150 WRIGHT— CONCLUSIVENESS OF THE ACTS 



under the treaty, in spite of the fact that ratifications had been 

 exchanged. 



In multi-partite treaties a formal exchange of ratifications is 

 often dispensed with and provision is made for deposit of ratifica- 

 tions at a central bureau. This was provided in the African Slave 

 Trade, Algeciras, Hague, Versailles and other Conventions.*" 

 With such provisions, qualified ratifications may be deposited in the 

 method provided, but if upon receipt of the proces-verbal of the 

 deposit of such qualified ratification, any signatory objects to the 

 reservations, the treaty will not be in effect as between those 

 signatories. As to signatories offering no objection the reservations 

 will be regarded as tacitly accepted, and the treaty will be in efifect 

 as from the date of deposit of ratifications. Undoubtedly, when 

 foreign states make reservations the Senate ought to be given an 

 opportunity to object to such reservations*^ and that was done in 



■*o Article 440 of the Treaty of Versailles reads : 



" The present Treaty of which the French and English texts are both 

 authentic, shall be ratified. 



" The deposit of ratifications shall be made at Paris as soon as possible. 



" Powers of which the seat of the Government is outside Europe, will 

 be entitled merely to inform the Government of the French Republic through 

 their diplomatic representative at Paris that their ratification has been given ; 

 in that case they must transmit the instrument of ratification as soon as 

 possible. 



" A first proces-verbal of the deposit of ratifications will be drawn up 

 as soon as the Treaty has been ratified by Gennany on the one hand, and 

 by three of Principal Allied and Associated Powers on the other hand. 



" From the date of this first proces-verbal the Treaty will come into 

 force between the High Contracting Parties who have ratified it. For the 

 determination of all periods of time provided for in the present Treaty this 

 date will be the date of the coming into force of the Treatj'. 



" In all other respects the Treaty will enter into force for each 

 Power at the date of the deposit of its ratification. 



" The French Government will transmit to all the signatory Powers a 

 certified copy of the proces-verbeaux of the deposit of ratifications." 



*i " It is believed that it is immaterial whether the reservation be made 

 before, at, or after signing, as until a Power has. ratified and deposited rati- 

 fications of the Convention it is not bound. But good faith requires that 

 objections to any article be stated either before or at the time of signing, so 

 that nations may know the nature and extent of the obligations they are 

 assuming with other nations. International conventions are often com- 

 promises, and the price of a compromise to a nation may be the very article 

 which another nation excludes from the convention or interprets in a 



