wood, window glass, steel, lime, cement, &c.,) machinery, heating
apparatus, furniture, and like articles of a commercial character which
the said Governments desire to have produced and manufactured in Germany
and delivered to them to permit of the restoration of the invaded areas.
3. The lists relating to the articles mentioned in 2 (a), above, shall
be filed within sixty days after the date of the coming into force of
the present treaty. The lists relating to the articles in 2 (b), above,
shall be filed on or before Dec. 31, 1919. The lists shall contain all
such details as are customary in commercial contracts dealing with the
subject matter, including specifications, dates of delivery, (but not
extending over more than four years,) and places of delivery, but not
price or value, which shall be fixed as hereinafter provided by the
commission.
4. Immediately upon the filing of such lists with the commission, the
commission shall consider the amount and number of the materials and
animals mentioned in the lists provided for above which are to be
required of Germany. In reaching a decision on this matter the
commission shall take into account such domestic requirements of Germany
as it deems essential for the maintenance of Germany's social and
economic life, and the prices and dates at which similar articles can be
obtained in the Allied and Associated countries as compared with those
to be fixed for German articles, and the general interest of the Allied
and Associated Governments that the industrial life of Germany be not so
disorganized as to affect adversely the ability of Germany to perform
the other acts of reparation stipulated for. Machinery, equipment,
tools, and like articles of a commercial character in actual industrial
use are not, however, to be demanded of Germany unless there is no free
stock of such articles respectively which is not in use and is
available, and then not in excess of 30 per cent. of the quantity of
such articles in use in any one establishment or undertaking.
The commission shall give representatives of the German Government an
opportunity and a time to be heard as to their capacity to furnish the
said materials, articles, and animals. The decision of the commission
shall thereupon and at the earliest possible moment be communicated to
the German Government and to the several interested Allied and
Associated Governments. The German Government undertakes to deliver the
materials, articles, and animals as specified in the said communication,
and the interested Allied and Associated Governments severally agree to
accept the same, provided they conform to the specification given, or
are not, in the judgment of the commission, unfit to be utilized in the
work of reparation.
5. The commission shall determine the value to be attributed to the
materials, articles, and animals to be delivered in accordance with the
foregoing, and the Allied or Associated Power receiving the same agrees
to be charged with such value, and the amount thereof shall be treated
as a payment by Germany to be divided in accordance with Article 237 of
this part of the present treaty.
In cases where the right to require physical restoration as above
provided is exercised the commission shall insure that the amount to be
credited against the reparation obligation of Germany shall be the fair
value of work done or materials supplied by Germany and that the claim
made by the interested power in respect of the damage so repaired by
physical restoration shall be discharged to the extent of the
proportion which the damage thus repaired bears to the whole of the
damage thus claimed for.
6. As an immediate advance on account of the animals referred to in
Paragraph 2 (a) above, Germany undertakes to deliver in equal monthly
installments in the three months following the coming into force of the
present treaty the following quantities of live stock:
First. To the French Government, 500 stallions, (3 to 7 years,) 30,000
fillies and mares, (18 months to 7 years,) type: Ardennais, Boulonnais,
or Belgian; 2,000 bulls, (18 months to 3 years); 90,000 milch cows, (2
to 6 years); 1,000 rams, 100,000 sheep, 10,000 goats.
Second. To the Belgian Government, 200 stallions, (3 to 7 years) large
Belgian type; 5,000 mares, (3 to 7 years) large Belgian type; 5,000
fillies, (18 months to 3 years); large Belgian type; 2,000 bulls, (18
months to 3 years) 50,000 milch cows, (2 to 6 years) 40,000 heifers, 200
rams, 20,000 sheep, 15,000 sows.
The animals delivered shall be of average health and condition. To the
extent that animals so delivered cannot be identified as animals taken
away or seized, the value of such animals shall be credited against the
reparation obligations of Germany in accordance with Paragraph 5 of this
annex.
7. Without waiting for the decisions of the commission, referred to in
Paragraph 4 of this annex, to be taken, Germany must continue the
delivery to France of the agricultural material referred to in Article 3
of the renewal of the armistice of 16th January, 1919.
ANNEX V.
1. Germany accords the following options for the delivery of coal and
derivatives of coal to the under-mentioned signatories of the present
treaty.
2. Germany undertakes to deliver to France 7,000,000 tons of coal per
year for ten years. In addition, Germany undertakes to deliver to France
annually for a period not exceeding ten years an amount of coal equal to
the difference between the annual production before the war of the coal
mines of the Nord and Pas de Calais, destroyed as a result of the war,
and the production of the mines of the same area during the years in
question; such delivery not to exceed 20,000,000 tons in any one year of
the first five years, and 8,000,000 tons in any one year of the
succeeding five years.
It is understood due diligence will be exercised in the restoration of
the destroyed mines in the Nord and Pas de Calais.
3. Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium 8,000,000 tons of coal
annually for ten years.
4. Germany undertakes to deliver to Italy up to the following quantities
of coal:
July, 1919, to June, 1920, 4,500,000 tons.
July, 1920, to June, 1921, 6,000,000 tons.
July, 1921, to June, 1922, 7,500,000 tons.
July, 1922, to June, 1923, 8,000,000 tons.
July, 1923, to June, 1924, 8,500,000 tons.
and each of the following five years, 8,500,000 tons.
At least two-thirds of the actual deliveries to be land borne.
5. Germany further undertakes to deliver annually to Luxemburg, if
directed by the Reparation Commission, a quantity of coal equal to the
pre-war annual consumption of German coal in Luxemburg.
6. The prices to be paid for coal delivered under these options shall be
as follows:
(a) For overland delivery, including delivery by barge, the German
pithead price to German nationals, plus the freight to French, Belgian,
Italian, or Luxemburg frontiers, provided the pithead price does not
exceed the pithead price of British coal for export. In case of Belgian
bunker coal, the price shall not exceed the Dutch bunker price. Railroad
and barge tariffs shall not be higher than the lowest similar rates paid
in Germany.
(b) For sea delivery, the German export price f. o. b. the German ports,
or the British export price f. o. b. British ports, whichever may be
lower.
7. The Allied and Associated Governments interested may demand the
delivery in place of coal of metallurgical coke in the proportion of
three tons of coke to four tons of coal.
8. Germany undertakes to deliver to France and to transport to the
French frontier by rail or by water the following products during each
of the three years following the coming into force of this treaty:
Benzol--35,000 tons.
Coal tar--50,000 tons.
