Office of the Historian

Treaty Series No. 669

Treaty between the United States of America, the British Empire, France, and Japan, Signed at Washington December 13, 192134

The United States of America, the British Empire, France and Japan,

With a view to the preservation of the general peace and the maintenance of their rights in relation to their insular possessions and insular dominions in the region of the Pacific Ocean,

Have determined to conclude a Treaty to this effect and have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:

The President of the United States of America:

  • Charles Evans Hughes,
  • Henry Cabot Lodge,
  • Oscar W. Underwood and
  • Elihu Root, citizens of the United States;

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India:

  • The Right Honourable Arthur James Balfour, O. M., M. P., Lord President of His Privy Council;
  • The Right Honourable Baron Lee of Fareham, G. B. E., K. C. B., First Lord of His Admiralty;
  • The Right Honourable Sir Auckland Campbell Geddes, K. C. B., His Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America;

And

  • for the Dominion of Canada:
    The Right Honourable Robert Laird Borden, G. C. M. G., K. C;
  • for the Commonwealth of Australia:
    The Honourable George Foster Pearce, Minister of Defence;
  • for the Dominion of New Zealand:
    Sir John William Salmond, K. C, Judge of the Supreme Court of New Zealand;
  • for the Union of South Africa:
    The Right Honourable Arthur James Balfour, O. M., M. P.;
  • for India:
    The Right Honourable Valingman Sankaranarayana Srinivasa Sastri, Member of the Indian Council of State;

The President of the French Republic:

  • Mr. René Viviani, Deputy, Former President of the Council of Ministers;
  • Mr. Albert Sarraut, Deputy, Minister of the Colonies;
  • Mr. Jules J. Jusserand, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States of America, Grand Cross of the National Order of the Legion of Honour;

His Majesty the Emperor of Japan:

  • Baron Tomosaburo Kato, Minister for the Navy, Junii, a member of the First Class of the Imperial Order of the Grand Cordon of the Rising Sun with the Paulownia Flower;
  • Baron Kijuro Shidehara, His Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at Washington, Joshii, a member of the First Class of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun;
  • Prince Iyesato Tokugawa, Junii, a member of the First Class of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun;
  • Mr. Masanao Hanihara, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Jushii, a member of the Second Class of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun;

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Who, having communicated their Full Powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows:

I

The High Contracting Parties agree as between themselves to respect their rights in relation to their insular possessions and insular dominions in the region of the Pacific Ocean.

If there should develop between any of the High Contracting Parties a controversy arising out of any Pacific question and involving their said rights which is not satisfactorily settled by diplomacy and is likely to affect the harmonious accord now happily subsisting between them, they shall invite the other High Contracting Parties to a joint conference to which the whole subject will be referred for consideration and adjustment.

II

If the said rights are threatened by the aggressive action of any other Power, the High Contracting Parties shall communicate with one another fully and frankly in order to arrive at an understanding as to the most efficient measures to be taken, jointly or separately, to meet the exigencies of the particular situation.

III

This Treaty shall remain in force for ten years from the time it shall take effect, and after the expiration of said period it shall continue to be in force subject to the right of any of the High Contracting Parties to terminate it upon twelve months’ notice.

IV

This Treaty shall be ratified as soon as possible in accordance with the constitutional methods of the High Contracting Parties and shall take effect on the deposit of ratifications, which shall take place at Washington, and thereupon the agreement between Great Britain and Japan, which was concluded at London on July 13, 1911, shall terminate. The Government of the United States will transmit to all the Signatory Powers a certified copy of the proces-verbal of the deposit of ratifications.

The present Treaty, in French and in English, shall remain deposited in the Archives of the Government of the United States, and [Page 36] duly certified copies thereof will be transmitted by that Government to each of the Signatory Powers.

In faith whereof the above named Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty.

Done at the City of Washington, the thirteenth day of December, One Thousand Nine Hundred and Twenty-One.

Charles Evans Hughes
[seal]
Henry Cabot Lodge
[seal]
Oscar W Underwood
[seal]
Elihu Root
[seal]
Arthur James Balfour
[seal]
Lee of Fareham
[seal]
A. C. Geddes
[seal]
[seal]
R. L. Borden

[seal]
G. F. Pearce

[seal]
John W Salmond

[seal]
Arthur James Balfour

[seal]
V S Srinivasa Sastri

[seal]
René Viviani

[seal]
A Sarraut

[seal]
Jusserand

[seal]
T. Kato

[seal]
K. Shidehara

[seal]
Tokugawa Iyesato

[seal]
M. Hanihara
  1. In English and French; French text not printed. Ratification advised by the Senate, Mar. 24, 1922; ratified by the President, June 9, 1923; ratifications deposited with the Government of the United States; Aug. 17, 1923; proclaimed, Aug. 21, 1923.↩