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File 1355/1917 Pt 6 'Arms Traffic Convention: revised convention, 1925' [5v] (15/1226)
The record is made up of 1 volume (609 folios). It was created in 19 Feb 1925-29 Apr 1926. 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. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
9
of the Conference included a declaration by the signing delegates “that their
Governments .have the firm intention of applying strictly their internal laws
and regulations to prevent anything that might constitute a fraudulent
commerce in arms within the meaning of the said laws and regulations.”
'There is thus already a certain degree of international sanction, and, when
the Convention is ratified, there will be, more definitely, international sanction
for the exercise by the Government of India and its servants of all leo-al
powers to stop illicit and dangerous traffic in arms and ammunitions whiclTat
any stage falls within its jurisdiction.
4. In this country under a strict interpretation of the law as soon as a
vessel comes within the three-mile limit it is held to have imported its cargo ;
thereupon the customs authorities are entitled to seize any arms on board
• (other than those held by ships’ officers in accordance with recognised
regulations) which are not covered by an import permit from the Board of
iTrade. But those authorities would find it impossible to search, for this
purpose, every vessel using a British port; and they would not search any
vessel except upon very strong grounds, and after consultation with the
Foreign Office in cases in which the Foreign Office is concerned or likely to
be concerned. It maybe indeed taken as a rule that they would not act
without the concurrence and support of another department, which might be
any one of several offices according to the circumstances of the case. That
searches of vessels in transit are made by the customs authorities in British
ports is shown by the instances of discoveries of arms on such ships of which
•particulars are known to ^ our Excellency’s Government.
5. A twelvemonth ago, as Your Excellency’s Government was informed at
the time, I proposed to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs that a general
policy should be considered, and that the results of such consideration "should
be communicated to the Governments in the Empire, so that effective legal
Powers might be taken where necessary and clear instructions on a uniform
basis might be issued for the guidance of the officials who would be concerned
in enforcing the China Arms Embargo Agreement and other Conventions.
The proposal was not carried through, and no authoritative statement has been
made of policy applicable to the Empire as a whole. It may, however, be of
use to Your Excellency’s Government if I now state the principles which, after
consideration of the matter in Council, I hold may justly be followed in dealing
with the problem of illicit and dangerous cargoes of arms on vessels calling at
Indian ports. . &
0 . When there is good ground for believing that a vessel in an Indian port
has on boaid among its cargo arms or ammunition shipped or being transported
in contravention of the. terms of any international agreement or°convention ;
oi any arms or ammunition not declared in the ship’s papers and destined
eithei fot India itself or lor any country in which they may easily be used
against India or be reshipped in coasting vessels to Indian territory ; or any
aims oi ammunition in cases falsely marked as containing goods of some other
description and thus liable to be dangerous to persons on or near the ship or
to other ships or buildings in port; or any arms and ammunition brought into
the port lor any illegal purpose or in any illegal way, then the Government of
India ought to have, and to be prepared to exercise, the power to' search the
vessel and confiscate the offending goods. But in doing so the greatest care
and the greatest expedition should be used, so as to minimise interference
with lawful trade and the movements of ships. It therefore is desirable to
give the clearest possible instructions to the executive officers as to the
authoi ity which must be obtained before a search is begun, as to precautionary
action till orders are received, and as to the methods and extent of search in
■each case.
<. It will, | think, be found by Your Excellency’s Government that
ordinarily no search of a steamer employed in inter-continental trade should
be made without the order of a Government, though there might be an
occasional instance of flagrant breach of the law which would justify instant
action In the local officer. In considering whether an order should be made.
About this item
- Content
The papers in this volume relate to the revised international Arms Traffic Convention (1925).