Sulphate of ammonia--30,000 tons.
All or part of the coal tar may, at the option of the French Government,
be replaced by corresponding quantities of products of distillation,
such as light oils, heavy oils, anthracine, naphthaline, or pitch.
9. The price paid for coke and for the articles referred to in the
preceding paragraphs shall be the same as the price paid by German
nationals under the same conditions of shipment to the French frontier
or to the German ports, and shall be subject to any advantages which may
be accorded similar products furnished to German nationals.
10. The foregoing options shall be exercised through the intervention of
the Reparation Commission, which, subject to the specific provisions
hereof, shall have power to determine all questions relative to
procedure and the qualities and quantities of products, the quantity of
coke which may be substituted for coal, and the times and modes of
delivery and payment. In giving notice to the German Government of the
foregoing options the commission shall give at least 120 days' notice of
deliveries to be made after 1st January, 1920, and at least thirty days'
notice of deliveries to be made between the coming into force of this
treaty and the 1st January, 1920. Until Germany has received the demands
referred to in this paragraph the provisions of the protocol of the 25th
December, 1918, (execution of Article 6 of the armistice of the 11th
November, 1918,) remain in force.
The notice to be given to the German Government of the exercise of the
right of substitution accorded by Paragraphs 7 and 8 shall be such as
the Reparation Commission may consider sufficient.
If the commission shall determine that the full exercise of the
foregoing options would interfere unduly with the industrial
requirements of Germany, the commission is authorized to postpone or to
cancel deliveries, and in so doing to settle all questions of priority,
but the coal to replace coal from destroyed mines shall receive priority
over other deliveries.
ANNEX VI.
1. Germany accords to the Reparation Commission an option to require as
part of reparation the delivery by Germany of such quantities and kinds
of dyestuffs and chemical drugs as the commission may designate, not
exceeding 50 per cent. of the total stock of each and every kind of
dyestuff and chemical drug in Germany or under German control at the
date of the coming into force of the present treaty.
This option shall be exercised within sixty days of the receipt by the
commission of such particulars as to stocks as may be considered
necessary by the commission.
2. Germany further accords to the Reparation Commission an option to
require delivery during the period from the date of the coming into
force of the present treaty until Jan. 1, 1920, and during each period
of six months thereafter until Jan. 1, 1925, of any specified kind of
dyestuff and chemical drug up to an amount not exceeding 25 per cent. of
the German production of such dyestuffs and chemical drugs during the
previous six months' period. If in any case the production during such
previous six months was, in the opinion of the commission, less than
normal, the amount required may be 25 per cent. of the normal
production.
Such option shall be exercised within four weeks after the receipt of
such particulars as to production and in such form as may be considered
necessary by the commission; these particulars shall be furnished by the
German Government immediately after the expiration of each six months'
period.
3. For dyestuffs and chemical drugs delivered under Paragraph 1 the
price shall be fixed by the commission, having regard to pre-war net
export prices and to subsequent increases of cost.
For dyestuffs and chemical drugs delivered under Paragraph 2 the price
shall be fixed by the commission, having regard to pre-war net export
prices and subsequent variations of cost or the lowest net selling price
of similar dyestuffs and chemical drugs to any other purchaser.
4. All details, including mode and times of exercising the options and
making delivery, and all other questions arising under this arrangement
shall be determined by the Reparation Commission; the German Government
will furnish to the commission all necessary information and other
assistance which it may require.
5. The above expression "dyestuffs and chemical drugs" includes all
synthetic dyes and drugs and intermediate or other products used in
connection with dyeing, so far as they are manufactured for sale. The
present arrangement shall also apply to cinchona bark and salts of
quinine.
ANNEX VII.
Germany renounces on her own behalf and on behalf of her nationals in
favor of the principal Allied and Associated Powers all rights, titles
or privileges of whatever nature in the submarine cables set out below,
or in any portions thereof:
Emden-Vigo: from the Straits of Dover to off Vigo;
Emden-Brest: from off Cherbourg to Brest;
Emden-Teneriffe: from off Dunkirk to off Teneriffe;
Emden-Azores (1): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal;
Emden-Azores (2): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal;
Azores-New York (1): from Fayal to New York;
Azores-New York (2): from Fayal to the longitude of Halifax;
Teneriffe-Monrovia: from off Teneriffe to off Monrovia;
Monrovia-Lome: from about latitude 2 degrees 30 minutes north,
and longitude 7 degrees 40 minutes west of Greenwich, to about
latitude 2 degrees 20 minutes north, and longitude 5 degrees 30
minutes west of Greenwich, and from about latitude 3 degrees 48
minutes north, and longitude 0 degrees 0 minutes to Lome;
Lome-Duala: from Lome to Duala;
Monrovia-Pernambuco: from off Monrovia to off Pernambuco;
Constantinople-Constanza: from Constantinople to Constanza;
Yap-Shanghai, Yap-Guam, and Yap-Menado (Celebes): from Yap
Island to Shanghai, from Yap Island to Guam Island, and from
Yap Island to Menado.
The value of the above-mentioned cables or portions thereof in so far as
they are privately owned, calculated on the basis of the original cost
less a suitable allowance for depreciation, shall be credited to Germany
in the reparation account.
SECTION II.--_Special Provisions_
=ARTICLE 245.=--Within six months after coming into force of the present
treaty the German Government must restore to the French Government the
trophies, archives, historical souvenirs, or works of art carried away
from France by the German authorities in the course of the war of
1870--71 and during this last war, in accordance with a list which will
be communicated to it by the French Government; particularly the French
flags taken in the course of the war of 1870--71, and all the political
papers taken by the German authorities on Oct. 10, 1870, at the Château
of Cercay, near Brunoy, (Seine-et-Oise,) belonging at the time to M.
Rouher, formerly Minister of State.
=ARTICLE 246.=--Within six months of the coming into force of the
present treaty Germany will restore to his Majesty the King of the
Hedjaz the original Koran of the Caliph Othman, which was removed from
Medina by the Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented
to the ex-Emperor William II.
Within the same period Germany will hand over to his Britannic Majesty's
Government the skull of the Sultan Mkwawa, which was removed from the
protectorate of German East Africa and taken to Germany.
The delivery of the articles above referred to will be effected in such
place and in such conditions as may be laid down by the Governments to
which they are to be restored
=ARTICLE 247.=--Germany undertakes to furnish to the University of
Louvain, within three months after a request made by it and transmitted
through the intervention of the Reparation Commission, manuscripts,
incunabula, printed books, maps, and objects of collection corresponding
in number and value to those destroyed in the burning by Germany of the
library of Louvain. All details regarding such replacement will be
determined by the Reparation Commission.
Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium, through the Reparation
Commission, within six months of the coming into force of the present
treaty, in order to enable Belgium to reconstitute her two great
artistic works:
(a) The leaves of the triptych of the Mystic Lamb painted by the Van
Eyck Brothers, formerly in the Church of St. Bavon at Ghent, now in the
Berlin Museum.
(b) The leaves of the triptych of the Last Supper, painted by Dierick
Bouts, formerly in the Church of St. Peter at Louvain, two of which are
now in the Berlin Museum and two in the old Pinakothek at Munich.
PART IX
Financial Clauses
=ARTICLE 248.=--Subject to such exceptions as the Reparation Commission
may approve, a first charge upon all the assets and revenues of the
German Empire and its constituent States shall be the cost of reparation
and all other costs arising under the present treaty or any treaties or
agreements supplementary thereto or under arrangements concluded between
Germany and the Allied and Associated Powers during the armistice or its
extensions.
Up to May 1, 1921, the German Government shall not export or dispose of,
and shall forbid the export or disposal of, gold without the previous
approval of the Allied and Associated Powers acting through the
Reparation Commission.
=ARTICLE 249.=--There shall be paid by the German Government the total
cost of all armies of the Allied and Associated Governments in occupied
German territory from the date of the signature of the armistice of the
11th November, 1918, including the keep of men and beasts, lodging and
billeting, pay and allowances, salaries and wages, bedding, heating,
lighting, clothing, equipment, harness and saddlery, armament and
rolling stock, air services, treatment of sick and wounded, veterinary
and remount services, transport service of all sorts, (such as by rail,
sea, river, or motor lorries,) communications and correspondence, and in
general the cost of all administrative or technical services, the
working of which is necessary for the training of troops and for keeping
their numbers up to strength and preserving their military efficiency.
The cost of such liabilities under the above heads, so far as they
relate to purchases or requisitions by the Allied and Associated
Governments in the occupied territories, shall be paid by the German
Government to the Allied and Associated Governments in marks at the
current or agreed rate of exchange. All other of the above costs shall
be paid in gold marks.
=ARTICLE 250.=--Germany confirms the surrender of all material handed
over to the Allied and Associated Powers in accordance with the
armistice agreement of the 11th November, 1918, and subsequent armistice
agreements, and recognizes the title of the Allied and Associated Powers
to such material.
There shall be credited to the German Government against the sums due
from it to the Allied and Associated Powers for reparation, the value,
as assessed by the Reparation Commission referred to in Article 233 of
Part VIII. (reparation) of the present treaty, of the material handed
over in accordance with Article 7 of the armistice agreement of the 11th
November, 1918, Article 3 of the armistice agreement of the 16th
January, 1919, as well as of any other material handed over in
accordance with the armistice agreement of the 11th November, 1918, and
of subsequent armistice agreements, for which, as having non-military
value, credit should, in the judgment of the Reparation Commission, be
allowed to the German Government.
Property belonging to the Allied and Associated Governments or their
nationals restored or surrendered under the armistice agreements in
specie shall not be credited to the German Government.
=ARTICLE 251.=--The priority of the charges established by Article 248
shall, subject to the qualifications made below, be as follows:
(a) The cost of the armies of occupation as defined under Article 249
during the armistice and its extensions;
(b) The cost of any armies of occupation as defined under Article 249
after the coming into force of the present treaty;
(c) The cost of reparation arising out of the present treaty or any
treaties or conventions supplementary thereto;
(d) The cost of all other obligations incumbent on Germany under the
armistice conventions or under this treaty or any treaties or
conventions supplementary thereto.
The payment for such supplies of food and raw material for Germany and
such other payments as may be judged by the Allied and Associated Powers
to be essential to enable Germany to meet her obligations in respect of
reparation will have priority to the extent and upon the conditions
which have been or may be determined by the Governments of the said
powers.
=ARTICLE 252.=--The right of each of the Allied and Associated Powers to
dispose of enemy assets and property within its jurisdiction at the date
of the coming into force of the present treaty is not affected by the
foregoing provisions.
=ARTICLE 253.=--Nothing in the foregoing provisions shall prejudice in
any manner charges or mortgages lawfully effected in favor of the Allied
and Associated Powers or their nationals respectively, before the date
at which a state of war existed between Germany and the Allied and
Associated Powers concerned, by the German Empire or its constituent
States, or by German nationals on assets in their ownership at that
date.
=ARTICLE 254.=--The powers to which German territory is ceded shall,
subject to the qualifications made in Article 255, undertake to pay:
1. A portion of the debt of the German Empire as it stood on the 1st
August, 1914, calculated on the basis of the ratio between the average
for the three financial years 1911, 1912, 1913, of such revenues of the
ceded territory and the average for the same years of such revenues of
the whole German Empire as in the judgment of the Reparation Commission
are best calculated to represent the relative ability of the respective
territories to make payments.
2. A portion of the debt as it stood on the 1st August, 1914, of the
German State to which the ceded territory belonged, to be determined in
accordance with the principle stated above.
Such portions shall be determined by the Reparation Commission.
The method of discharging the obligation both in respect of capital and
of interest, so assumed, shall be fixed by the Reparation Commission.
Such method may take the form, inter alia, of the assumption by the
power to which the territory is ceded of Germany's liability for the
German debt held by her nationals. But in the event of the method
adopted involving any payments to the German Government, such payments
shall be transferred to the Reparation Commission on account of the sums
due for reparation so long as any balance in respect of such sums
remains unpaid.
=ARTICLE 255.=--1. As an exception to the above provision and inasmuch
as in 1871 Germany refused to undertake any portion of the burden of
the French debt, France shall be, in respect of Alsace-Lorraine, exempt
from any payment under Article 254.
2. In the case of Poland that portion of the debt which, in the opinion
of the Reparation Commission is attributable to the measures taken by
the German and Prussian Governments for the German colonization of
Poland shall be excluded from the apportionment to be made under Article
254.
[Illustration: Copyright Underwood & Underwood
Dreadnoughts Welcoming President Wilson Home
This photograph taken from the Fighting Top of the _Pennsylvania_, shows
American Warships in the North River, firing a salute in honor of the
President's return from France on the _George Washington_.]
