2. As soon as the ratifications of the United States of America, of His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, in respect of each and all of the Members of the British Commonwealth of Nations as enumerated in the preamble of the present Treaty, and of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan have been deposited, the Treaty shall come into force in respect of the said High Contracting Parties. 3. On the date of the coming into force referred to in the preceding paragraph, Parts I, II, IV and V of the present Treaty will come into force in respect of the French Republic and the Kingdom of Italy if their ratifications have been deposited at that date; otherwise these Parts will come into force in respect of each of those Powers on the deposit of its ratification. 4. The rights and obligations resulting from Part III of the present Treaty are limited to the High Contracting Parties mentioned in paragraph 2 of this Article. The High Contracting Parties will agree as to the date on which, and the conditions under which, the obligations assumed under the said Part III by the High Contracting Parties mentioned in paragraph 2 of this Article will bind them in relation to France and Italy; such agreement will determine at the same time the corresponding obligations of France and Italy in relation to the other High Contracting Parties. ARTICLE 25. After the deposit of the ratifications of all the High Contracting Parties, His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will communicate the provisions inserted in Part IV of the present Treaty to all Powers which are not signatories of the said Treaty, inviting them to accede thereto definitely and without limit of time. Such accession shall be effected by a declaration addressed to His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. ARTICLE 26. The present Treaty, of which the French and English texts are both authentic, shall remain deposited in the archives of His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Duly certified copies thereof shall be transmitted to the Governments of all the High Contracting Parties. In faith whereof the above-named Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty and have affixed thereto their seals. Done at London, the twenty-second day of April, nineteen hundred and thirty. [SEAL] HENRY L. STIMSON. [SEAL] DWIGHT W. MORROW. [SEAL] ARISTIDE BRIAND. [SEAL] A. DE FLEURIAU. [SEAL] J. RAMSAY MACDONALD. [SEAL] W. WEDGWOOD BENN. [SEAL] PHILIPPE ROY. [SEAL] JAMES E. FENTON. [SEAL] T. M. WILFORD. [SEAL] C. T. TE WATER. [SEAL] T. A. SMIDDY. [SEAL] ATUL C. CHATTERJEE. [SEAL] G. SIRIANNI. [SEAL] A. C. BORDONARO. [SEAL] ALFREDO ACTON. [SEAL] R. WAKATSUKI. [SEAL] TAKESHI TAKARABE. [SEAL] T. MATSUDAIRA. [SEAL] M. NAGAI. II 1. The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Henderson) to the American Ambassador in Great Britain (Dawes), October 7, 1929 I have the honour to transmit to your excellency herewith copies of the notes which I am to-day addressing to the French, Italian, and Japanese Ambassadors in London inviting the French, Italian, and Japanese Governments to participate in a five-power conference to deal with the question of naval disarmament, which it is proposed to hold in London in the latter part of January next. 2. As I understand that the Government of the United States concur in the terms of the enclosed notes, I shall be grateful if your excellency will be so good as to confirm my impression that they will find it possible to participate in the conference above mentioned. [Enclosure] The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Henderson) to the French, Italian, and Japanese Ambassadors in Great Britain, October 7, 1929 I have the honour to inform your excellency that the informal conversations on the subject of naval disarmament which have been proceeding in London during the last three months between the Prime Minister and the Ambassador of the United States have now reached a stage at which it is possible to say that there is no point outstanding of such serious importance as to prevent an agreement. From time to time the Prime Minister has notified your excellency of the progress made in these discussions and I now have the honour to state that provisional and informal agreement has been reached on the following principles: 1. The conversations have been one of the results of the Treaty for the Renunciation of War signed at Paris in 1928 which brought about a realignment of our national attitudes on the subject of security in consequence of the provision that war should not be used as an instrument of national policy in the relations of nations one to another. Therefore the Peace Pact has been regarded as the starting point of agreement. 2. It has been agreed to adopt the principle of parity in each of the several categories and that such parity shall be reached by December 31st, 1936. Consultation between His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and His Majesty's Government in the Dominions has taken place and it is contemplated that the programme of parity on the British side should be related to naval forces of all parts of the Empire. 3. The question of battleship strength was also touched upon during the conversations and it has been agreed in these conversations that subject to the assent of other signatory powers it would be desirable to reconsider the battleship replacement programmes provided for in the Washington treaty of 1922 with the view of diminishing the amount of replacement construction implied under that treaty. 4. Since both the Government of the United States and His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom adhere to the attitude that they have publicly adopted in regard to the desirability of securing the total abolition of the submarine, this matter hardly gave rise to discussion during the recent conversations. They recognize, however, that no final settlement on this subject can be reached except in conference with the other naval Powers, In view of the scope of these discussions both Governments consider it most desirable that a conference should be summoned to consider the categories not covered by the Washington treaty and to arrange for and deal with the questions covered by the second paragraph of Article 21 of that treaty. It is our earnest hope that the Government will agree to the desirability of such a conference. His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the Government of the United States are in accord that such a conference should be held in London at the beginning of the third week of January, 1930, and it is hoped that the Government will be willing to appoint representatives to attend it. A similar invitation is being addressed to the Governments of and the United States; and His Majesty's Governments in the Dominions are being asked to appoint representatives to take part in the conference. I should be grateful if your excellency would cause the above invitation to be addressed to the Government. In the same way as the two Governments have kept your excellency informally au courant of the recent discussions, so now His Majesty's Government will be willing, in the interval before the proposed conference, to continue informal conversations with your excellency on any points which may require elucidation. The importance of reviewing the whole naval situation at an early date is so vital in the interests of general disarmament that I trust that your excellency's Government will see their way to accept this invitation and that the date proposed will be agreeable to them. His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom propose to communicate to you in due course their views as to the subjects which they think should be discussed at the conference, and will be glad to receive a corresponding communication from the Government. It is hoped that at this conference the principal naval powers may be successful in reaching agreement. I should like to emphasize that His Majesty's Government have discovered no inclination in any quarter to set up new machinery for dealing with the naval disarmament question; on the contrary, it is hoped that by this means a text can be elaborated which will facilitate the task of the League of Nations Preparatory Commission and of the subsequent General Disarmament Conference. 2. The American Chargé d'Affaires in Great Britain (Atherton) to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Henderson), October 10, 1929 I have the honor to refer to the note which you were good enough to address to the Ambassador on October 7th, and I take great pleasure in informing you that the American Government hastens to accept the invitation of His Majesty's Government to a conference on naval armaments to take place in London the latter part of January, which will unite the powers signatory to the Washington treaty in a discussion which will anticipate the problems raised under Article 21 of that treaty as well as broaden its whole scope by the inclusion of the other categories of ships. 3. Statement of the President of the United States and the British Prime Minister, October 10, 1929 During the last few days we have had an opportunity, in the informal talks in which we have engaged, not only to review the conversations on a naval agreement which have been carried on during this summer between us, but also to discuss some of the more important means by which the moral force of our countries can be exerted for peace. We have been guided by the double hope of settling our own differences on naval matters and so establishing unclouded good will, candor, and confidence between us, and also of contributing something to the solution of the problem of peace in which all other nations are interested and which calls for their cooperation. In signing the Paris Peace Pact 56 nations have declared that war shall not be used as an instrument of national policy. We have agreed that all disputes shall be settled by pacific means. Both our Governments resolve to accept the Peace Pact not only as a declaration of good intentions but as a positive obligation to direct national policy in accordance with its pledge. The part of each of our Governments in the promotion of world peace will be different, as one will never consent to become entangled in European diplomacy and the other is resolved to pursue a policy |