1925. Upon being apprised of the contents of the Memorandum I drew the Minister's attention to the fact that the United States could not in any way associate itself with a Security Pact and must maintain an entirely neutral position with regard to any boundary disputes arising in connection therewith. The Polish Minister stated that he understood the situation perfectly.

I am [etc.]

[Enclosure]

FRANK B. KELLOGG

The Polish Legation to the Department of State

MEMORANDUM

For some time past there has been a great deal of discussion in connection with the so-called security pacts of the alleged injustice of those clauses of the Treaty of Versailles which gave to Poland the Province of Pomerania, commonly known as the "Polish Corridor", and of the allotment of a part of Upper Silesia to Poland on the basis of the Treaty of Versailles and the subsequent plebiscite.

Pomerania is the district extending from Poznania to the Baltic Sea. It constitutes Poland's only free access to the sea. The population is and always has been predominantly Polish. Before the war, according to the official German census, Poles constituted 80.4% of the population and Germans 19.6%. In the elections to the Polish Diet held in Pomerania November 5, 1922, the Polish lists embraced 85% of the population and the German lists 15%. Since 1922 a considerable number of Germans have left Pomerania and an additional number will have to leave before 1926, in accordance with the terms of the Convention of Vienna signed August 30, 1924, regulating the question of option of nationality. A fair estimate of the present numerical relation of Poles and Germans in Pomerania would be, Poles, 90%, Germans 10%.

On fifteen occasions between 1875 and 1918 the people of Pomerania cast their ballots for the election of a member to represent that district in the German Reichstag. These elections invariably resulted in the choice of a Pole to represent Pomerania.

The Transit Convention of Paris, signed by Poland and Germany April 25, 1921, provides for free and unrestricted traffic between the German Province of East Prussia lying to the east of Pomerania and the main body of Germany lying to the west. For the settlement of complaints and grievances arising in connection with this transit traffic the contracting parties established a Mixed Transit

26

For statement on the work of the Locarno Conference, see the President's message to Congress, December 8, p. vii.

Tribunal under neutral presidency with final jurisdiction. The first case which this Transit Tribunal was called upon to hear in the course of its three years, of existence was a German protest in connection with the railway disaster occurring at Starogard on April 30, 1925. In this case the Tribunal exonerated the Polish Government of any responsibility for the disaster, the evidence pointing to a criminal attempt by parties unknown. Pomerania constitutes no barrier to communication between one part of Germany and another. Persons and goods are moved through the territory in question without being subject to any formality whatever. Neither passports nor visas are required, and freight and baggage are liable to no tariff nor inspection. This is true not only on the railroads but on the waterways.

The first draft of the Treaty of Versailles provided that the Polish-inhabited districts of Upper Silesia should be given to Poland. Because of Germany's protest and in deference to the opinion of the British representative who reversed his position the final Treaty provided for the taking of a plebiscite as a guide in the delimitation of the boundary line. Article 88 of the Treaty of Versailles provided as follows:

37

"In...37 Upper Silesia . . .37 the inhabitants will be called upon to indicate by a vote whether they wish to be attached to Germany or to Poland: ... Germany hereby renounces in favor of Poland all rights and title over the portion of Upper Silesia lying beyond the frontier line fixed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers as a result of the plebiscite.

"Annex Paragraph 4....37 The result of the vote will be determined by communes according to the majority of votes in each

commune.

"Paragraph 5. On the conclusion of the voting, the number of votes cast in each commune will be communicated by the Commission to the Principal Allied and Associated Powers, with a full report as to the taking of the vote and a recommendation as to the line which ought to be adopted as the frontier of Germany in Upper Silesia. In this recommendation regard will be paid to the wishes of the inhabitants as shown by the vote and to the geographical and economic conditions of the locality."

The plebiscite was held under Interallied supervision on March 20, 1921. As was expected, in some districts heavy majorities were cast for Poland, in other districts heavy majorities for Germany. Faced with the problem of delimiting the frontier so as to conform as nearly as possible with the spirit and letter of the Treaty, the Supreme Council invoked the good offices of the Council of the League of Nations. The Council appointed a Polish-German Commission under the presidency of Felix Calonder, former President of the

Omission indicated in the original memorandum.

Swiss Republic, which actually delimited the boundary line in conformity with the wishes of the inhabitants as expressed in the vote by communes and with due regard for geographical and economic considerations. The work of this Commission was approved by the Council of the League and accepted by the Supreme Council. On May 15, 1922, Poland and Germany signed a Treaty at Geneva embodying the terms of the settlement including the boundary line as approved by the Council of the League and the Supreme Council. No boundary line could have been drawn which would have placed all of the Poles within Poland and all of the Germans within Germany. Sizeable minorities of Poles and Germans respectively were by the force of necessity excluded from the country of their choice. Immediately after the incorporation within Poland of the part of Upper Silesia allotted by the Treaty, a very large measure of autonomy was granted it by the Polish Diet. A special Upper Silesian Diet was elected by universal suffrage. In the Diet so elected there are 48 members of which number 35 are Poles and 13 are Germans.

