Annex D.
Resolutions
Resolution of the Assembly, September 6th, 1924
The Assembly,
Noting the declarations of the Governments represented, observes with satisfaction that they contain the basis of an understanding tending to establish a secure peace,
Decides as follows:
With a view to reconciling in the new proposals the divergences between certain points of view which have been expressed and, when agreements have been reached, to enable an International Conference upon Armaments to be summoned by the League of Nations at the earliest possible moment:
(1) The Third Committee is requested to consider the material dealing with security and the reduction of armaments, particularly the observations of the Governments on the draft Treaty of Mutual Assistance prepared in pursuance of Resolution XIV of the Third Assembly and other plans prepared and presented to the Secretary-General, since the publication of the draft Treaty, and to examine the obligations contained in the Covenant of the League in relation to the guarantees of security which a resort to arbitration and a reduction of armaments may require:
(2) The First Committee is requested:
(a) To consider, in view of possible amendments, the articles in the Covenant relating to the settlement of disputes;
(b) To examine within what limits the terms of Article 36, paragraph 2, of the statute establishing the Permanent Court of International Justice might be rendered more precise and thereby facilitate the more general acceptance of the clause; and thus strengthen the solidarity and the security of the nations of the world by settling by pacific means all disputes which may arise between States.
Resolution of the Assembly, September 27th, 1924
Whereas the work of the League of Nations in connection with the reduction of armaments is entering this year upon a period of re-organisation which requires the direct attention of the Council,
The Assembly entrusts to the Council the question of the co-ordination of the work of its Commissions for the Reduction of Armaments.
The Assembly recommends the Council to re-organise the Temporary Mixed Commission in conformity with the following principles:
(1) The Commission shall include the representatives of a certain number of Governments;
(2) The Commission shall include qualified delegates of the Technical Organisation of the League of Nations, that is to say:
Representatives of the Economic Committee,
" " " Financial Committee,
" " " Transit Committee,
" " " Permanent Advisory Commission,
" " " Employers’ and Labour
Groups of the International
Labour Office,
Experts, jurists or others elected by the Council.
(3) Delegates of States not represented on the Commission may be invited to attend whenever the Commission thinks fit.
(4) The Council may invite any States not Members of the League of Nations which may have notified their intention of taking part in the International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments to appoint representatives to participate in the work of the Commission.
Resolution of the Assembly, October 2nd, 1924
I. The Assembly,
Having taken note of the reports of the First and Third Committees on the questions referred to them by the Assembly resolution of September 6th, 1924,
Welcomes warmly the draft Protocol on the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes proposed by the two Committees, of which the text is annexed to this resolution, and Decides
(1) To recommend to the earnest attention of all the Members of the League the acceptance of the said draft Protocol;
(2) To open immediately the said Protocol in the terms proposed for signature by those representatives of Members of the League who are already in a position to sign it and to hold it open for signature by all other States;
(3) To request the Council forthwith to appoint a Committee to draft the amendments to the Covenant contemplated by the terms of the said Protocol;
(4) To request the Council to convene an International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments, which shall meet at Geneva as provided by the following stipulations of Article 17 of the draft Protocol:
“In preparation for the convening of the Conference, the Council shall draw up, with due regard to the undertakings contained in Articles 11 and 13 of the present Protocol, a general programme for the reduction and limitation of armaments which shall be laid before the Conference and be communicated to the Governments at the earliest possible date, and at the latest, three months before the Conference meets.
“If by May 1st, 1925, ratifications have not been deposited by at least a majority of the permanent Members of the Council and ten other Members of the League, the Secretary-General of the League shall immediately consult the Council as to whether he shall cancel the invitations or merely adjourn the Conference to a subsequent date to be fixed by the Council so as to permit the necessary number of ratifications to be obtained.”
(5) To request the Council to put into immediate execution the provisions of Article 12 of the draft Protocol.
Recommendation of the Assembly, October 2nd, 1924
II. The Assembly,
Having taken cognisance of the report of the First Committee upon the terms of Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice;
Considering that the study of the said terms shows them to be sufficiently wide to permit States to adhere to the special Protocol, opened for signature in virtue of Article 36, paragraph 2, with the reservations which they regard as indispensable;
Convinced that it is in the interest of the progress of international justice, and consistent with the expectations of the opinion of the world, that the greatest possible number of States should, to the widest possible extent, accept as compulsory the jurisdiction of the Court.
Recommends:
States to accede at the earliest possible date to the special Protocol opened for signature in virtue of Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Permanent Court of International Justice.
Resolution of the Assembly, October 2nd, 1924
I. The Assembly recommends the Council to place the question of Regional Agreements for the Reduction of Armaments on the agenda of the International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments.
II. Whereas the majority of the States which have replied have stated that, with certain exceptions, they have not exceeded the expenditure on armaments shown in their last budgets, and whereas the recommendation addressed to the Governments relates to the period which must elapse before the meeting of the International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments, which is to take place next year:
The Assembly does not consider it necessary to repeat the recommendation regarding the limitation of expenditure on armaments, as this question is to be placed upon the agenda of the International Conference for the Reduction of Armaments.
