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Note to I, 22—Continued

"The German Samoan Islands. The mandate shall be held by New Zealand.

"The Other German Pacific Possessions South of the Equator excluding the German Samoan Islands and Nauru, the mandate shall be held by Australia.

"Nauru. The mandate shall be given to the British Empire. "German Islands North of the Equator. The mandate shall be held by Japan."

Certain changes in this rough allocation were made.

France and Great Britain by a declaration of July 10, 1919 arranged to delimit frontiers in the Cameroons and Togoland eastward and westward respectively for mandatory administration.

Owing to their stability and proximity to the Belgian Congo, the native kingdoms of Ruanda and Urundi were detached from the former German East Africa, which under British mandate was named Tanganyika. The mandate of the two kingdoms was assigned to Belgium.

The deposits at Nauru had been exploited by a German corporation, the Pacific Phosphate Company, which was taken over by the British, Australian, and New Zealand Governments under an agreement of July 2, 1919. In virtue of that agreement the British Empire's mandate was assigned to Australia for 5-year periods.

The former Turkish territory of Mesopotamia was designated as an "A" mandate on April 25, 1920 but was not strictly administered as such owing to the prompt setting up of the government of Iraq under King Feisal. With that government the designated mandatory, the United Kingdom, concluded a treaty of alliance on October 10, 1922 (35 League of Nations Treaty Series, p. 13). An organic law of July 10, 1924 (League of Nations, Official Journal, 1924, p. 801) and a unilateral undertaking by the British representative on the Council of the League of Nations on September 27, 1924 (ibid., p. 1346) to apply the principles of article 22 of the Covenant to Iraq further defined its status within the mandatory system. The British Government made the usual annual reports required of mandatories. A treaty of January 13, 1926 (47 League of Nations Treaty Series, p. 419) for revision of the alliance of 1922 stipulated for consideration every four years whether Iraq should be put forward for admission to the League. The frontier with Turkey was determined by a treaty between Turkey and the United Kingdom and Iraq, which was there recognized "as an in

Note to I, 22—Continued

dependent state", signed at Angora on June 5, 1926 (64 League of Nations Treaty Series, p. 379). After various negotiations the British Government on November 4, 1929 informed the League of Nations that it would recommend Iraq for admission to the League in 1932 (League of Nations, Official Journal, 1929, p. 1838). A fresh treaty of alliance, signed at Baghdad on June 30, 1930 and ir. force from October 3, 1932 for 25 years (132 League of Nations Treaty Series, p. 363), replaced the treaties of October 10, 1922 and January 13, 1926. A special report by the mandatory gave the Permanent Mandates Commission evidence that the progress of Iraq during the period 1920-31 satisfied the de facto conditions requisite for termination of the mandate. On May 19, 1932 the Council of the League adopted the conditions to be met for its termination (League of Nations, Official Journal, 1932, pp. 1212, 1347), which were ratified by Iraq in July (ibid., pp. 1483, 1557). Admission to the League was unanimously voted by the Assembly on October 3, 1932, at which date the mandated status of Iraq terminated.

The "A" mandate of Syria and Lebanon underwent an evolution bringing the two entities involved to the verge of independence. The mandate provided for an organic law, which was promulgated only on May 14, 1930 (League of Nations, Official Journal, 1930, p. 1099). This law embodied constitutions of the Lebanese Republic and the State of Syria, organic regulations of the Sanjak of Alexandretta, and organic statutes of the Governments of Latakia and the Jebel Druse. The Sanjak of Alexandretta, having been placed under a statute by decision of the Council on May 29, 1937 (ibid., 1937, pp. 329, 580), was transferred to Turkey by an arrangement between France and Turkey of June 23, 1939, in force on July 13 (ibid., 1939, p. 356). France signed treaties of friendship and alliance with Lebanon at Beirut on November 13, 1936 and with Syria at Damascus on December 22, 1936 (France, Ministère des affaires étrangères, Rapport à la Société des Nations sur la situation de la Syrie et du Liban (année 1936), pp. 201, 229). These treaties were to come into force, along with new organic statutes of the Jebel Druse and the Aluite (Latakia), upon the admission of Syria and Lebanon to the League of Nations. France delayed the ratification of the treaties while the Alexandretta matter was being settled and the arrangements for admission to the League were being completed. After the surrender of France in June 1940 the Free French National Committee, which was later succeeded by the French Committee of National Liberation, took over the administration of the

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Note to I, 22—Continued

territories from the Vichy French forces with the aid of British contingents. On June 8, 1941 the commander of the Free French forces in the Middle East, in the name of the committee, assumed the powers, responsibilities, and duties of the representative of France in the Levant and as such informed the people of Syria and the Lebanon that "I come to put an end to the mandatory regime and proclaim you free and independent". On September 7, 1944 the Department of State extended formal recognition to both. Lebanon and Syria signed the Declaration by United Nations, April 12, 1945 and are Members of the United Nations.

