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-the United The Powers that have ratified the convention are so far only seven- States of America, Denmark, Portugal, Siam, Venezuela, Honduras, and Guatemala.
It will be seen, therefore, that the reasons which precluded ratification on behalf of His Majesty's Government have ceased to exist. You are therefore authorised to inform the conference that His Majesty's Government will deposit the instruments of ratification, as soon as the necessary formalities have been carried out.
It now remains to examine the nature of the invitation of the Government of the Netherlands and to consider more closely the exact purpose of the forthcoming conference.
The invitation states that the conference "aura pour but d'instituer une enquête en vigueur" and is concernant la possibilité de faire entrer la convention evidently issued to comply with the terms of the resolution passed at the second conference.
This resolution was, as you are aware, worded as follows:-
"
Should the signature of all the Powers invited in accordance with paragraph 1 of article 23 not be obtained by the 31st December, 1913, the Government of the Netherlands will immediately request the signatory Powers to appoint delegates to proceed to The Hague to examine into the possibility of putting into effect the International Opium Convention of the 23rd January, 1912.”
According, however, to article 24 of the convention, the convention would, unless otherwise decided, come into force automatically three months after a date notified by the Netherland Government as being the date on which it received the last of the ratifications of all the signatory Powers.
The resolution of the second conference appears to contemplate the possibility of putting the convention into force in some manner or at some date other than is prescribed by article 24, and accordingly the real purpose of the new conference will be to consider the possibility, notwithstanding the terms of article 24, of putting the convention into force without waiting for the ratifications of all the signatory Powers, or in the event of such ratifications not being deposited by a certain date.
Article 24 of the convention states that, "in the event of questions arising relative to the ratification of the present convention, or to the enforcement either of the convention or of the laws, regulations, or measure resulting therefrom, the Government of the Netherlands will, if these questions cannot be settled by other means, invite all the contracting Powers to appoint delegates to meet at The Hague in order to arrive at an immediate agreement on these questions."
The invitation of the Government of the Netherlands is not expressed as being issued under this article, but His Majesty's Government consider that if difficulties are raised at the conference as to its powers to vary the terms of the convention, in respect of the date of coming into force, you may appeal to this provision of Article 24 in support of the conference having such powers.
Otherwise the effect of the forthcoming conference may be solely to give an impetus to ratifications in the same way that the second conference had for its chief purpose to give an impetus to signatures.
It may be assumed, however, that the question as to whether or not it is possible to put the convention into force in the way above indicated will come up for discussion immediately the conference opens, and you will therefore have to consider the most practical way of harmonising the intentions of the first and second conferences with regard to the point at issue, and of overcoming the technical difficulties that stand in the way of a satisfactory settlement in circumstances not originally anticipated.
These difficulties will not of course arise if all the Powers have already signed and ratified by the time the conference meets, or if there are assurances forthcoming that their signatures will have taken place and their ratifications deposited by a given date, and you should consequently press anyhow for the ratification of the convention by the signatory Powers that have not yet ratified.
In the event of all ratifications not having been received or assurances given as alluded to in the preceding paragraph, the conference will have to consider whether the co-operation of all the signatory Powers is really essential in order to render the object of the convention effective, and should they decide that it is not, which are the Powers whose abstention will not invalidate the purposes of the convention. At the same time you should not agree to any particular list of such countries without first applying to me for authorisation.
In the event of agreement having been arrived at on this point, you should be
prepared to discuss the date as from which the convention shall come into force other than that prescribed in article 24 (in the event of the Powers just referred to not having ratified), and you should then consider the means by which this can be effected. You will, of course, report from time to time on the progress made by-the conference, and will refer to me for instructions on any point as you consider
I am, &c.
necessary.
E. GREY.
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