Mr. LEFAIVRE, Delegate of France, remarked that the proposed
resolution seemed to him out of order, and that his colleague, Mr.
Janssen, desired to address the Conference on the subject. He went on
to say:

The competence of the Conference can give rise to no long debate among
us. Let us remark, in the first place, that no previous engagement
exists, on the part of the Governments, to adopt the results of our
discussions, and that consequently our decisions cannot be compared to
those of a deliberative congress or an international commission acting
according to definite powers.

We have no definite powers, or rather, we have no executive power,
since our decisions cannot be invoked executively by one Government
towards others.

Does this mean that our decisions will be wholly unauthoritative? An
assembly which numbers so many eminent delegates, and in which there
is so much scientific knowledge, must certainly be regarded with
profound respect by all the Powers of the world. Its powers, however,
must be of a wholly moral character, and will have to be balanced
against rights and interests no less worthy of consideration, leaving
absolutely intact the independence of each individual State.

Under these circumstances, gentlemen, it seems to me that our course
is already marked out for us. From our Conference is to be elicited
the expression of a collective wish, a draft of a resolution, which is
to be adopted by the majority of this assembly, and afterwards
submitted to the approval of our respective Governments.