File 1355/1917 Pt 5 'Arms Traffic Convention.' [‎15r] (23/721)

sory Commission recalls that, in a report submitted to the Council on May 17th, 1922, it
defined war material as ‘material exclusively designed for war’, and drew attention
to the technical difficulties which made it impossible to draw up a complete enumeration
As the same difficulties stand in the way of drawing up a list for the requirements of the
national control of the private manufacture of war material or for any other purpose
the Permanent Advisory Commission, rather than give an incomplete and controversial
list of war material, has preferred to draw up a list, which it believes to be complete, of
0 m all arms which are or shall be constructed for the purposes of land, sea or aerial warfare,
whatever their mode of employment by armies, warships, tanks, aeroplanes, etc. The
Permanent Advisory Commission has therefore included in Category I all arms and muni
tions which might be utilised either by weapons of war, such as warships or tanks, or
by weapons not necessarily designed for war, such as aeroplanes.”
As to the substance of the question, the Committee thought that it should define the prin
ciples which should guide it in its investigation in so far as they could be drawn from the pre
vious work of the Temporary Mixed Commission. The aim of this work is defined in the
following paragraph from Article 8 of the Covenant :
“ 1 he Members of the League agree that the manufacture by private enterprise
of munitions and implements of war is open to grave objections. The Council shall advise
how the evil effects attendant upon such manufacture can be prevented, due regard
being had to the necessities of those Members of the League which are not able to manu
facture the munitions and implements of war necessary for their safety.”
In regard to the principles which should underlie the measures referred to in this article
of the Covenant, there was a certain divergence of views among the members of the Committee
on the following two points : [a) The prohibition of private manufacture ; (6) The nature
of the control.
1 he majority of the members held that, as the Committee had been appointed to examine
a draft convention for the control of the private manufacture of arms, it should obviously
leave out of consideration the question of the prohibition of private manufacture.
I his majority took the view that, owing to the very nature of the subject, the control
of private manufacture should be exclusively national though based on principles common
to all countries. International trade in arms, as is clear from the expression itself, extends
beyond national frontiers, whereas the private manufacture of arms must be regarded as
a purely national matter, the regulation and inspection of which should be left to the national
authorities.
At its July session held at Geneva, the Temporary Mixed Commission endorsed the view
of the majority of the Committee. Having considered the technical opinion of the Permanent
Advisory Commission quoted above, the Commission was of opinion that the material the
private manufacture of which would be made subject to control should include the arms,
munitions and implements of war enumerated in Category I of Article I of the Draft Conven
tion on the International trade in Arms, Munitions and Implements of War.
With regard to the principle underlying the Convention, the majority of the Commission
also endorsed the theory of national control. Further, in its study of the draft Convention,
the Commission has confined itself to those clauses which have a purely technical character,
considering that it was unnecessary to deal with the diplomatic or legal clauses required for
the purpose of completing an international convention, since these clauses would certainly
be similar to those contained in the Convention on the Control of the International Trade
in Arms, Munitions and Implements of War. The Commission, however, thought fit to point
out that one of these clauses should specify that the rights and obligations resulting from
the Treaties of Peace should remain unaffected.
The text drawn up by the Commission is given below :
Principles recommended as a Basis for an International Convention on the
National Control of the Private Manufacture of Arms, Munitions
and Implements of War.
Preamble.
‘‘The Temporary Mixed Commission :
‘‘Bearing in mind that the‘evil effects’ of private manufacture mentioned in paragraph
5 of Article 8 of the Covenant can be prevented by means of a control executed in each country
by the Government on principles common to all ;
‘‘That the main purpose of this control, while mantaining intact the right of every
Government to have recourse to either private or State enterprises for the acquisition of
the war material for its own needs, is to :
‘‘(1) Prevent all unauthorised manufacture, and thus complete the Convention
for the Control of the International Trade in Arms, Munitions and Implements of War ;
‘‘(2) Prevent all improper and corrupt practices in the course of operations con
nected with the acquisition of war material by States :
‘‘Submits to the Council of the League of Nations the following principles as a possible