3. In the case of all ceded territories other than Alsace-Lorraine that
portion of the debt of the German Empire or German States which in the
opinion of the Reparation Commission represents expenditure by the
Governments of the German Empire or States upon the Government
properties referred to in Article 256 shall be excluded from the
apportionment to be made under Article 254.
=ARTICLE 256.=--Powers to which German territory is ceded shall acquire
all property and possessions situated therein belonging to the German
Empire or to the German States, and the value of such acquisitions shall
be fixed by the Reparation Commission, and paid by the State acquiring
the territory to the Reparation Commission for the credit of the German
Government on account of the sums due for reparation.
For the purposes of this article the property and possessions of the
German Empire and States shall be deemed to include all the property of
the Crown, the Empire or the States, and the private property of the
former German Emperor and other royal personages.
In view of the terms on which Alsace-Lorraine was ceded to Germany in
1871--France shall be exempt in respect thereof from making any payment
or credit under this article for any property or possessions of the
German Empire or States situated therein. Belgium also shall be exempt
from making any payment or any credit under this article for any
property or possessions of the German Empire or States situated in
German territory ceded to Belgium under the present treaty.
=ARTICLE 257.=--In the case of the former German territories, including
colonies, protectorates, or dependencies, administered by a mandatory
under Article 22 of Part I. (League of Nations) of the present treaty,
neither the territory nor the mandatory power shall be charged with any
portion of the debt of the German Empire or States.
All property and possessions belonging to the German Empire or to the
German States situated in such territory shall be transferred with the
territories to the Mandatory Power in its capacity as such, and no
payment shall be made nor any credit given to those Governments in
consideration of this transfer.
For the purpose of this article the property and possessions of the
German Empire and of the German States shall be deemed to include all
the property of the crown, the empire or the States and the private
property of the former German Emperor and other royal personages.
=ARTICLE 258.=--Germany renounces all rights accorded to her or her
nationals by treaties, conventions or agreements, of whatsoever kind, to
representation upon or participation in the control or administration of
commissions, state banks, agencies or other financial or economic
organizations of an international character, exercising powers of
control or administration, and operating in any of the Allied or
Associated States, or in Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey, or in the
dependencies of these States, or in the former Russian Empire.
=ARTICLE 259.=--1. Germany agrees to deliver within one month from the
date of the coming into force of the present treaty, to such authority
as the principal Allied and Associated Powers may designate, the sum in
gold which was to be deposited in the Reichsbank in the name of the
Council of the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt as security for
the first issue of Turkish Government currency notes.
2. Germany recognizes her obligation to make annually for the period of
twelve years the payments in gold for which provision is made in the
German Treasury bonds deposited by her from time to time in the name of
the Council of the Administration of the Ottoman Public Debt as security
for the second and subsequent issues of Turkish Government currency
notes.
3. Germany undertakes to deliver, within one month from the coming into
force of the present treaty, to such authority as the principal Allied
and Associated Powers may designate, the deposit gold constituted in the
Reichsbank or elsewhere, representing the residue of the advance in gold
agreed to on the 5th of May, 1915, by the Council of the Administration
of the Ottoman Public Debt to the Imperial Ottoman Government.
4. Germany agrees to transfer to the principal Allied and Associated
Powers any title that she may have to the sum in gold and silver
transmitted by her to the Turkish Ministry of Finance in November, 1918,
in anticipation of the payment to be made in May, 1919, for the service
of the Turkish internal loan.
5. Germany undertakes to transfer to the principal Allied and Associated
Powers within a period of one month from the coming into force of the
present treaty, any sums in gold transferred as pledge or as collateral
security to the German Government or its nationals in connection with
loans made by them to the Austro-Hungarian Government.
6. Without prejudice to Article 292 of Part X. (economic clauses) of the
present treaty, Germany confirms the renunciation provided for in
Article XV. of the armistice convention of the 11th November, 1918, of
any benefit disclosed by the treaties of Bucharest and of Brest-Litovsk,
and by the treaties supplementary thereto.
Germany undertakes to transfer, either to Rumania or to the principal
Allied and Associated Powers, as the case may be, all monetary
instruments, specie, securities and negotiable instruments or goods
which she has received under the aforesaid treaties.
7. The sums of money and all securities, instruments and goods of
whatever nature, to be delivered, paid and transferred under the
provisions of this article, shall be disposed of by the principal Allied
and Associated Powers in a manner hereafter to be determined by these
powers.
=ARTICLE 260.=--Without prejudice to the renunciation of any rights by
Germany on behalf of herself or of her nationals in the other provisions
of the present treaty, the Reparation Commission may, within one year
from the coming into force of the present treaty, demand that the German
Government become possessed of any rights and interests of the German
nationals in any public utility undertaking or in any concession
operating in Russia, China, Turkey, Austria, Hungary, and Bulgaria, or
in the possessions or dependencies of these States or in any territory
formerly belonging to Germany or her allies, to be ceded by Germany or
her allies to any power, or to be administered by a mandatary under the
present treaty, and may require that the German Government transfer,
within six months of the date of demand, all such rights and interests
and any similar rights and interests the German Government may itself
possess, to the Reparation Commission.
Germany shall be responsible for indemnifying her nationals so
dispossessed and the Reparation Commission shall credit Germany on
account of sums due for reparation with such sums in respect of the
value of the transferred rights and interests as may be assessed by the
Reparation Commission, and the German Government shall, within six
months from the coming into force of the present treaty, communicate to
the Reparation Commission all such rights and interests, whether already
granted, contingent, or not yet exercised, and shall renounce on behalf
of itself and its nationals in favor of the Allied and Associated Powers
all such rights and interests which have not been so communicated.
=ARTICLE 261.=--Germany undertakes to transfer to the Allied and
Associated Powers any claims she may have to payment or repayment by the
Governments of Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, and, in particular
any claims which may arise, now or hereafter, from the fulfillment of
undertakings made by Germany during the war to those Governments.
=ARTICLE 262.=--Any monetary obligation due by Germany arising out of
the present treaty and expressed in terms of gold marks shall be payable
at the option of the creditors in pounds sterling payable in London;
gold dollars of the United States of America payable in New York; gold
francs payable in Paris, or gold lire payable in Rome.
For the purpose of this article, the gold coins mentioned above shall be
defined as being of the weight and fineness of gold as enacted by law on
the 1st January, 1914.
=ARTICLE 263.=--Germany gives a guarantee to the Brazilian Government
that all sums representing the sale of coffee belonging to the State of
Sao Paolo in the Ports of Hamburg, Bremen, Antwerp, and Trieste, which
were deposited with the Bank of the Bleichröder at Berlin, shall be
reimbursed, together with interest at the rate or rates agreed upon.