These facts which set forth the legal and moral rights of Poland in respect to Pomerania and Upper Silesia will serve to explain why it is unthinkable that any Polish Government could permit itself to enter into a discussion which would in whatever form tend to question Poland's rights to these parts of her territory. In so refusing to enter into any international discussion of its rights to these territories the Polish Government has ample proof of the unanimous support of its people.

WASHINGTON, May 28, 1925.

PARTICIPATION BY THE UNITED STATES IN THE CONFERENCE FOR THE SUPERVISION OF THE INTERNATIONAL TRAFFIC IN ARMS, AT GENEVA, MAY 4-JUNE 17, 1925

500.A14/43

The Secretary General of the League of Nations (Drummond) to the Secretary of State

C. L. 192. 1924. IX

GENEVA, January 8, 1925.
[Received January 27.]

39

SIR: In pursuance of my letter of December 9th, 1924, I have the honour to inform you that, at its meeting held in Rome on Decem

38

"For previous correspondence concerning control of traffic in arms, see Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. 1, pp. 17 ff. For proceedings of the Conference, see League of Nations, Proceedings of the Conference for the Supervision of the International Trade in Arms and Ammunition and in Implements of War (A. 13. 1925. IX).

39 Not printed.

ber 9th, 1924, the Council of the League of Nations decided that the International Conference to examine the draft Convention for the control of the international traffic in arms, munitions and implements of war, prepared by the Temporary Mixed Commission for the reduction of armaments, and to conclude a Convention on this matter, will meet at the Secretariat of the League of Nations in Geneva on Monday, May 4th, 1925 at 4 p. m.

40

The Governments of the following countries have already signified their willingness to be present at this Conference:

No. 1

The Secretary of State to the American Delegation "1

WASHINGTON, April 16, 1925. SIRS: The President has instructed me to inform you of his desire that you should represent this Government at the forthcoming international conference to be held at Geneva on May 4, 1925, to consider

*For draft convention, see Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. 1, p. 56; also League of Nations, Report of the Temporary Mixed Commission for the Reduction of Armaments (A. 16. 1924. IX, annex IV).

• The participation of Japan is conditional upon the representation at the Conference of the States mentioned in Article 32 of the draft Convention. These States are Belgium, United States of America, France, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Russia. [Footnote in the original.]

Theodore E. Burton, chairman of the delegation, member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, House of Representatives; Hugh S. Gibson, vice chairman of the delegation, Minister to Switzerland; Rear Admiral Andrew T. Long, Navy Department; Allen W. Dulles, Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs, Department of State; Brig. Gen. C. L'H. Ruggles, Assistant Chief of Ordnance, War Department.

the conclusion of a convention with regard to the international trade in arms, munitions and implements of war. You will be assisted by Mr. Charles E. Herring,

Mr. Alan F. Winslow,
Major George V. Strong,
Commander Herbert F. Leary,

as technical advisers and secretarial staff.42

You are already familiar with the subject matter to be dealt with at the Conference and with the views of this Government as set forth in the instruction of the Acting Secretary of State of June 17, 1924.** For your further information and guidance the Department has prepared and encloses herewith a confidential print which includes correspondence and documentary material for general reference purposes with respect to the question of arms traffic. You will note in this correspondence the text of the communications of the Legation at Berne under instructions from the Department of August 29 [287], 1924 and December 7 [6?], 1924, indicating this Government's willingness to be represented at the proposed conference. The confidential print also indicates the position this Government has taken with respect to the unratified Convention of St. Germain 45 and also the views expressed at the meetings which were held in 1924 at Geneva and Paris to consider in a preliminary way the international trade in arms, munitions and implements of war.

To supplement the information contained in this confidential print and for your further guidance, the Department, in the following pages, indicates its attitude toward the draft convention which is to be considered at the Conference, pointing out changes which are considered necessary or desirable before any convention is submitted to the Senate for approval or to Congress for legislation.

GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS

This Government is prepared to give careful consideration to any constructive proposals for the proper regulation of the international trade in arms with a view not only to securing adequate publicity with respect to such trade but also for the purpose of reducing to a minimum the traffic in arms which is calculated to foment disorder, encourage militarism or render more difficult the realization of this

Charles E. Herring, commercial attaché at Berlin; Alan F. Winslow, secretary of legation at Berne; Maj. George V. Strong, General Staff, War Department; Comdr. Herbert F. Leary, assistant naval attaché at London. Maj. Earl J. Atkinson, War Department, was also later attached to the delegation as technical adviser.

**Not printed; for correspondence on the subject referred to in this paragraph, see Foreign Relations, 1924, vol. 1, pp. 17 ff.

45 For text of convention, see ibid., 1920, vol. I, p. 180.