562.8F4/44: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
415. With reference to the suggested text of final act as given in Embassy’s telegram 354, 14th, the delegation is instructed as follows:
- 1.
- The final act of the conference should, as is customary in final acts of conferences, include only a record of the work of the conference and recommendations by the delegations for the consideration of their respective governments.
- 2.
- Accordingly, the paragraph in the final act which precedes Article I and which begins “The countries represented” should be replaced by wording substantially as follows: “The delegates of the Governments represented at the Conference decided to recommend to their respective Governments that consideration should be given to the further amendment of the International Whaling Agreement signed at London on June 8, 1937, as amended by the Protocol signed at London on June 24, 1938, by amendments substantially as follows:”.
- 3.
- Strike out the word “Article” before “I”, “II”, and “III” and omit “That” at the beginning of each sentence so that the wording of each recommended amendment will be a separate and complete sentence. Also change “be extended” in “I” to “shall be extended”.
- 4.
- Strike out Articles IV, V, VI and VII as they have no place in a final act. The Department can not agree to any recommendation by the Conference embodying a provision to the effect that the amendments shall come into force provisionally with respect to the United States prior to approval by the Senate. It should be made clear in the final act that the signing of the final act does not constitute any specific agreement between the Governments and that the final act contains only recommendations.
- 5.
- The “witness” clause at the end of the final act should be made to read somewhat as follows: “In witness whereof the following delegates, duly authorized, sign this final act.”
The above instructions and suggestions are not to be considered as approval by this Government of any part of the text of the final act but as information for the guidance of the American delegation. The Department should be informed of the definitive text of the final act.
It is probable that the British Foreign Office will also suggest alterations in the text of the final act that will meet some of the Department’s objections to the text as quoted in the Embassy’s telegram.