United States Treaty Series/Volume 1
TREATIES AND OTHER
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS
OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1776–1949
Compiled under the direction of
Charles I. Bevans, LL.B.
Assistant Legal Adviser, Department of State
Volume 1
MULTILATERAL
1776–1917
Preface
The present compilation is designed to present in a convenient form the English texts or, in cases where no English text was signed, the official United States Government translations of treaties and other international agreements entered into by the United States from 1776 to 1950.
For several years the Department of State has been aware of the need for a consolidation of the texts of treaties and other international agreements of the United States. The establishment of the statutory volumes United States Treaties and Other International Agreements (UST) by an Act of Congress of September 23, 1950, effected this consolidation with respect to instruments brought into force after January 1, 1950, the date from which UST begins. Nearly two-thirds of the total number of treaties and agreements entered into by the United States between 1776 and 1968 have been concluded since 1949 and are therefore included in that publication.
Existing official compilations of the earlier treaties and agreements—those that antedate the UST volumes—do not meet the needs of either the United States Government or the American public. In the United States Statutes at Large, where the texts were officially published up to 1950, they are printed in 60 different bindings.
It has been nearly 60 years since the compilation known as the "Malloy" series began to come off the press and over 30 years since the fourth and last volume was published. The full title of that compilation, prepared under the direction of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate, is Treaties, Conventions, International Acts, Protocols, and Agreements Between the United States and Other Powers. The first two volumes (1776-1909) were compiled by William M. Malloy, the third (1910-1923) by C. F. Redmond, and the fourth (1923-1937) by Edward J. Trenwith.
The only other significant official compilation of texts of United States treaties and agreements is one entitled Treaties and Other International Acts of the United States of America, edited by Hunter Miller. It consists of eight volumes (volume 1 is a short print) and carries only to the end of 1863. No further volumes of that publication are contemplated.
This new compilation will be approximately four times the length of the "Malloy" series. There are two principal reasons for the great increase in size: first, the large number of treaties and other international agreements entered into by the United States in the period between 1937 and 1950, many of which were extensive arrangements setting up the worldwide activities of the United Nations and its specialized agencies; and second, the inclusion in the new volumes of postal arrangements, agreements printed in the Executive Agreement Series, and certain other agreements not printed in the "Malloy" series.
The present series begins with several volumes of multilateral treaties and other agreements, arranged chronologically according to date of signature, to be followed by approximately 11 volumes of bilateral treaties and other agreements grouped under the names of the countries with which they were concluded. Each volume will have a relatively brief index. Cumulative analytical indexes of the texts of both multilateral and bilateral treaties and other agreements are planned.
Although this compilation contains headnotes and annotations covering all significant U.S. actions, it remains essentially a collection of texts. For current information regarding the status of the agreements printed herein, the reader will find it helpful to consult the publication Treaties in Force, which is issued by the Department of State under the date January 1 each year, and the Department of State Bulletin, which reports current actions week by week.
The merit of this work rests upon the comprehensive records maintained by the Treaty Staff and upon the labor of many devoted civil servants who have carefully surveyed the available records, collected the documents, added the annotations, and performed the essential editorial functions. It is, in every sense of the word, a cooperative product, and it has been made possible by the understanding and generous support of the Legal Adviser of the Department, Leonard C. Meeker.
Those of the Treaty Staff who have contributed especially in the preparation of this publication up to the time the first volume goes to press are Helen J. Zilch, who compiled much of the manuscript, Eunice W. Shafferman, who established editorial standards for the series and completed the first volume, her coworker and successor Madeline S. Patton, who has continued the compilation, Adeline D. Bencsik, who has begun work on the bilateral agreements, and Eleanor C. McDowell and William V. Whittington, who have resolved many difficult questions on texts and annotations.
Jerome H. Perlmutter, Chief of the Division of Publishing and Reproduction Services, and Dorothy M. Hine and Anne Katherine Pond of his Editorial Section, have contributed exceptional managerial and publishing skill in bringing this publication to a reality.
To all those named and to others who have contributed to this compilation or will be doing so in completing it, I express my sincere appreciation. I am confident that all will feel rewarded for their efforts by the continuing usefulness and convenience of this publication.
Charles I. Bevans
Assistant Legal Adviser
Department of State
Washington, D.C.
July 31, 1968
CONTENTS
| Index (not in original TOC) |