Germany, having prevented the transfer of the sums in question to the
State of Sao Paolo at the proper time, guarantees also that the
reimbursements shall be effected at the rate of exchange of the day of
the deposit.
PART X
Economic Clauses
SECTION I.--_Commercial Relations_
CHAPTER I.--CUSTOMS REGULATIONS, DUTIES, AND RESTRICTIONS
=ARTICLE 264.=--Germany undertakes that goods the produce or manufacture
of any one of the Allied or Associated States imported into German
territory, from whatsoever place arriving, shall not be subjected to
other or higher duties or charges (including internal charges) than
those to which the like goods the produce or manufacture of any other
such State or of any other foreign country are subject.
Germany will not maintain or impose any prohibition or restriction on
the importation into German territory of any goods the produce or
manufacture of the territories of any one of the Allied or Associated
States, from whatsoever place arriving, which shall not equally extend
to the importation of the like goods the produce or manufacture of any
other such State or of any other foreign country.
=ARTICLE 265.=--Germany further undertakes that, in the matter of the
régime applicable on importation, no discrimination against the commerce
of any of the Allied and Associated States as compared with any other of
the said States or any other foreign country shall be made, even by
indirect means, such as customs regulations or procedure, methods of
verification or analysis, conditions of payment of duties, tariff
classification or interpretation, or the operation of monopolies.
=ARTICLE 266.=--In all that concerns exportation Germany undertakes that
goods, natural products or manufactured articles, exported from German
territory to the territories of any one of the Allied or Associated
States shall not be subjected to other or higher duties or charges
(including internal charges) than those paid on the like goods exported
to any other such State or to any other foreign country.
Germany will not maintain or impose any prohibition or restriction on
the exportation of any goods sent from her territory to any one of the
Allied or Associated States which shall not equally extend to the
exportation of the like goods, natural products or manufactured
articles, sent to any other such State or to any other foreign country.
=ARTICLE 267.=--Every favor, immunity, or privilege in regard to the
importation, exportation, or transit of goods granted by Germany to any
Allied or Associated State or to any other foreign country whatever
shall simultaneously and unconditionally, without request and without
compensation, be extended to all the Allied and Associated States.
=ARTICLE 268.=--The provisions of Article 264 to 267 inclusive of this
chapter and of Article 323 of Part XII. (ports, waterways, and railways)
of the present treaty are subject to the following exceptions:
(a) For a period of five years from the coming into force of the present
treaty, natural or manufactured products which both originate in and
come from the territories of Alsace and Lorraine reunited to France
shall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt from all
customs duty.
The French Government shall fix each year by decree communicated to the
German Government, the nature and amount of the products which shall
enjoy this exemption.
The amount of each product which may be thus sent annually into Germany
shall not exceed the average of the amounts sent annually in the years
1911--1913.
Further, during the period above mentioned the German Government shall
allow the free export from Germany, and the free reimportation into
Germany, exempt from all customs duties and other charges, (including
internal charges,) of yarns, tissues, and other textile materials or
textile products of any kind and in any condition sent from Germany into
the territories of Alsace or Lorraine, to be subjected there to any
finishing process, such as bleaching, dyeing, printing, mercerization,
gassing, twisting, or dressing.
(b) During a period of three years from the coming into force of the
present treaty natural or manufactured products which both originate in
and come from Polish territories which before the war were part of
Germany shall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt
from all customs duty.
The Polish Government shall fix each year, by decree communicated to the
German Government, the nature and amount of the products which shall
enjoy this exemption.
The amount of each product which may be thus sent annually into Germany
shall not exceed the average of the amounts sent annually in the years
1911--1913.
(c) The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to require
Germany to accord freedom from customs duty, on importation into German
customs territory, to natural products and manufactured articles which
both originate in and come from the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, for a
period of five years from the coming into force of the present treaty.
The nature and amount of the products which shall enjoy the benefits of
this régime shall be communicated each year to the German Government.
The amount of each product which may be thus sent annually into Germany
shall not exceed the average of the amounts sent annually in the years
1911--1913.
=ARTICLE 269.=--During the first six months after the coming into force
of the present treaty, the duties imposed by Germany on imports from
Allied and Associated States shall not be higher than the most favorable
duties which were applied to imports into Germany on the 31st July,
1914.
During a further period of thirty months after the expiration of the
first six months, this provision shall continue to be applied
exclusively with regard to products which, being comprised in Section A
of the First Category of the German Customs Tariff of the 25th December,
1902, enjoyed at the above-mentioned date (31st July, 1914,) rates
conventionalized by treaties with the Allied and Associated Powers, with
the addition of all kinds of wine and vegetable oils, of artificial silk
and of washed or scoured wool, whether or not they were the subject of
special conventions before the 31st July, 1914.
=ARTICLE 270.=--The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to
apply to German territory occupied by their troops a special customs
régime as regards imports and exports, in the event of such a measure
being necessary in their opinion in order to safeguard the economic
interests of the population of these territories.
CHAPTER II.--SHIPPING
=ARTICLE 271.=--As regards sea fishing, maritime coasting trade, and
maritime towage, vessels of the Allied and Associated Powers shall
enjoy, in German territorial waters, the treatment accorded to vessels
of the most-favored nation.
=ARTICLE 272.=--Germany agrees that, notwithstanding any stipulation to
the contrary contained in the conventions relating to the North Sea
fisheries and liquor traffic, all rights of inspection and police shall,
in the case of fishing boats of the Allied Powers, be exercised solely
by ships belonging to those powers.
=ARTICLE 273.=--In the case of vessels of the Allied or Associated
Powers, all classes of certificates or documents relating to the vessel,
which were recognized as valid by Germany before the war, or which may
hereafter be recognized as valid by the principal maritime States, shall
be recognized by Germany as valid and as equivalent to the corresponding
certificates issued to German vessels.
A similar recognition shall be accorded to the certificates and
documents issued to their vessels by the Governments of new States,
whether they have a seacoast or not, provided that such certificates and
documents shall be issued in conformity with the general practice
observed in the principal maritime States.
The high contracting parties agree to recognize the flag flown by the
vessels of an Allied or Associated Power having no seacoast which are
registered at some one specified place situated in its territory; such
place shall serve as the port of registry of such vessels.
CHAPTER III.--UNFAIR COMPETITION
=ARTICLE 274.=--Germany undertakes to adopt all the necessary
legislative and administrative measures to protect goods the produce or
manufacture of any one of the Allied and Associated Powers from all
forms of unfair competition in commercial transactions.
