SECOND PLENARY SESSION.
Wednesday, July 2, 1913.
Presidency of Mr. J. T. Cremer.
The President took the chair at 2.30 p. m.
All the Delegations were present except that of the Dominican Republic.
The President read the following telegram which Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands had been pleased to address to him in reply to the message of the Conference:
"I am happy to see at The Hague the representatives of the Nations assembled for the Second International Opium Conference. While thanking you, Mr. President, for the sentiments you have interpreted, I express to you my good wishes for the humanitarian goal of the Conference.
WILHELMINA.”
The President: My proposal is to take the rules for the first Conference also for this Conference, with the understanding that what is superfluous in them we can leave aside.
The proposal was carried unanimously.
The rules read as follows:
Rule I.
The International Opium Conference is composed of all the Delegates of the Powers which have signed the International Opium Convention of January 23, 1912 or the additional Protocol for the non-signatory Powers and have accepted the invitation of the Government of the Queen of the Netherlands.
Rule II.
After organizing its Bureau, the Conference shall discuss in pleno the way in which the program shall be drawn up. The Conference, if necessary, shall appoint Committees to study the questions submitted to it.
The Plenipotentiaries of the Powers are free to register on the lists of these Committees according their own convenience, and to appoint technical Delegates to take part therein.
Rule III.
Each Committee shall appoint a Chairman, a Secretary and a Reporter.
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Rule IV.
A drafting Committee for the purpose of coordinating the acts adopted by the Conference and preparing them in their final form shall also be appointed by the Conference at the beginning of its labors.
Rule V.
The Delegates are all authorized to take part in the deliberations at the plenary sessions of the Conference as well as in the Committees of which they form part. The members of one and the same Delegation may mutually replace one another.
Rule VI.
Members of the Conference attending the meetings of Committees of which they are not members, are not entitled to take part in the deliberations without special authorization of the Chairmen of the Committees. ·
Rule VII.
When a vote is taken, each Delegation shall have only one vote. The vote shall be taken by roll-call in the alphabetical order of the Powers represented.
Rule VIII.
Every resolution or motion proposed for discussion by the Conference must, as a general rule, he delivered in writing to the President, and be printed and distributed before being taken up for discussion.
The resolution referred to in the present rule is one of such character as is destined to form the subject of international agreement and consequently to require a careful study beforehand; and does not include a resolution offered in the course of the sitting of the Conference for transaction of business.
Such proposals cannot be voted on during the same session, without the unanimous consent of all the Delegations.
Rule IX.
A Committee of three Delegates shall be appointed by the Conference to which shall be entrusted the duty of making communications to the Press.
Rule X.
The minutes of the plenary sessions of the Conference and of the Committees shall give a succinct résumé of the deliberations. A proof copy of them shall be delivered with as little delay as possible to the members of the Conference; they need not be read at the beginning of the sessions except by the request of a Delegate.
Each Delegate shall have a right to request the insertion in full of his official declarations according to the text delivered by him to the Secretary, and to make observations regarding the minutes.
The reports of the Committees shall be printed and distributed before they are taken up for discussion.
Rule XI.
French shall be the official language of the Conference, and the minutes shall be recorded in this language. However other languages may be used in the Conference.
This rule shall not exclude the delivery of a translation to those Delegates who desire to receive documents in any other language.
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