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This ratification concerned none of these nations at present because the last paragraph of Article 23 of the Convention provides that the Government of the Netherlands, as soon as it shall have received the ratifications of ALL the Sig- natory Powers, shall notify them of the date on which they have received the last of these ratifying acts, and because, according to the first paragraph of Article 24, the Convention will not enter into force until three months after the date mentioned in this notification of the Netherlands Government.
His Exc. Mr. von Müller asked which Powers were ready immediately to ratify the Convention.
The President replied that they were China, Costa Rica, Denmark, Ecuador, Spain, Italy, Luxemburg and Siam.
His Exe. Mr. Graça Aranha observed that immediate ratification implies, on the part of most of the countries represented, the reservation of ultimate approval by their respective Legislatures. The Governments who ratify immediately pledge themselves therefore, to submit the Convention to their Legislative Powers.
Their Excs. Jorje Huneeus and Marcellin Pellet agreed with this observation.
Dr. Hamilton Wright said that if the United States Senate were in session on the adjournment of the Conference, the Executive would probably send the Convention to the Senate and ask for immediate action. It was possible that the matter would not be taken up immediately, as the Senate was in special ses- sion, but would be dealt with in the early days of the regular session in December.
The President observed that the Delegation of Great Britain had called at- tention to the necessity that the Conference should express the desire that the other nations should adhere to the Convention. He also believed that such a desire expressed by the Conference would be of good effect.
His Exc. Mr. von Müller offered a resolution proposed by the Delegations of Germany, United States, Great Britain, France, The Netherlands and Russia. The President proposed that, in conformity with Rule VIII, the proposed resolution be printed and distributed and that the session adjourn until to-mor- row. He believed that the Delegates would be glad to make a preliminary examination of the text thereof.
Sir William Collins said that on the previous day he had urged that they might proceed expeditiously, but now he had to express the hope that they would not take by surprise those Delegations which had not had an opportunity of studying the projected resolution submitted by Mr. vos MULLER. The British Delegation had seen the draft, and they attached the greatest importance to its wording, and he was sure it would be the wish of other nationalities, seeing that this resolution was perhaps going to be the chief work of the Conference, that it should be so worded as to command unanimous assent. He would suggest that they should have an opportunity of considering the resolution in print, and of amending or modifying it if necessary. Apart perhaps from two nationalities there seemed to be no insuperable obstacle to securing the assent of all the others. It was clear that the value and virtue of the Convention depended so largely upon the generality if not the universality of agreement that no effort should be spared to secure the solidarity of Europe, if he might so say, in regard to this question, and also the cooperation of the nationalities of South America, especially Peru.
The President stated that the chair was of the same opinion as Sir WILLIAM. Dr. Hamilton Wright said that at the last Conference he was opposed to the ideas embodied in the final articles of the Convention. The view of his Government was that the nations signing the Convention should agree to ratify
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as soon as possible and leave it to the other nations to adhere voluntarily. Upon examination of the document at Washington it was felt that a great forward move in the international movement had been secured and thad it had been demonstrated that Conferences of nations dealing with the international traffic, or even the national traffic, in any commodity should be as universal as possible. He agreed with Sir WILLIAM COLLINS that the Conference should examine into the possibility of using its force in some way as a momentum to induce other nations with this great representative body.
(Applause).
Upon the proposal of the President, it was determined that Mr. J. BUTLER WRIGHT, Secretary of the American Delegation, should join the Secretariat of the Conference as a Secretary.
The President announced that the Delegates would be admitted, without personal introduction, at the Club, Plein 24, and at its House in the Wood.
The President begged the Delegates kindly to send to the office their corrections of the minutes within 24 hours after receiving the proofs, and to deposit their full powers with the Secretariat.
The President said that he had a personal request to make. He begged the Delegates to be good enough to reserve next Saturday and to give him the pleasure of taking lunch with him at his country place near Haarlem.
The President proposed that the meeting adjourn and, as the resolutions proposed by His Exe. Mr. VON MÜLLER would be in the hands of the members to-morrow morning, that the next meeting be to-morrow afternoon at half past two.
This proposal was unanimously adopted, but upon suggestion of His Exc. Mr. VON MÜLLER, the President stated that it seemed preferable to postpone the meeting until Friday morning at eleven o'clock because he had just learned that the text of the resolutions was only of a provisional nature and that the Delegations, who had proposed them, required time to revise and modify them after they should be printed.
This last proposal of the PRESIDENT was adopted without discussion and the meeting adjourned.
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