Office of the Historian

Treaty Series No. 674

Agreement between the United States of America and Great Britain, Signed at Washington, June 23, 192318

The President of the United States of America and His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India, being desirous of extending for another five years the period during which the Arbitration Convention concluded between them on April 4, 1908, extended by the Agreement concluded between the two Governments on May 31, 1913,19 and further extended by the Agreement concluded between the two Governments on June 3, 1918,20 shall remain in force, have respectively authorized the undersigned, to wit: Charles Evans Hughes, Secretary of State of the United States; and Sir Auckland Geddes, G. C. M. G., K. C. B., His Britannic Majesty’s Ambassador [Page 316] Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States, to conclude the following Articles:

Article I

The Convention of Arbitration of April 4, 1908, between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of 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 duration of which by Article IV thereof was fixed at a period of five years from the date of the exchange of ratifications of the said Convention on June 4, 1908, which period by the Agreement of May 31, 1913, between the two Governments was extended for five years from June 4, 1913, and was extended by the Agreement between them of June 3, 1918, for the further period of five years from June 4, 1918, is hereby extended and continued in force for the further period of five years from June 4, 1923.

Article II

The present Agreement shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by His Britannic Majesty, and it shall become effective upon the date of the exchange of ratifications which shall take place at Washington as soon as possible.

Done in duplicate, this twenty-third day of June, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-three.

[seal]
Charles Evans Hughes

[seal]
A. C. Geddes
  1. Ratification advised by the Senate, Dec. 18, 1923; ratified by the President, Dec. 28; ratified by Great Britain, Aug. 1; ratifications exchanged at Washington. Dec. 29; proclaimed by the President, Dec. 29.↩
  2. Foreign Relations, 1914, p. 303.↩
  3. ibid., 1918, p. 431.↩