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File 1355/1917 Pt 6 'Arms Traffic Convention: revised convention, 1925' [‎497r] (1000/1226)

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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. .

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This Document is the Property Qf_Hfc Britannic Majesty's Government. 1
I
P
| 1569
CONFIDENTIAL. i t 0 0 -
1 *J ia>» ** ..
L.
[May 7, 1925.J
^ W 4057/86/95]
No
. L
i
!9>5
Section 1.
Sveech by the President at the First Plenary Meeting of the Conference for the
^ Control of the International Trade in A rms, Munitions and Implements of H ar,
at Genera, May 4, 1925 .—(Received at Foreign Office, May 7.)
(Draft Translation.) „
HAVING been appointed by the Council of the League of Nations to preside
over your debates, I have the honour to declare open the Conference for the Control
of the International Trade in Arms, Munitions and Implements of War.
In singling me out for this great distinction, the Council of the League oi
Nations has followed the precedent established at the Brussels Financial Conference
at the Barcelona Transit Conference and at several more recent international
conferences held at Geneva. It has no doubt been guided by the desire to secure
the assistance of one who was quite unconnected with any national delegation, ana
who should be exclusively at the service of the international body constituted by
yourselves—a person, moreover, who does not represent any nation or point of view,
who has received instructions from no Government, and who has no other aim than
to direct and assist your labours, and no other duty than to help you to bring them o a
successful conclusion as speedily as possible. I should be guilty of ingratitude to
the Council of the League of Nations if I did not make every effort to prove that
the confidence it has reposed in me has not been misplaced.
Our task, such as it has been clearly defined in the resolutions of the council,
consists above all in discussing a draft convention for the control of the Internationa
trade in arms. . . r nu u
The question of the supervision of the private manufacture of arms, although
closely connected with that of the international trade in arms, nevertheless oes no
figure on our agenda. It is indispensable to the good smooth progress o our
discussions that a boundary should be clearly marked out between these two prop ems,
one of which—that of manufacture—is still under consideration by the council and
its competent organisations; while the other—that of the supervision o e
international traffic in arms—comes to us after a long process of preparation.
The work done in this connection since the creation of the League of Nations
in January 1920 has been summarised in the first part of the brown book prepared
for our conference by the secretariat of the League of Nations. Fhe historical survey
which figures at the beginning of this volume has been compiled entirely from the
official documents either of the competent commissions or of the Assembly of the
League, and it reminds us not only of the various phases through which the discussion
has passed, but also of the special position in which a certain number of the coun nes
represented here are placed, as a result in some cases of the obligations incurred
under the treaties of peace, and in other cases due to considerations of a political
or geographical nature. . . „ . ^
You are all familiar, gentlemen, with the origins of the present conference
Five years ago, at the Peace Conference, two currents of opinion regarding the tralhc
in arms led to the conclusion of the Saint-Germain Convention. The first ot these
movements, which originated in 1887, was towards the establishment of a special
supervision over the importation of arms into certain areas, in which serious
disturbances might be occasioned by unrestrictive traffic. The second, of a moie
general nature aimed at obviating the dangers to the peace of the world which nngnt
result from the accumulation of vast stocks of arms and munitions in consequence
of the war. The idea was therefore firstly to organise an international supervision
of the traffic in arms in a certain geographical zone, and secondly, to regulate the
international traffic by establishing a system of licences and publicity. Such are the
two main principles which are reproduced in the Convention of baint-Germain,
signed in September 1919. The efforts of the League oi' Nations ^vcre (hrected
towards securing the universal ratification of this convention. When the 1922
assembly met at Geneva, thirty-four Governments, including all the great producing
countries except the United States of America, had ratified the convention, or had
declared their willingness to do so as soon as all the producing States without
[944 g—1]

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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
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File 1355/1917 Pt 6 'Arms Traffic Convention: revised convention, 1925' [‎497r] (1000/1226), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/10/675, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100081597308.0x000001> [accessed 25 April 2024]

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