500.A14/670
Memorandum by Mr. Joseph C. Green of the Division of Western European Affairs 20
In accordance with precedent, the procedure in connection with the ratification of the Arms Traffic Convention of 1925 would be as follows:
The Senate’s resolution giving advice and consent with reservations to ratification certified by the Secretary of the Senate, and the original certified copy of the Convention have been received in the Department. No action can be taken by the President until the ratification with reservations has been drawn up in the Department and submitted to him for signature. When the President has signed, the ratification with reservations will be sent to our Embassy in Paris for transmission to the French Government, which is the depository of the ratifications. The French Government will thereupon circularize the other signatory Powers, informing them of the ratification by this Government and of the text of the reservations. The League of Nations will publish the fact of ratification and the text of the reservations. This Government’s ratification with reservations would not be valid until it has been specifically accepted by the other parties to the Convention.
There is no way by which the President could ratify the Convention without the reservations and without transmitting them to the French Government for circulation.
This memorandum has been concurred in by Le—Mr. Hackworth; TD—Mr. Barnes; NE—Mr. Murray; and WE—Mr. Moffat.
- Noted by the Secretary and Under Secretary of State.↩