Skip to item: of 1,226
Information about this record Back to top
Open in Universal viewer
Open in Mirador IIIF viewer

File 1355/1917 Pt 6 'Arms Traffic Convention: revised convention, 1925' [‎475v] (957/1226)

This item is part of

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.

Apply page layout

8
to sell the arms. Our convention, which seeks to suppress the abusive trade in arms
would be leading the way to the most illicit form of traffic in arms, and the form of
traffic most dangerous for the tranquillity of peoples. I hardly like to consider the
case which might arise in a country suffering from internal disorders and possessing
a legitimate Government on the one hand, and on the other, a Government recognised
as such by some States which desire the export of arms. How tragic it would be
each of these adversaries was receiving arms to enable them to carry out their wort
of destruction and to cover its own territory with misery and death. We cannot do
better than follow the noble example which has been set for some time past by the
great Republic of the United States of America.
In its role of an elder sister, with all the experience and wisdom which it has
gained and which it seeks to communicate to the other American nations, the
United States of America has consistently refused to recognise Governments which
have arisen as a result of a couf d'fit at or a revolution. This principle of a
continental policy has been subject to numerous declarations by the highest American
authorities. You are familiar with them, and I will content myself with quoting
a recent international act adopted by the United States of America which was
concluded under the auspices of the great republic and in which we may find the
key to the definition of a Government which would be entitled to be recognised as
such for the purposes of purchasing arms and munitions of war. In October
the Government of the United States of America invited the Governments of Central
America to take part in a conference which was to meet at Washington in December
of the same year. I had the honour of representing my Government at that
conference, and I witnessed the efforts which "were made by that eminent statesman,
Mr. Hughes, who presided over our labours, and also by Mr. Sumner Wells, who
assisted us to attain our object, which was to prevent any act which would have
the effect of subverting constitutional order m Central America, and it was under
the auspices of the United States of America and under the chairmanship of
Mr. Hughes, the Secretary of State, that our country signed at Washington on the
7th February, 1923, a general treaty of peace and friendship, which states in the
second paragraph :—
“The Governments of the contracting parties will not recognise any
Government arising as a result of any coup d' fitat or a revolution which should
be formed in opposition to a recognised Government in any of the five republics
so long as the freely-elected representatives of the people shall not have
reorganised the country upon a constitutional basis.”
There you have a definition which already has the force of a continental
doctrine and which might be used as an example by us in our efforts to solve the very
delicate questions which confront us here.
In that respect, the first paragraph of article 3 of the convention drawn up
by the Temporary Mixed Commission might read :—
“ These licences are not to be granted except for direct supply to a
Government recognised as such by the Government of the exporting cquntn
and subject to the condition that the acquiring Government has been constitute
according to the form and constitutional usage in force in its own country.
Another question which we ought to examine very closely is that which concerns
the supervision of the traffic. If we are guided by the true spirit of the agreenten
which w r e are endeavouring to establish, this supervision or publicity ought on'
to have for its object the preparation for the reduction of armaments in the mor
or less distant future. The draft convention merely provides for the centralisano^
and publication of information as to the export of arms. That, I think, would no
be adequate, because any statistics compiled in this manner would necess ?!| 1 ^ ^
incomplete, ineffective and futile. Moreover, there is no reason why we should agr^
that producing countries should remain without the scope of a measure which ou„
to be of a general character' and adopted in the common interests. Since ^
supervision wffiich we desire to institute in regard to the manufacture of arms is
be dealt with by a separate convention, we might, at any rate, endeavour to centl A g
the information with regard to material of war which is used by producing conn _
These points I desire to bring out merely to consolidate the interests which ^
be opposed to each other, and it might have the effect, if no remedy is foun
preventing certain States from giving their assent to the convention which v
now T seeking to elaborate. {A ppiause.)

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

Use and share this item

Share this item
Cite this item in your research

File 1355/1917 Pt 6 'Arms Traffic Convention: revised convention, 1925' [‎475v] (957/1226), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/675, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100081597305.0x00009e> [accessed 28 March 2024]

Link to this item
Embed this item

Copy and paste the code below into your web page where you would like to embed the image.

<meta charset="utf-8"><a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100081597305.0x00009e">File 1355/1917 Pt 6 'Arms Traffic Convention: revised convention, 1925' [&lrm;475v] (957/1226)</a>
<a href="https://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100081597305.0x00009e">
	<img src="https://iiif.qdl.qa/iiif/images/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x00023a/IOR_L_PS_10_675_0957.jp2/full/!280,240/0/default.jpg" alt="" />
</a>
IIIF details

This record has a IIIF manifest available as follows. If you have a compatible viewer you can drag the icon to load it.https://www.qdl.qa/en/iiif/81055/vdc_100000000419.0x00023a/manifestOpen in Universal viewerOpen in Mirador viewerMore options for embedding images

Use and reuse
Download this image