The papers include: The right to supply munitions to the governments of Afghanistan, Nepal and Tibet should they fall within the ‘prohibited zone’, 11 December 1924; the preference for including all countries bordering India (except Siam) in the prohibited zone should Russia decide to adopt the Convention, and potential British support for Persia’s claim to exclusion from the zone should Russia decide to reject the Convention, 3 February 1925; the exclusion of Persia and Afghanistan from the prohibited zone, and possible arrangement of imports through Bushire [Bushehr], Mohammerah [Khorramshahr] and Karachi, 18 February-12 March 1925; the proposed abandonment of the term ‘prohibited’ areas to induce Turkey and Persia to join the Convention, and empowerment of the governments of the countries bordering India, 24 March 1925; the readiness of HMG Her or His Majesty’s Government in London. to support Persia’s request for exclusion from the prohibited zone in order to ensure the strict regulation of the private arms trade from Russia to India via Persia, 5-11 April 1925; the Government of India’s objections to Article 25 of the Convention, 11-30 April 1925; the Conference on Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition, Geneva, 6 May-17 June 1925; the report on the proceedings of the Inter-Departmental Committee assembled to consider the draft Convention for Control of the Trade in Arms, Ammunition and Implements of War produced by the Temporary Mixed Commission of the League of Nations, with annexes including drafts of the Convention by the Temporary Mixed Commission and the Inter-Departmental Committee, and a minute by the Secretary of State on the Arms Traffic Conference, 23-28 April 1925; the protocol on the use of asphyxiating, poisonous and other gases in times of war, 20 May-14 June 1925; the list of countries designated as ‘special zones’ in the Arms Traffic Convention, 25-27 May 1925; the proposal of the Persian delegate Mīrzā A title of honour originally applied to princes, later to military leaders, and later still to secretaries, chieftains, and other ‘gentlemen’. Reżā Khan Arfaʿ al-Dawla, 29 May-6 June 1925; the nomination of a Jurist Committee by the Bureau for the purpose of determining the status of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. in international law as the best means of dealing with the Persian delegation, 4-11 June 1925; the Persian amendment to the second paragraph of Article 15 of the Convention, 8-9 June 1925; the protest of the High Commissioner for Iraq at the inclusion of the country in a special zone, 8-25 June 1925; the vote on the inclusion of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. and Gulf of Oman as special zones, 11-15 June 1925; the declaration on the manufacture of arms, ammunition and implements of war, 8 June 1925; the general report on the League of Nations’ Conference for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War, including the texts of the Convention, Statement regarding the Territory of Ifni, Protocol on Chemical and Bacteriological Warfare, Protocol of Signature, and the Final Act, dated at Geneva, 14 June 1925 (texts in French and English); the statement of Sir Percy Cox on the Persian arguments concerning maritime zones, and the response of the Persian delegate General Habibullah Khan [Ḥabib Allāh Khan Shāybanī], 15 June 1925-28 January 1926; the inspection of ships at Indian ports and interception of arms bound for China, 22 October 1925-29 April 1926.
The volume also includes a decree by the Shah of Persia, Muẓaffar al-Dīn Shāh Qājār against arms trafficking, signed on his behalf by the Ṣadr-i Aʿẓam, Mīrzā A title of honour originally applied to princes, later to military leaders, and later still to secretaries, chieftains, and other ‘gentlemen’. ʻAlī Aṣghar Khān Amīn al-Sulṭān, dated 1 January 1900 (in French).
The correspondence in this volume is primarily between the Viceroy, Foreign and Political Department; Secretary of State for India; Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; 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. ; the Admiralty; Richard William Alan Onslow, 5th Earl of Onslow; HM Consul Geneva; War Office; Foreign Office; 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. ; Colonial Office; Sir Percy Zachariah Cox; Sir Frederic Arthur Hirtzel; Secretary of State for the Colonies.
- Extent and format
- 1 volume (609 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 1 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 last folio with 610; 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. The file has one foliation anomaly, f 242a.
- Written in
- English and French in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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File 1355/1917 Pt 6 'Arms Traffic Convention: revised convention, 1925' [5v] (15/1226), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/675, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100081597301.0x000010> [accessed 25 April 2024]
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Copyright: How to use this content
- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/10/675
- Title
- File 1355/1917 Pt 6 'Arms Traffic Convention: revised convention, 1925'
- Pages
- front, back, spine, edge, head, tail, front-i, 2r:59v, 114r:121v, 122v:136v, 137v:142v, 185r:242v, 242ar:242av, 243r:254v, 255v:261v, 265v:307v, 312v:391v, 393v:411v, 412v:471v, 477v, 482r:496v, 503v:526v, 527v:547v, 559v:601v, 605r:609v, back-i
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence