Member of the League of Nations or to any State accepting the same obligation, the jurisdiction of the Court in conformity with Article 36, paragraph 2 of its Statute, for a period of ten years from the date of deposit of the instrument of ratification, in any dispute arising with regard to situations and facts subsequent to that ratification, except in cases where the parties have agreed either to have recourse to another method of settlement by arbitration, or to submit the dispute previously to the Council of the League of Nations.

GENEVA, September 19, 1929.

M. H. CORNEJO

Siam

On behalf of the Siamese Government, I recognize, subject to ratification, in relation to any other member or State which accepts the same obligation, that is to say, on the condition of reciprocity, the jurisdiction of the Court as compulsory ipso facto and without any special convention, in conformity with Article 36, paragraph 2 of the Statute of the Court for a period of ten years in all disputes, as to which no other means of pacific settlement is agreed upon between the Parties.

GENEVA, September 20, 1929.

VARNVAIDYA

Union of South Africa

On behalf of His Majesty's Government in the Union of South Africa and subject to ratification, I accept as compulsory ipso facto and without special convention on condition of reciprocity the jurisdiction of the Court in conformity with Article 36, paragraph 2, of the Statute of the Court, for a period of ten years and thereafter until such time as notice may be given to terminate the acceptance, over all disputes arising after the ratification of the present declaration with regard to situations or facts subsequent to the said ratification, Other than disputes in regard to which the parties to the dispute have agreed or shall agree to have recourse to some other method of peaceful settlement, and Disputes with the Government of any other Member of the League which is a Member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, all of which disputes shall be settled in such manner as the parties have agreed or shall agree, and Disputes with regard to questions which by international law fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of the Union of South Africa,

And subject to the condition that His Majesty's Government in the Union of South Africa reserve the right to require that proceedings in the Court shall be suspended in respect of any dispute which has been submitted to and is under consideration by the Council of the League of Nations, provided that notice to suspend is given after the dispute has been submitted to the Council and is given within ten days of the notification of the initiation of the proceedings in the Court, and provided also that such suspension shall be limited to a period of twelve months or such longer period as may be agreed by the parties to the dispute or determined by a decision of all the members of the Council other than the parties to the dispute.

GENEVA, Sept. 19, 1929.

Official translation of the League of Nations.

ERIC H. LOUW

ARMAMENT REDUCTION

CONFERENCE ON NAVAL ARMAMENTS

On October 7, 1929, the British Government addressed notes to the American, French, Italian, and Japanese Ambassadors in London, inviting their respective Governments to participate in a five-power conference to deal with the question of naval disarmament, which it is proposed to hold in London in the latter part of January next. All of the invited powers have accepted the invitation.12

For the texts of the invitation and of the replies accepting it on behalf of the American, Italian, and Japanese Governments, see Press Releases of the Department, Weekly Issue, Nos. 2 and 3. The text of the French reply has not been officially received by the Department of State. The following translation of the text appeared in the press:

The French Government has received with great interest the letter of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs by which the British Government, while communicating the principles which have been established in the provisional accord between itself and the United States of America, invites it to be represented at the conference which will open in London beginning the third week in January, at wh.ch will be discussed problems relative to the categories of warships not included in the treaty of Washington of 1922, as well as questions envisaged in the second paragraph of Article 21 of said treaty.

The Government of the Republic is extremely happy that the conversations engaged in between the British Prime Minister and the Ambassador of the United States at London, following the method suggested during the deliberations of the preparatory disarmament commission, have taken such a favorable turn; it is not less happy to learn that the two governments have found in the Pact of Paris of August 27, 1928, precious aid for the realization between them of an entente in principle on naval armaments which appears to them to respond to the needs of their security.

The British Government, after having discussed the situation with the Government of the United States, now proposes to extend these conversations to those powers which appear to be principally interested in the solution of the naval problem, and this initiative has expressly for its object, as it is stated in the communication of the Foreign Secretary, the facilitation of the task of the preparatory commission and that of the future general conference for the limitation and reduction of armaments.

The French Government has given too many proofs of its desire to see a prompt accomplishment of the preparatory work of this conference, whose meeting will permit the realization of the obligations of Article 8 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, not to be delighted by such a proposition: It is therefore happy to accept the invitation which has been addressed to it.

