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File 1355/1917 Pt 3 'Arms Traffic - Convention' [‎7v] (19/694)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (343 folios). It was created in 13 Oct 1919-20 Jan 1921. 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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c
", It would in his Lordship’s opinion, be difficult, if not impossible, to induce the
Powers concerned to prohibit the export of small arms, tfc., to their own possessions in
fhe nrohiWted zones, ft is, moreover, occasionally necessary tor various reasons to
make sKments of these articles to such destinations. Also, any arrangement on the
above linerto which the United States was not a party would be foredoomed to
failure. _
4. I am to state that this Department is consulting the War Office, Board ol
Trade and other Departments interested in regard to this proposal.
I am, &c.,
r ,„ o m- • * H. J. Seymour.
1 he Secretary, Air idmistiy.
ENCLOSURE No. 5 -.—India Oijice to Foreign Office. ^ ^
20th January 1921.
by the Secretary of State for India to reply to your letter
iated the 15th December, inviting Jus observations vitn
Sir,
I am directed
No. A. 861.2/7143/60,
reference to a suggestion made by the Air .Ministry that the French, Italian, Belgian
and Japanese Governments should be asked to agree not to export small aims, occ.,
to the areas specified in Article 6 ot the Arms traffic Convention. ,
Mr. Montagu is not altogether clear as to whether it was intended to suggest that
the export of small arms, Ac., to the areas in question should be stopped altogether.
If the same restriction were applied—as it would presumably have to be to lintis i
exports also, the proposal would appear likely to involve difficulties Irom the point ol
view of possible British requirements in the prohibited areas, and also seems to go
beyond the necessities of the case. Mr. Montagu agrees, moreover, that for the reasons
indicated in para. 3 of your letter to the Air Ministry of the 15th December, the other
Powers in question could in any case hardly be expected to agree to so sweeping a
proposal. But he feels at the same time that every effort should be made to secure
that the control over exports to the prohibited areas shall be as strict, and as closely
in accordance with the provisions of the Convention, as is possible in existing
circumstances, and that it might be possible to make some arrangement with the
other Powers that would secure these ends more adequately than does the meie fact
of adherence to the Protocol of the Convention as now modified.
In view of the form of the Protocol and of the fact that the arrangements within
the prohibited areas themselves contemplated by Chapter 111. of the Convention have
not yet been brought into force generally, it would seem difficult to define at all
precisely the obligations that should be held to follow from adherence to the Protocol
as now modified, and so far as Mr. Montagu is aware there is little information as to
the interpretation placed upon the Protocol in practice by the various exporting
Powers. It is observed from your letter to the Admiralty, No. A. 7674/1524/95 of the
17th November, that in this country a licence for export to a prohibited area is only
issued “ when satisfactory evidence is forthcoming as to the consignee and the
purposes for which the arms or ammunition are required. It is also noted from
the enclosure to your letter No. A. 7845/1524/95 of the 6th December that the
Belgian Government have issued a decree subjecting exports to the prohibited areas
to a licensing system, but that there is nothing in the decree to indicate what
conditions have to be fulfilled before a licence is granted.
Mr. Montagu does not feel that he is in a position to propose any precise
formula, but he would suggest that the matter deserves consideration, and that one
possible course would, perhaps, be to formulate as precisely as possible the practice
followed in this country in granting licences and to communicate this formula to
other Bowers a$ the basis for a general agreement. If a satistactory common
formula could be established in this way, it might be hoped that some further
obstacles would be placed in the way of such developments as the export of Italian
arms to Asia Minor (indicated by recent report) and the revival (also recently reported),
of the arms traffic at Djibouti.
1 am to take the opportunity of enclosing, for the information of the Secretary
of State for Foreign Affairs, a copy of a Despatch addressed to the Government of
India, with enclosures, on the subject of the measures to be taken to give effect
to the provisions of Chapters III. and IV. of the Arms Traffic Convention.
Copies of this letter are being sent to the Board of Trade, War Office, Admiralty,
Ministry of Munitions, Air Ministry and Colonial Office.
I am, Ac.,
The Under Secretary of State, J. E. Shuckburgii.
Foreign Office.

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Content

The papers in this volume relate to the Arms Traffic Convention (1919).

The papers include: The final text of the Arms Traffic Convention signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, containing the names of the signatory states, 10 September-23 October 1919; the opinions of the French and British governments about the negotiations over the export of arms as opposed to the actual export of arms, 12-24 October 1919; the sale of a large stock of arms by the United States of America to the Spanish Government, 23 September-3 December 1919; the transportation of arms between different parts of the British Empire, 29 October 1919-20 May 1920; the League of Nations and admission of neutral states to the Convention, 23 October 1919-21 January 1920; the supply of munitions to Tibet, Afghanistan and Nepal, 29 October 1919-25 May 1920; the Government of France’s commitment to the implementation of the Convention, 11 September 1919; the status of unarmed aircraft under the Convention, 20 November 1919-23 February 1920; the status of warships from which all armaments have been removed, 30 December 1919; the specific limits for ‘effective man-killing weapons’ and other firearms, 6 June 1919-3 February 1920; the meaning of the term ‘export’ in the Arms Traffic Convention, 12 March 1920; the United States’ rejection of the protocol attached to the Convention as unconstitutional, and its consequent inability to prevent private exporters from shipping arms to countries outside it, 6-18 March 1920; the position of Britain and the United States on arms sales to non-signatories, 9 February-15 May 1920; the Persian Government’s intention to adhere to the Convention, 16 April 1920; the notification of signatories about the intention of non-signatories to join the Convention, 20 January-15 June 1920; the Government of Netherlands’ adherence to the Convention, 12-27 May 1920; a request from the Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. in Aden for a copy of the Convention, 26 May-24 July 1920; the modification of the additional protocol attached to the Convention, 12 May-2 September 1920; the application of the Convention to the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, 26 August 1919-9 December 1920; the prohibition on the export of arms and ammunition of every kind to China, 22-29 October 1920; and the ability of the Royal Navy to take action in the waters of Persia and Muscat, 1 November 1920-20 January 1921.

The correspondence in the volume is primarily between the Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office; Under-Secretary of State, 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. ; Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; HM Ambassador to France; HM Ambassador to Japan; HM Ambassador to Belgium; British Minister in Tehran; Resident Naval Officer, Aden Division; Political Resident A senior ranking political representative (equivalent to a Consul General) from the diplomatic corps of the Government of India or one of its subordinate provincial governments, in charge of a Political Residency. , Aden; and Secretary of the Admiralty.

Extent and format
1 volume (343 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume.

The subject 1355 (Peace Settlement- The Arms Traffic Convention 1919) consists of four volumes, IOR/L/PS/10/672-675. The volumes are divided into 6 parts; with part one comprising one volume, parts 2, 4 and 5 comprising the second volume, part 3 comprising the third volume, and part 6 comprising the fourth volume.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 345; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

Written in
English and French in Latin script
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File 1355/1917 Pt 3 'Arms Traffic - Convention' [‎7v] (19/694), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/674, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100080218706.0x000014> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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