Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Volume I

Hunter Miller Papers

Draft by the Secretary of State for an International Agreement²⁵

[ January 7, 1919.]

Article III—Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes

Clause 1

In the event that there is a controversy between two or more members of the League of Nations which fails of settlement through diplomatic channels one of the following means of settlement shall be employed:

1. The parties to the controversy shall constitute a joint commission to investigate and report jointly or severally to their Governments the facts and make recommendations as to settlement. After such report a further effort shall be made to reach a diplomatic settlement of the controversy.

2. The parties shall by agreement arrange for the submission of the controversy to arbitration mutually agreed upon or to the Arbitral Tribunal hereinafter referred to.

3. Any party may, unless the second means of settlement is mutually adopted, submit the controversy to the Supervisory Committee of the International Council; and the Committee shall forthwith (a) name and direct a special commission to investigate and report upon the subject; (b) name and direct a commission to mediate between the parties to the controversy; or (c) direct the parties to submit the controversy to the Arbitral Tribunal for judicial settlement, it being understood that direction to arbitrate may be made at any time in the event that investigation and mediation fail to result in a settlement of the controversy.

Clause 2

No party to a controversy shall assume any authority or perform any acts based upon disputed rights without authorization by the Supervisory Committee, such authorization being limited in all eases to the pendency of the controversy and its final settlement and being in no way prejudicial to the rights of the parties. An authorization thus granted by the Supervisory Committee may be modified or superseded by mutual agreement of the parties, by order of an arbitrator or arbitrators selected by the parties, or by order of the Arbitral Tribunal if the controversy is submitted to it.

Clause 3

The foregoing clause shall not apply to cases in which the constituted authorities of a power are unable or fail to give protection to the lives and property of nationals of another power. In the event that it becomes necessary for a power to use its military or naval forces to safeguard the lives or property of its nationals within the territorial jurisdiction of another power, the facts and reasons for such action shall be forthwith reported to the Supervisory Committee which shall determine the course of action to be adopted in order to protect the rights of all parties, and shall notify the same to the governments involved which shall comply with such notification. In the event that a government fails to comply therewith it shall be deemed to have violated the covenant and guaranty hereinbefore set forth.

Article IV—Revision of Arbitral Tribunal and Codification of International Law

Clause 1

The International Council, within one year after its organization, shall notify to the powers signatory and adherent to this convention and shall invite all other powers to send delegates to an international conference at such place and time as the Council may determine and not later than six months after issuance of such notification and invitation.

Clause 2

The International Conference shall consider the revision of the constitution and procedure of the Arbitral Tribunal and provisions for the amicable settlement of international disputes established by the [I] Treaty signed at The Hague in 1907, and shall formulate codes embodying the principles of international law applicable in time of peace and the rules of warfare on land and sea and in the air. The revision and codification when completed shall be embodied in a treaty or treaties.

Clause 3

The International Council shall prepare and submit with the notification and invitation above provided a preliminary program of the International Conference, which shall be subject to modification or amendment by the Conference.

Clause 4

Until the treaty of revision of the constitution and procedure of the Arbitral Tribunal becomes operative, the provisions of the [I] Treaty signed at The Hague in 1907 shall be continued in force, and all references herein to the Arbitral Tribunal shall be understood to be the Tribunal constituted under the [I] Treaty but upon the treaty of revision coming into force the references shall be construed as applying to the Arbitral Tribunal therein constituted.

Article V—Publication of Treaties and Agreements

Clause 1

Each power, signatory or adherent to this convention, severally agrees with all other powers hereto that it will not exchange the ratifications of any treaty or convention hereinafter entered into by it with any other power until thirty days after the full text of such treaty or convention has been published in the public press of the parties thereto and a copy has been filed with the Secretariat of the League of Nations.

Clause 2

No international agreement to which a power, signatory or adherent to this convention, is a party, shall become operative or be put in force until published and filed as aforesaid.

Clause 3

All treaties, conventions and agreements, to which a power, signatory or adherent to this convention, is a party, and which is in force or to come into force and which has not been heretofore published, shall within six months after the signature of this convention be published and filed as aforesaid or abrogated or denounced.

Article VI—Equality of Commercial Privileges

The powers, signatory and adherent to this convention agree jointly and severally not to discriminate against or in favor of any power in the matter of commerce or trade or of industrial privileges; and they further agree that all treaties, conventions and agreements now in force or to come in force or hereinafter negotiated shall be considered as subject to the “most favored nation” doctrine, whether they contain or do not contain a clause to that effect. It is specifically declared that it is the purpose of this article not to limit any power in imposing upon commerce and trade such restrictions and burdens as it may deem proper but to make such impositions apply equally and impartially to all other powers, their nationals and ships.

This article shall not apply, however, to any case, in which a power has committed an unfriendly act against the members of the League of Nations as defined in Article [I] and in which commercial and trade relations are denied or restricted by agreement between the members as a measure of restoration or protection of the rights of the power injured by such unfriendly act.

25. In The Peace Negotiations, p. 62, Mr. Lansing stated that “The first two articles of the ‘International Agreement,’ as I termed the document, were identical in language with the memoranda dealing with a mutual covenant and with an international council which I had enclosed in my letter of December 23.” These two memoranda are printed ante, pp. 518 and 519.