Traffic in Arms

Recently the League of Nations drew up a treaty to restrict the traffic in arms. It is known as the St. Germain Convention. The Convention was submitted to our State Department in hope that we might become a party to it. This Secretary Hughes declined for us in a note in which he gave his reasons.

He declared that the U. S. is in sympathy with the movement to restrict the traffic in arms and that by resolution of Congress the President has power to place an embargo on arms to any American country or region under the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the U. S.

But the St. Germain Convention 1) is not a plan for the general restriction of armament, inasmuch as it permits the signatories to supply one another with arms; 2) is objectionable because it prohibits the sale of arms to countries not parties to the Convention when such action might be highly desirable (as, for example, it might be desirable to furnish arms to some Latin American not a party to the Convention, but defending itself from aggression) ; 3) would require special legislation by Congress which the Government is not prepared to undertake; 4) is so intertwined with the League of Nations "as to make it impracticable for this Government to ratify."