking their stand by the text to which M. Dendramis (Greece) had spoken
in the second plenary session, that the Conference must establish the equal
treatment of all States, the representatives of the non-producing States
urged that publicity in respect of export and import must necessarily drive
them in self-defence to become producers themselves (a development
repugnant to the general desire for peace in our time), or must be
accompanied by an equal degree of publicity in regard to manufacture. So
warmly did the delegates of importing States press this point tKat at one
time there seemed to be a real danger of the Conference breaking down
at an early stage. But reassurance was afforded to the non-producing
States, and their fears were soothed by, particularly, Mr. Burton and M. Paul
Boncour.
50. The former pointed out that at the present time every nation can
and does, by spies and military attaches, make itself acquainted with the
military equipment of its neighbours; publicity in respect of traffic in war
equipment would therefore not really put non-producing countries in any
worse position than now—indeed, inasmuch as information surreptitiously
obtained tends to be inaccurate and alarmist, it might be argued that these
countries would be safer if their neighbours were able to rely on really
genuine statistics voluntarily and officially supplied. Nevertheless, Mr. Burton
agreed that the equal security demanded by the non-producing States would
not be attained by them until the producing States were pledged to complv
with equal requirements of publicity in regard to manufacture. He created
something of a sensation and a considerable impression of the humanity of
the United States Government by asserting that publicity in regard to
private manufacture of arms was already an established practice in the
United States of America ; Government manufacture, of which he obviously
could not make the same assertion, he stated to be negligible in quantity
or importance in the United States of America. It is understood that
subsequent enquiries elicited the fact that this American " publicity of
private manufacture " is no more informative, though possibly more
frequently compiled, than that derivable from the British septennial return
of manufactures, or than the Belgian statistics from the Proof Establishment
of Liege ; and reference by the British and Belgian delegates respectively
to these two instances of publicity in respect of manufacture somewhat
discounted the effect of Mr. Burton's statement.
51. M. Paul Boncour also adopted, to the satisfaction of the non-producing
States, the poini of view that their just claim to equal security necessitated
publicity in regard to manufacture of, no less than to trade in munitions ;
indeed, he maintained, as his personal opinion, what had already been
tentatively suggested by Mr. Matsuda (Japan), that it was a reversal of the
logical order of treatment to endeavour to regulate traffic till manufacture was
dealt with. It was noticeable, however, that M. Paul Boncour emphasised
the importance of publicity especially in regard to the private manufacture
of arms ; whether publicity in respect of nationalised or Government
manufacture appears to one of his political tendencies equally desirable, or
w T holly compatible with France's requirements for safety from her neighbours,
was not evident.
52. The inclination which the Committee showed to arrogate to itself the
right to discuss publicity of manufacture was cut short by the President,
who reminded the delegates that, on the advice of the Co-ordination-
Committee, the Fifth Assembly of the League bad decided that the problem
of arms traffic must be tackled before the problem of arms manufacture,
and that it was for the former purpose only that they were now assembled.
But the conviction that the two are really inseparable was too firmly
established in the minds of the delegates, especially those of the non-
producing States, to be lightly set aside ; and as a result, after the
discussion in the General and Technical Committees of various other
modes of expression—^some emphasising the importance of publicity of
manufacture to a degree that surprisingly cheapened the value of the work
of an Arms Traffic Conference—the Conference adopted, as a solution, the
Hi.
y^ ent
id f

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Content

The volume contains the following two documents: League of Nations, Conference for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War: Convention, Declaration regarding the Territory of Ifni, Protocol on Chemical and Bacteriological Warfare, Protocol of Signature, Final Act (CCIA 91 (2)) and International Arms Traffic Conference, Geneva, May-June 1925, Report by the Delegates for India .

The delegates for India named in the second of these documents are Major-General Sir Percy Zachariah Cox and Colonel W E Wilson-Johnston.

The first of these documents is in both French and English.

Extent and format
1 volume (65 folios)
Arrangement

There are tables of contents towards the front of the first document, on folio 5v; and towards the front of the second, on folio 45v.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at 1 on the front cover and terminates at 66 on the back cover. These numbers are written in pencil, are enclosed in a circle, and appear in the top right hand corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. page of each folio. Foliation anomalies: ff. 13, 13A.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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'League of Nations, Conference for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War, Geneva, 17th June 1925' [‎53v] (113/138), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/R/15/1/748, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100024090486.0x000072> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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