Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1934, General, the British Commonwealth, Volume I

500.A15A4 General Committee (Arms)/30

The Secretary of State to the American Delegate (Wilson)

Washington, September 25, 1934.

Sir: I refer to my instruction of August 23, 1934, in regard to the Draft Articles for the Regulation of the Trade in and Manufacture of Arms and Implements of War and enclose, for your consideration, a copy of a letter of September 1,⁶⁹ from the Secretary of War in regard to this matter.

The portions of this letter which set forth some of the questions which should be considered in drawing up the categories of arms merit a particularly careful study. It would appear to be preferable, in order to avoid unnecessary complications, that the arms listed in the Convention should be limited to well-recognized implements of war, and that an effort should be made to exclude, so far as possible, from the provisions of the Convention articles of peaceful commerce which only incidentally and exceptionally can be considered as arms or munitions. In drawing up the categories of arms, the purpose of those articles of the Convention dealing with the regulation of the trade in and manufacture of arms should be kept constantly in mind, and the inclusion of any provisions which are not definitely adapted to the attainment of the ends in view and which might constitute an unwarranted interference with international trade unrelated to war or preparation for war should be avoided.

I invite your particular attention to the final paragraph on page seven of the letter from the Secretary of War.⁷⁰ I concur in the point of view expressed therein. It should be made perfectly clear in the Convention itself that the provisions relating to export and import licenses are not applicable to shipments of arms and munitions between the territories of the contracting parties and the territories of their respective dependencies and possessions.

Very truly yours,

Cordell Hull

69. Not printed.
70. Paragraph on page 7 reads as follows: “In the operation of Articles D, E, and F, it is believed that some clarification is necessary in order to make it plain that neither export nor import licenses should be required when a High Contracting Party desires to make shipments of arms and equipment from its own stockages or depots to the military units or depots of its own dependencies. Such a procedure would go far beyond the scope of regulating traffic in arms, and would afford undesirable revelations of movements of supplies in accordance with changes in plans for defensive preparations of the mother country and its dependencies.”