On April 11, 1919, the commission held a final session.[10] Makino stated the Japanese plea for human rights and racial equality.[11] The British representative Robert Cecil spoke for the British Empire and addressed opposition to the proposal.[12] Italian Prime Minister Vittorio Orlando spoke in favor of the statement on human rights.[13] French Senator Léon Bourgeois urged its adoption and stated that it would be impossible to reject the proposal, which embodied "an indisputable principle of justice."[14]