༢༽
3503
[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Government.]
584
12
OPIUM.
[January 22.]
CONFIDENTIAL.
SECTION 1.
[2979]
No. 1.
January 22.)
British Delegates to International Opium Conference to Sir Edward Grey.-(Received
(No. 12.) Sir,
The Hague, January 20, 1912.
IN reply to your despatch No. 18 of the 17th instant, we have the honour to state that the object of paragraph 10 of the clauses in regard to ratification and signature of the Opium Convention was, as you surmised, to give time for the communication by the Netherlands Government to all the Powers affected of the final ratification, and also to afford a short interval during which preliminary steps might be taken to provide for the carrying out of such measures as can be put into effect without the further delay involved by the provisions of paragraphs 11 to 13; for instance, the exchange of statistics, &c., referred to in article 21 of the convention itself (see the latest draft, enclosed herewith*).
For this reason it would not be feasible to delete paragraph 10 as suggested by the Board of Trade.
The Board's suggestion that provision should be made to meet the possibility of undue delay in ratification has been met by an amendment to paragraph 13, moved by us yesterday and accepted by the conference, by which that paragraph now provides for a special supplementary conference, if necessary, to deal with questions in connection with ratification also. We consider this preferable to the course of fixing a specific date within which all ratifications must be handed in, for under such a procedure failure to reply by the prescribed date would have to be considered as equivalent to a refusal to ratify, or else the condition would have to be practically set aside. Moreover, it would be practically impossible to fix such a date at present, since it would depend on whether all Powers signed promptly, or whether the conference provided for by paragraph 6 had to meet.
We did not consider it advisable to press the Board of Trade's suggestion for an inversion of the order of paragraphs 5 and 6. The existing order is the logical one, since it provides first for the hoped-for course of universal adhesion by signature before the end of this year, and then provides an alternative method in case this Moreover, if paragraph 6 were to come first the present expectation be not realised. paragraph 5 would have to be further amended, since it is quite possible that all Powers would not have signed, but that after the meeting referred to in paragraph 6 ratification by the rest would nevertheless be proceeded with.
We have, therefore, exercised the discretion vested in us by your despatch, by contenting ourselves with the amendments to paragraph 13 above indicated.
As matters at present stand the conference has given a second reading to all the matter in the enclosed draft up to the words "signature supplémentaire" on page 8, while the further paragraphs we have been discussing have received a first reading. It now remains to give a first reading to the "dénonciation" and "protocole de clôture" clauses, and a second reading from the words "signature supplémentaire to the end. Then the entire draft will be once more revised with reference to wording by the comité de rédaction, after which it will be ready for final reading by the conference and signature by the delegates.
We have, &c. (For British Delegation),
W. S. MEYER.
P.S.-The second reading process was extended this afternoon to all the matter referred to in the preceding paragraph, and no change of any consequence was made. A final reading will be given on Monday, and the convention will be ready for signature by the delegates on Tuesday, the 23rd instant.
W. S. M.
[2340 y-1]
* Not printed.
・