The "A" mandate for Palestine contained two special provisions: 1. The mandatory was to "be responsible for putting into effect the declaration originally made on the 2nd November, 1917, by the Government of His Britannic Majesty, and adopted by the said Powers, in favour of the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

2. Article 25 of the mandate permitted the mandatory to withhold application of such provisions of the mandate as were inapplicable to the existing local conditions in the territory of the mandate east of the River Jordan, which is inhabited by an Arab population not concerned with the establishment of a Jewish national home. The applicable parts of the Palestine mandate were recited in a decision of September 16, 1922, which provided for the separate administration of Trans-Jordan. The government of that territory was, subject to the mandate, formed by the Emir Abdullah, brother of King Feisal of Iraq, who had been at Amman since February 1921. That status was not altered by an agreement between the United Kingdom and the Emirate concluded on February 20, 1928 (League of Nations, Official Journal, 1928, p. 1574) which recognized the existence of an independent government in Trans-Jordan and defined and limited its powers. The ratifications were exchanged on October 31, 1929.

The texts of the mandates and decisions of the Council of the League of Nations of equivalent value are published in various separate documents issued by the Secretariat. The texts of mandates are quoted in the preambles of the treaties and conventions which the United States concluded with mandatory states (see p. 101 ff.). All the texts are compiled in Manley O. Hudson, International Legisla

Note to I, 22—Continued

tion, 1, 42–126 (Washington, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace).

The mandates under which the various territories have been administered were submitted by the mandatory governments to the Council of the League of Nations in accordance with paragraph 8 of article 22. The terms were reviewed by the Council, in some cases revised on its recommendation, and finally approved by it. The following table gives the pertinent data for each territory:

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1 See also League of Nations, The Mandates System: Origin-Principles-Application (1945.VI.A.1).

The United States concluded treaties or conventions with mandatory states defining rights of its nationals in several of the mandated territories. These instruments stipulated that the United States should receive copies of the annual reports which mandatories by article 22, paragraph 7, were obligated to make to the League of

Note to I, 22—Continued

Nations. The rights defined are equivalent to those possessed by members of the League of Nations.

The conventions concluded with respect to "A" mandated territories were signed after the negotiation of the Treaty of Lausanne of July 24, 1923 and state in the preamble that by that treaty concluded "with the Allied Powers Turkey renounces all her rights and titles over" the area concerned.

The convention and protocol defining the rights of the United States of America and of its nationals in Iraq was signed with the United Kingdom and Iraq, at London, January 9, 1930; in force February 24, 1931 (Treaty Series 835; 47 Stat. 1817; Treaties, Conventions, etc., 1923-37, iv, 4335). The assent of the United States was required by article 6 to "any change in the rights of the United States" as defined in the convention in case of the termination of the special relations existent between the United Kingdom and Iraq in accordance with the treaty of alliance of 1922 and the treaty of 1926, both of which were schedules to the convention. Article 7 of the convention provided for its ceasing to have effect upon the termination of those special relations, which, as between the United Kingdom and Iraq, occurred with the entry into force on October 3, 1932 of the superseding treaty of alliance of June 30, 1930. A treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and Iraq signed at Baghdad, December 3, 1938 and in force June 19, 1940 (Treaty Series 960) supplants the provisions of the convention "so far as commerce and navigation are concerned" as a consequence of negotiations stipulated by article 7 of the convention to be entered into "on the termination of the said special relations" between the United Kingdom and Iraq.

The mandate of France with respect to Syria and the Lebanon came into force on September 29, 1923. On April 4, 1924 the United States concluded with France a convention concerning rights in Syria and the Lebanon, in force July 13, 1924, (Treaty Series 695; 43 Stat. 1821; (Treaties, Conventions, etc., 1923-37, iv, 4169).

The mandate of the United Kingdom with respect to Palestine came into force on September 29, 1923. On December 3, 1924 the United States concluded a convention defining the rights of nationals in Palestine with the United Kingdom; in force December 3, 1925 (Treaty Series 728; 44 Stat. 2184; Treaties, Conventions, etc., 1923– 37, iv, 4227).

The conventions of the United States concerning "B" mandates held by Belgium and France recognize the assignment of administra

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