III. The Assembly is of the opinion:
1. That another technical conference on naval disarmament is unnecessary.
2. That the question of naval disarmament should be discussed as part of the general question of disarmament dealt with by the International Conference proposed in the resolution of September 6th, 1924, adopted by the Fifth Assembly, and that it rests with the Council to settle the programme.
IV. The Assembly requests the Council, in preparing the general programme of the Conference for the Reduction of Armaments provided for in Article 17 of the Protocol, to consider the advisability of including in that programme the following points:
1. General plan for a reduction of armaments in accordance with Article 8 of the Covenant, in particular:
(a) Basis and methods of reduction (budget, peace-time effectives, tonnage of naval and air fleets, population, configuration of frontiers, etc.);
(b) Preparation of a typical budget for expenditure on armaments.
2. Special position of certain States in relation to the reduction of armaments:
(a) Temporary reservations by countries exposed to special risks;
(b) Recommendation of regional agreements for the reduction (or limitation) of armaments,
3. Recommendation of the establishment of demilitarised zones (Article 9).
4. Control and investigation of armaments in the contracting States.
The Assembly also requests the Council to instruct the competent organisations of the League to examine the schemes relating to the above questions which have already been submitted to the Third Committee, or which may subsequently be received by the Secretariat, and to take them into consideration in preparing the programme of the Conference.
Resolution of the Council, October 3rd, 1924
1. With a view to the preparation of the Conference for the Reduction of Armaments, the Council decides to form itself into a Committee. The representatives on the Council who consider that it will not be possible to attend the Committee in person will, as soon as possible, send to the Secretary-General the names of their substitutes on this Committee.
The Committee will hold its first meeting on November 17th, in order to draw up a general programme of the work connected with the application of Article 12 of the Protocol and with the reduction of armaments.
The Governments of the States represented on the Council are requested to give their representatives on the Committee the necessary instructions in order that the general lines of the programme may be laid down during its meeting of November 17th.1 The Secretary-General will invite the Governments of the States Members of the League not represented on the Council to forward through him to the Committee any suggestions which they may think useful with a view to the preparation of this programme.
2. The Secretariat is requested to collect the data necessary for the economic and financial investigations relative to the application of Article 12 of the Protocol, and is authorised to distribute these data to the competent organs of the League (Economic and Financial Organisation and Transit Organisation) with a view to the work which will subsequently be required of them by the Committee.
The Secretariat will obtain information from the official documents at the disposal of the League or from documents which might, if necessary, be furnished by the Governments.
3. In conformity with the Assembly resolution, and in order to assist the Committee in co-ordinating the preparatory work for the Conference, the Temporary Mixed Commission shall be re-organised and shall take the name of the Co-ordination Commission, and be composed as follows:
(a) The Committee of the Council (ten members) assisted by:
(b) The President and one member or two members of each of the three Organisations, Economic, Financial and Transit (six members);
(c) Six members appointed by the Permanent Advisory Commission (six members);
(d) Two members of the Employers’ Group and two members of the Workers’ Group of the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, appointed by the latter (four members);
(e) If considered advisable, a certain number of experts—jurists and others—appointed by the Council.
The Secretary-General is requested to invite at a suitable moment the above-mentioned organisations to appoint their representatives.
The work of either the Council or its Committee was dependent to a large extent upon the receipt of suggestions from Members of the League which had been requested from them in a circular letter of the Secretary-General, October 11, 1924.
Various items regarding the Protocol of Geneva were on the Agenda of the Council for its December, 1924, meeting at Rome. Preparatory work regarding “the general program” under the second paragraph of Article 17 of the Protocol was the most important. Two other relevant items were (1) the reorganization of the Temporary Mixed Commission and the Permanent Advisory Commission into a single co-ordinated Commission; and (2) the date of the meeting of the Commission of Jurists (appointed at the Brussels session of the Council in October, 1924) to draft the amendments to the Covenant contemplated by the Protocol.
A Conservative Government came into power in Great Britain early in November, 1924, Mr. Austen Chamberlain becoming Foreign Secretary. At the request of the British Government, the agenda items for the December, 1924 meeting of the Council at Rome relating to the Protocol of Geneva were postponed until the March meeting. In the meantime, the British Government has suggested to the Dominions a meeting of the Imperial Conference for the purpose of adopting a policy of the British Commonwealth of Nations regarding the Protocol of Geneva. Whether such a meeting will be held, or whether the general British policy will be decided on as a result of correspondence, is not at this writing certain.
Notes
1 The Council, at its 31st Session at Brussels, October 28th, 1924, “decided itself to undertake at its session in Rome (December, 1924) the work of preparing for the Conference on the Reduction of Armaments,” instructing the Council Committee to continue and complete this work and report to the Council at its session in March, 1925.