The principles which have always guided French policy, both with regard to the general conditions of the problem of the limitation of armaments and on the subject of the special conditions of the problem of the limitation of naval armaments, have been too often defended, both during the work at Geneva and in other negotiations, to need any repetition. Furthermore, the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs in his letters lets it be known that it is the intention of his Government to proceed with the French Government as with the other Governments invited to the London conference for a preliminary exchange of views on the question as to what will be inscribed on the program of their common deliberations.

The Government of the Republic sees only advantages in the application of such a method, which will furnish it with an occasion to set forth its viewpoint with regard to the various points outlined in the letter of his excellency Arthur Henderson, on the problems connected with them and on all the questions which might arise before the forthcoming conference.

The appointment of the American delegation has not been completed; it will, however, be headed by the Secretary of State.

RENUNCIATION OF WAR 9

Costa Rica. On October 1, 1929, the definitive instrument of adherence of Costa Rica to the treaty for the renunciation of war was deposited at Washington. Costa Rica thus became the fifty-third party to the treaty.

Mexico. On October 29, 1929, the Mexican Foreign Office informed the American Ambassador at Mexico City that the Mexican Senate had approved the treaty for the renunciation of war.

Paraguay. By a telegram dated October 11, 1929, the American Minister at Asunción informed the Department that the President of Paraguay would sign on that day the treaty for renunciation of war and proclaim the treaty effective.

Venezuela. On October 24, 1929, the Venezuelan Minister, Señor Dr. Don Carlos F. Grisanti, deposited in the Department of State the instrument of definitive adherence of Venezuela to the treaty for the renunciation of war, and Venezuela became the fifty-fourth party to the treaty.

RESTRICTION OF WAR

PROTOCOL CONCERNING THE PROHIBITION OF THE USE IN WArfare of ASPHYXIATING, POISONOUS, OR OTHER GASES, AND OF BACTERIOLOGICAL METHODS OF WARFARE 10

The Government of France has communicated to the Government of the United States a certified copy of the procès verbal of the deposit, on October 5, 1929, of the ratification of Turkey to the protocol signed at Geneva, June 17, 1925, concerning the use of asphyxiating, poisonous, or other gases and of bacteriological methods of warfare.

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY AND CONCILIATION,
BOLIVIA AND PARAGUAY

The Commission of Inquiry and Conciliation, Bolivia and Paraguay, terminated its labors in September. On October 1, 1929, the five neutral governments which were represented on the commission, namely, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Uruguay and the United States, made certain further suggestions to the Governments of Bolivia and

Paraguay, looking to the peaceful settlement of the differences between them. The Governments represented on the commission transmitted separate, but analogous, communications to the Governments of Bolivia and Paraguay.

The texts of the communications of the United States appeared in the Press Releases of the Department, Weekly Issue No. 1, page 16. The report of the chairman of the commission, submitted to the Secretary of State of the United States on September 21, 1929, for transmission to the American Governments not represented on the commission, together with pertinent documents, has been published in Latin American Series No. 1, Publications of the Department of State.

POLITICAL

BRAZILIAN-VENEZUELAN BOUNDARY DELIMITATION

Brazil. By decree No. 18,905, of September 17, 1929, the President of Brazil formally proclaimed the exchange of ratifications of the Brazilian-Venezuelan boundary protocol of July 24, 1928.

INTERNATIONAL WATER COMMISSION, UNITED STATES AND MEXICO Mexico. On October 22, 1929, the International Water Commission reconvened in the Pan American Union building at Washington. The Commission, which met at Mexico City on August 20, 1929, and was in session for three weeks, was appointed by the Governments of the United States and Mexico to work out a plan providing for the equitable division of the waters of the Rio Grande, Colorado River and Tia Juana River. When a plan has been agreed upon, the recommendations of the commission will be submitted to the two Governments to be used as a basis for the negotiation of a treaty. The American membership of this commission was authorized by an act of Congress approved May 13, 1924 (United States Statutes at Large. vol. 43, pt. 1, p. 118).

TACNA-ARICA TREATY 1

On September 25, 1929, a certified copy of the treaty and supplementary protocol between Chile and Peru for the settlement of the Tacna-Arica problem, signed at Lima on June 3, 1929, was deposited with the Secretary General of the League of Nations for registration and publication.

'See the bulletin for July 1929, p. 37.

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