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Extract from the Chairman's speech delivered at the Annual Gener
Meeting of Members held on 20th March, 1911, on the subject of the
"Declaration of London, 1909*
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As you are aware, a most important agreement has recently been come to between Great Britain and other leading Powers with regard to the vexed question of the laws concerning Naval Warfare.
This Agreement, known as *The Declaration of London 1909", has been signed by the representative of His Majesty's Government, and will, we understand, shortly be submitted for discussion in Parliament, before being ratified. This new international agreement 1g of far-reaching
all effect, and if accepted will make great changes in neutral trade should another war unhappily break out between any of the Great Powers, resul- ting in hostilities at sea, That some such agreement is required is,
I think universally admitted, but it would appear that the terms of the present one will react, in the event of war, most seriously and parti- cularly against all sed-borne British trade. The Committee of the Cham ber of Commerce having had an opportunity of considering certain papers dealing with the subject, felt constrained to add their voice to that of other British Chambers of Commerce, inprotesting against the Declaration in its present form. The question has already been fully discussed both in the Home papers and by our local press, and therefore most of you are probably fairly well acquainted with the outlines of the ques- tion. I may, however, state that the London Chamber of Commerce on receiving the text of the Declaration appointed a special Committee under the Chairmanship of Lord Desborough to fully consider the matter. The conclusions and recommendations of this Committee were as follows:-
That the Declaration of London should not be ratified in its pre- sent form or be made effective by the passing of the Naval Prize Bill now before Parliament.
(A) That the effect of the Declaration is to alter the Law of Nationa as hitherto maintained in a manner entirely unprecedented and to expose to capture or deliberate destruction food supplies borne to any part of Great Britain in neutral vessels.
(B)
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That the absence of any provision in the Declaration for preventing the converston of merchant vessels into commerce destroyers on the high
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