Germany undertakes to prohibit and repress by seizure and by other
appropriate remedies the importation, exportation, manufacture,
distribution, sale or offering for sale in its territory of all goods
bearing upon themselves or their usual get-up or wrappings any marks,
names, devices, or descriptions whatsoever which are calculated to
convey directly or indirectly a false indication of the origin, type,
nature, or special characteristics of such goods.
=ARTICLE 275.=--Germany undertakes on condition that reciprocity is
accorded in these matters to respect any law, or any administrative or
judicial decision given in conformity with such law, in force in any
Allied or Associated State and duly communicated to her by the proper
authorities, defining or regulating the right to any regional
appellation in respect of wine or spirits produced in the State to which
the region belongs or the conditions under which the use of any such
appellation may be permitted; and the importation, exportation,
manufacture, distribution, sale or offering for sale of products or
articles bearing regional appellations inconsistent with such law or
order shall be prohibited by the German Government and repressed by the
measures prescribed in the preceding article.
CHAPTER IV.--TREATMENT OF NATIONALS OF ALLIED AND ASSOCIATED POWERS
=ARTICLE 276.=--Germany undertakes:
(a) not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers to
any prohibition in regard to the exercise of occupations, professions,
trade, and industry, which shall not be equally applicable to all aliens
without exception;
(b) not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers in
regard to the rights referred to in Paragraph (a) to any regulation or
restriction which might contravene directly or indirectly the
stipulations of the said paragraph, or which shall be other or more
disadvantageous than those which are applicable to nationals of the
most-favored nation;
(c) not to subject the nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers,
their property, rights, or interests, including companies and
associations in which they are interested, to any charge, tax, or
impost, direct or indirect, other or higher than those which are or may
be imposed on her own nationals or their property, rights, or interests;
(d) not to subject the nationals of any one of the Allied and Associated
Powers to any restriction which was not applicable on July 1, 1914, to
the nationals of such powers unless such restriction is likewise imposed
on her own nationals.
=ARTICLE 277.=--The nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers shall
enjoy in German territory a constant protection for their persons and
for their property, rights, and interests, and shall have free access to
the courts of law.
=ARTICLE 278.=--Germany undertakes to recognize any new nationality
which has been or may be acquired by her nationals under the laws of the
Allied and Associated Powers, and in accordance with the decisions of
the competent authorities of these powers pursuant to naturalization
laws or under treaty stipulations, and to regard such persons as having,
in consequence of the acquisition of such new nationality, in all
respects severed their allegiance to their country of origin.
=ARTICLE 279.=--The Allied and Associated Powers may appoint Consuls
General, Consuls, Vice Consuls, and Consular Agents in German towns and
ports. Germany undertakes to approve the designation of the Consuls
General, Consuls, Vice Consuls, and Consular Agents, whose names shall
be notified to her, and to admit them to the exercise of their functions
in conformity with the usual rules and customs.
CHAPTER V.--GENERAL ARTICLES
=ARTICLE 280.=--The obligations imposed on Germany by Chapter I. and by
Articles 271 and 272 of Chapter II. above shall cease to have effect
five years from the date of the coming into force of the present treaty,
unless otherwise provided in the text, or unless the Council of the
League of Nations shall, at least twelve months before the expiration of
that period, decide that these obligations shall be maintained for a
further period with or without amendment.
Article 276 of Chapter IV. shall remain in operation, with or without
amendment, after the period of five years for such further period, if
any, not exceeding five years, as may be determined by a majority of the
Council of the League of Nations.
=ARTICLE 281.=--If the German Government engages in international trade,
it shall not in respect thereof have or be deemed to have any rights,
privileges, or immunities of sovereignty.
SECTION II.--_Treaties_
=ARTICLE 282.=--From the coming into force of the present treaty and
subject to the provisions thereof the multilateral treaties,
conventions, and agreements of an economic or technical character
enumerated below and in the subsequent articles shall alone be applied
as between Germany and those of the Allied and Associated Powers party
thereto:
1. Conventions of March 14, 1884; Dec. 1, 1886, and March 23, 1887, and
final protocol of July 7, 1887, regarding the protection of submarine
cables.
2. Convention of Oct. 11, 1909, regarding the international circulation
of motor cars.
3. Agreement of May 15, 1886, regarding the sealing of railway trucks
subject to customs inspection, and protocol of May 18, 1907.
4. Agreement of May 15, 1886, regarding the technical standardization of
railways.
5. Convention of July 5, 1890, regarding the publication of customs
tariffs and the organization of an international union for the
publication of customs tariffs.
6. Convention of Dec. 31, 1913, regarding the unification of commercial
statistics.
7. Convention of April 25, 1907, regarding the raising of the Turkish
customs tariff.
8. Convention of March 14, 1857, for the redemption of toll dues on the
Sound and Belts.
9. Convention of June 22, 1861, for the redemption of the Stade Toll on
the Elbe.
10. Convention of July 16, 1863, for the redemption of toll dues on the
Scheldt.
11. Convention of Oct. 29, 1888, regarding the establishment of a
definite arrangement guaranteeing the free use of the Suez Canal.
12. Convention of Sept. 23, 1910, respecting the unification of certain
regulations regarding collisions and salvage at sea.
13. Convention of Dec. 21, 1904, regarding the exemption of hospital
ships from dues and charges in ports.
14. Convention of Feb. 4, 1898, regarding the tonnage measurement of
vessels for inland navigation.
15. Convention of Sept. 26, 1906, for the suppression of nightwork for
women.
16. Convention of Sept. 26, 1906, for the suppression of the use of
white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches.
17. Conventions of May 18, 1904, and May 4, 1910, regarding the
suppression of the white slave traffic.
18. Convention of May 4, 1910, regarding the suppression of obscene
publications.
19. Sanitary conventions of January, 1892; April 15, 1893; April 3,
1894; April 19, 1897, and Dec. 3, 1903.
20. Convention of May 20, 1875, regarding the unification and
improvement of the metric system.
21. Convention of Nov. 29, 1906, regarding the unification of
pharmacopoeial formulae for potent drugs.
22. Convention of Nov. 16 and 19, 1885, regarding the establishment of a
concert pitch.
23. Convention of June 7, 1905, regarding the creation of an
International Agricultural Institute at Rome.
24. Conventions of Nov. 3, 1881, and April 15, 1889, regarding
precautionary measures against phylloxera.
