File No. 511.4Al/1471a.
The Secretary of State to the American Delegates.
Washington, June 5, 1914.
Gentlemen: I take pleasure in informing you that the President has appointed you to be Delegates Plenipotentiary to represent the United States of America at the final International Opium Conference which, at the instance of the Netherlands Government, is to meet at The Hague on the 15th of the present month.
A brief review of the various steps leading up to the convocation of this Conference may be helpful. In February, 1909, an International Opium Commission, upon the invitation of this Government, met at Shanghai, China, where the opium problem was thoroughly [Page 928] examined and certain unanimous conclusions arrived at which in substance condemned the evils associated with the overproduction and use of opium and morphine, and certain recommendations as to the measures to be taken by the nations represented to bring such evils to an end.5 As the International Commission was not empowered to negotiate a Convention binding the participating Powers, it was deemed necessary that an International Conference composed of delegates with full powers should be convoked, not only to conventionalize the conclusions agreed upon by the Commission, but to provide rules under which opium and other narcotic drugs should be produced and the international traffic therein conducted, as well as national laws by which such drugs should be confined to strictly, medicinal purposes in the territories of the different countries.6
Accordingly, on the proposal of the United States, and on the invitation of the Netherlands Government, the First International Opium Conference met at The Hague on December 1, 1911,7 and on January 23, 1912, the Delegates thereto signed a Convention8 containing stipulations as to the production and the international and national traffic in opium, morphine and cocaine. As it was found that the question dealt with by the Commission and the First Conference affected the economic interests not only of the Powers having treaty relations with the Orient, but also of most of the other nations of the world, the Conference concluded that to make its Convention effective it was necessary to secure adherence thereto by all the nations if that were possible. Therefore the Convention was so formulated that it was not to become operative until the nations named in Article 22 of the Convention should add their signatures to the instrument.
The necessary supplementary signatures were to be secured by December 31, 1912. In the event of failure to secure all the supplementary signatures, the Netherlands Government engaged to call a second conference of all the original signatory Powers and of those Powers which had adhered, to examine the possibility of proceeding none the less to the ratification of the Convention. Since a few of the supplementary signatures were not subscribed, the second conference became necessary, which the Netherlands Government called.
The Second Conference assembled at The Hague on July 1st of last year, at the invitation of the Netherlands Government.9 Upon its organization the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Government laid before the Conference certain documents which showed that all the Powers of the World had signed the Convention of January 23, 1912, except Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Montenegro, Norway, Peru, Roumania, Servia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Uruguay.
On the opening of the Conference the Delegates Plenipotentiary representing the signatory Powers desired to proceed at once to the question of the deposit of the ratifications of the International Opium Convention. But on the plea of the Chairman of the American Delegation, an adjournment was taken to enable all the Delegates to informally consult on a plan of procedure by which the above-mentioned [Page 929] nonsignatory Powers might be made to adhere to the Convention.
Such an adjournment was taken. Then, on the invitation of the American Delegation there met in the American office the representatives of the American, German, French, British, Netherlands and Russian Governments. These representatives constituted themselves an informal committee of six, and drew up a Statement and a Resolution which later on was presented to the Conference and became its Protocole de Clôture.10
The general plan of this Protocol was to the effect that by direction of the Conference the Netherlands Government, inspired by the desire of all the signatory Powers to clarify the difficulties which had prevented the non-signatory Powers from signing the Convention, was to lay before those Powers the views of the Conference as contained in its Protocol, the representatives of the Netherlands Government at the Capitals of the non-signatory Powers to be supported in any action which they might be directed to take by the Ministers of the States signatory to the Convention.
The Conference further decided in its Protocol that in the event of the above-mentioned non-signatory Powers not having adhered to the Convention by the 31st of December, 1913, the Government of the Netherlands was immediately to invite all the Powers which had signed the Convention up to that date to designate delegates to assemble at The Hague and consider the question whether it was not possible to put the International Opium Convention into effect. During the sittings of the Conference, through the joint efforts of the American and the Netherlands Governments, Peru and Uruguay determined to sign the Convention, and all the Powers represented except Great Britain and Germany agreed to ratify the instrument. The Protocole de Cloture of the second Conference was signed on July 9th last, and the Conference was adjourned sine die.
Since the adjournment of the Conference of last July the American and the Netherlands Governments have made a united effort to secure for the Convention the signatures of the remaining non-signatory Powers, and have been successful except in the case of Austria-Hungary, Greece, Servia and Turkey.
It is assumed by the Department that the discussions and conclusions of the prospective Conference will, except by general consent of the interested Governments, be confined to the purpose of the Protocol signed at The Hague on July 9th last. Therefore, it is unnecessary to give you detailed instructions on this question. Should, however, other questions arise resulting from the anti-opium movement with its bearing on the treaties, you will be guided by the tenor of the Department’s instruction of October 18, 1911, to the American Delegates to the International Opium Conference which met at The Hague on December 1st of that year.11
You may agree to put the International Opium Convention into force on behalf of the Government of the United States.
One thing I wish you to bear in mind, namely, that while the International Opium Convention does not require the signatory Powers [Page 930] to at once put into force domestic legislation to carry out its pledges, nevertheless, this Government has proceeded to put such legislation on the statute books in the hope that its action may be an Incentive to the other Governments not to wait upon the exact terms of the Convention. I desire that you lay before the Conference a proper statement as to what the Federal Government has done in the way of legislation in accordance with the terms of the International Opium Convention, and if possible to use the action of this Government to secure similar action in the near future on the part of the other Governments.
Should occasion arise during the course of the deliberations of the Conference for special instructions, you will communicate concisely with the Department by telegraph.
Throughout the deliberations of the Conference you should bear in mind that the international movement for the suppression of the opium evil was initiated by this Government, with the primary object of protecting the Philippine Islands from the opium evil, and of assisting China in her energetic and so far successful effort in that direction.
As to the great benefit which has accrued to this Government from the sincere cooperation of the other nations with it for the suppression of the evils associated with the opium and allied traffics, you should consult my letter of ----- to the Secretary of War congratulating him upon the practical suppression of the narcotic evil in the Philippine Islands.
I may assure you that it is the President’s earnest desire, one in which I warmly join, that the Conference which you are about to attend through harmonious consideration will accomplish the great purpose for which it is convened and mark the successful termination of this Government’s eight years effort to bring to an end an odious economic evil.
I am [etc.]
- For. Rel. 1909, pp. 95–115.↩
- For. Rel. 1910, pp. 292–328.↩
- For. Rel. 1911, pp. 54–56.↩
- For. Rel. 1912, pp. 196–204.↩
- For. Rel. 1913, pp. 215–283.↩
- Id., pp. 230–232, 233. See the text of the protocol, ante, inclosure with Mr. Schmolck’s September 22, 1913.↩
- For. Rel. 1912, pp. 188–193.↩