25. Convention of March 19, 1902, regarding the protection of birds
useful to agriculture.
26. Convention of June 12, 1902, as to the protection of minors.
=ARTICLE 283.=--From the coming into force of the present treaty the
high contracting parties shall apply the conventions and agreements
hereinafter mentioned, in so far as concerns them, on condition that the
special stipulations contained in this article are fulfilled by Germany.
=Postal Conventions:=
Conventions and agreements of the Universal Postal Union concluded at
Vienna, July 4, 1891.
Conventions and agreements of the Postal Union signed at Washington,
June 15, 1897.
Conventions and agreements of the Postal Union signed at Rome May 26,
1906.
=Telegraphic Conventions:=
International Telegraphic Conventions signed at St. Petersburg July 10,
(22,) 1875.
Regulations and tariffs drawn up by the International Telegraphic
Conference, Lisbon, June 11, 1908.
Germany undertakes not to refuse her assent to the conclusion by the new
States of the special arrangements referred to in the conventions and
agreements relating to the Universal Postal Union and to the
International Telegraphic Union, to which the said new States have
adhered or may adhere.
=ARTICLE 284.=--From the coming into force of the present treaty the
high contracting parties shall apply, in so far as concerns them, the
International Radio-Telegraphic Convention of July 5, 1912, on condition
that Germany fulfills the provisional regulations which will be
indicated to her by the Allied and Associated Powers.
If within five years after the coming into force of the present treaty a
new convention regulating international radio-telegraphic communications
should have been concluded to take the place of the convention of July
5, 1912, this new convention shall bind Germany even if Germany should
refuse either to take part in drawing up the convention or to subscribe
thereto.
This new convention will likewise replace the provisional regulations in
force.
=ARTICLE 285.=--From the coming into force of the present treaty the
high contracting parties shall apply in so far as concerns them and
under the conditions stipulated in Article 272 the conventions
hereinafter mentioned:
1. The conventions of May 6, 1882, and Feb. 1, 1889, regulating the
fisheries in the North Sea outside territorial waters.
2. The conventions and protocols of Nov. 16, 1887, Feb. 14, 1893, and
April 11, 1894, regarding the North Sea liquor traffic.
=ARTICLE 286.=--The International Convention of Paris of March 20, 1883,
for the protection of industrial property, revised at Washington on June
2, 1911; the International Convention of Berne of Sept. 9, 1886, for the
protection of literary and artistic works, revised at Berlin on Nov. 13,
1908, and completed by the additional protocol signed at Berne on March
20, 1914, will again come into effect as from the coming into force of
the present treaty, in so far as they are not affected or modified by
the exceptions and restrictions resulting therefrom.
=ARTICLE 287.=--From the coming into force of the present treaty the
high contracting parties shall apply, in so far as concerns them, the
Convention of the Hague of July 17, 1905, relating to civil procedure.
This renewal, however, will not apply to France, Portugal and Rumania.
=ARTICLE 288.=--The special rights and privileges granted to Germany by
Article 3 of the convention of Dec. 2, 1899, relating to Samoa shall be
considered to have terminated on Aug. 4, 1914.
=ARTICLE 289.=--Each of the Allied or Associated Powers, being guided by
the general principles or special provisions of the present treaty,
shall notify to Germany the bilateral treaties or conventions which such
Allied or Associated Power wishes to revive with Germany.
The notification referred to in the present article shall be made either
directly or through the intermediary of another power. Receipt thereof
shall be acknowledged in writing by Germany. The date of the revival
shall be that of the notification.
The Allied and Associated Powers undertake among themselves not to
revive with Germany any conventions or treaties which are not in
accordance with the terms of the present treaty.
The notification shall mention any provisions of the said conventions
and treaties which, not being in accordance with the terms of the
present treaty, shall not be considered as revived. In case of any
difference of opinion, the League of Nations will be called on to
decide.
A period of six months from the coming into force of the present treaty
is allowed to the Allied and Associated Powers within which to make the
notification.
Only those bilateral treaties and conventions which have been the
subject of such a notification shall be revived between the Allied and
Associated Powers and Germany; all the others are and shall remain
abrogated.
The above regulations apply to all bilateral treaties or conventions
existing between all the Allied and Associated Powers signatories to the
present treaty and Germany, even if the said Allied and Associated
Powers have not been in a state of war with Germany.
=ARTICLE 290.=--Germany recognizes that all the treaties, conventions,
or agreements which she has concluded with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria,
or Turkey since Aug. 1, 1914, until the coming into force of the present
treaty are and remain abrogated by the present treaty.
=ARTICLE 291.=--Germany undertakes to secure to the Allied and
Associated Powers, and to the officials and nationals of the said
powers, the enjoyment of all the rights and advantages of any kind which
she may have granted to Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, or Turkey, or to the
officials and nationals of these States by treaties, conventions, or
arrangements concluded before Aug. 1, 1914, so long as those treaties,
conventions, or arrangements remain in force.
The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to accept or not the
enjoyment of these rights and advantages.
=ARTICLE 292.=--Germany recognizes that all treaties, conventions, or
arrangements which she concluded with Russia or with any State or
Government of which the territory previously formed a part of Russia, or
with Rumania before Aug. 1, 1914, or after that date until the coming
into force of the present treaty, are and remain abrogated.
=ARTICLE 293.=--Should an Allied or Associated Power, Russia, or a State
or Government of which the territory formerly constituted a part of
Russia have been forced since Aug. 1, 1914, by reason of military
occupation or by any other means or for any other cause, to grant or to
allow to be granted by the act of any public authority, concessions,
privileges, and favors of any kind to Germany or to a German nation,
such concessions, privileges, and favors are _ipso facto_ annulled by
the present treaty.
No claims or indemnities which may result from this annulment shall be
charged against the Allied or Associated Powers or the powers, States,
Governments, or public authorities which are released from their
engagements by the present article.
=ARTICLE 294.=--From the coming into force of the present treaty Germany
undertakes to give the Allied and Associated Powers and their nationals
the benefit _ipso facto_ of the rights and advantages of any kind which
she has granted by treaties, conventions or arrangements to
non-belligerent States or their nationals since Aug. 1, 1914, until the
coming into force of the present treaty so long as those treaties,
conventions, or arrangements remain in force.
=ARTICLE 295.=--Those of the high contracting parties who have not yet
signed, or who have signed but not yet ratified, the Opium Convention
signed at The Hague on Jan. 23, 1912, agree to bring the said convention
into force, and for this purpose to enact the necessary legislation
without delay and in any case within a period of twelve months from the
coming into force of the present treaty.
Furthermore, they agree that ratification of the present treaty should
in the case of powers which have not yet ratified the Opium Convention
be deemed in all respects equivalent to the ratification of that
convention and to the signature of the special protocol which was opened
at The Hague in accordance with the resolutions adopted by the Third
Opium Conference in 1914 for bringing the said convention into force.
For this purpose the Government of the French Republic will communicate
to the Government of the Netherlands a certified copy of the protocol of
the deposit of ratifications of the present treaty, and will invite the
Government of the Netherlands to accept and deposit the said certified
copy as if it were a deposit of ratifications of the Opium Convention
and a signature of the additional protocol of 1914.
SECTION III.--_Debts._
=ARTICLE 296.=--There shall be settled through the intervention of
clearing offices to be established by each of the high contracting
parties within three months of the notification referred to in paragraph
(e) hereafter the following classes of pecuniary obligations:
1. Debts payable before the war and due by a national of one of the
contracting powers, residing within its territory, to a national of an
opposing power, residing within its territory.
2. Debts which became payable during the war to nationals of one
contracting power residing within its territory and arose out of
transactions or contracts with the nationals of an opposing power,
resident within its territory, of which the total or partial execution
was suspended on account of the declaration of war.
3. Interest which has accrued due before and during the war to a
national of one of the contracting powers in respect of securities
issued by an opposing power, provided that the payment of interest on
such securities to the nationals of that power or to neutrals has not
been suspended during the war.
4. Capital sums which have become payable before and during the war to
nationals of one of the contracting powers in respect of securities
issued by one of the opposing powers, provided that the payment of such
capital sums to nationals of that power or to neutrals has not been
suspended during the war.
[Illustration: Copyright Harris & Ewing
M. Stephen Pichon
Chosen Chairman of the provisional organization of the League of Nations
in recognition of his long leadership, not only in France but
internationally, in the work of bringing about a world-wide organization
to preserve peace.]
The proceeds of liquidation of enemy property, rights, and interests
mentioned in Section IV. and in the annex thereto will be accounted for
through the clearing offices, in the currency and at the rate of
exchange hereinafter provided in Paragraph (d), and disposed of by them
under the conditions provided by the said section and annex.
The settlements provided for in this article shall be effected according
to the following principles and in accordance with the annex to this
section:
(a) Each of the high contracting parties shall prohibit, as from the
coming into force of the present treaty, both the payment and the
acceptance of payment of such debts, and also all communications between
the interested parties with regard to the settlement of the said debts
otherwise than through the clearing offices.
(b) Each of the high contracting parties shall be respectively
responsible for the payment of such debts due by its nationals, except
in the cases where before the war the debtor was in a state of
bankruptcy or failure, or had given formal indication of insolvency or
where the debt was due by a company whose business has been liquidated
under emergency legislation during the war. Nevertheless, debts due by
the inhabitants of territory invaded or occupied by the enemy before the
armistice will not be guaranteed by the States of which those
territories form part.
(c) The sums due to the nationals of one of the high contracting parties
by the nationals of an opposing State will be debited to the clearing
office of the country of the debtor, and paid to the creditor by the
clearing office of the country of the creditor.
(d) Debts shall be paid or credited in the currency of such one of the
Allied and Associated Powers, their colonies or protectorates, or the
British Dominions or India, as may be concerned. If the debts are
payable in some other currency they shall be paid or credited in the
currency of the country concerned, whether an Allied or Associated
Power, colony, protectorate, British Dominion, or India, at the pre-war
rate of exchange.
For the purpose of this provision the pre-war rate of exchange shall be
defined as the average cable transfer rate prevailing in the Allied or
Associated country concerned during the month immediately preceding the
outbreak of war between the said country concerned and Germany.
If a contract provides for a fixed rate of exchange governing the
conversion of the currency in which the debt is stated into the currency
of the Allied or Associated country concerned, then the above provisions
concerning the rate of exchange shall not apply.
In the case of new States the currency in which and the rate of exchange
at which debts shall be paid or credited shall be determined by the
Reparation Commission provided for in Part VIII. (Reparation.)
(e) The provisions of this article and of the annex thereto shall not
apply as between Germany on the one hand and any one of the Allied and
Associated Powers, their colonies or protectorates, or any one of the
British Dominions or India on the other hand, unless within a period of
one month from the deposit of the ratifications of the present treaty by
the power in question, or of the ratification on behalf of such dominion
or of India, notice to that effect is given to Germany by the
Government of such Allied or Associated Power or of such Dominion or of
India as the case may be.
(f) The Allied and Associated Powers who have adopted this article and
the annex hereto may agree between themselves to apply them to their
respective nationals established in their territory so far as regards
matters between their nationals and German nationals. In this case the
payments made by application of this provision will be subject to
arrangements between the allied and associated clearing offices
concerned.
ANNEX
1. Each of the high contracting parties will, within three months from
the notification provided for in Article 296, Paragraph (e), establish a
clearing office for the collection and payment of enemy debts.
Local clearing offices may be established for any particular portion of
the territories of the high contracting parties. Such local clearing
offices may perform all the functions of a central clearing office in
their respective districts, except that all transactions with the
clearing office in the opposing State must be effected through the
central clearing office.
2. In this annex the pecuniary obligations referred to in the first
paragraph of Article 296 are described as "enemy debts," the persons
from whom the same are due as "enemy debtors," the persons to whom they
are due as "enemy creditors," the clearing office in the country of the
creditor is called the "Creditor Clearing Office," and the clearing
office in the country of the debtor is called the "Debtor Clearing
Office."
3. The high contracting parties will subject contraventions of Paragraph
(a) of Article 296 to the same penalties as are at present provided by
their legislation for trading with the enemy. They will similarly
prohibit within their territory all legal process relating to payment of
enemy debts, except in accordance with the provisions of this annex.
4. The Government guarantee specified in Paragraph (b) of Article 296
shall take effect whenever, for any reason, a debt shall not be
recoverable, except in a case where at the date of the outbreak of war
the debt was barred by the laws of prescription in force in the country
of the debtor, or where the debtor was at that time in a state of
bankruptcy or failure or had given formal indication of insolvency, or
where the debt was due by a company whose business has been liquidated
under emergency legislation during the war. In such case the procedure
specified by this annex shall apply to payment of the dividends.
The terms "bankruptcy" and "failure" refer to the application of
legislation providing for such juridical conditions. The expression
"formal indication of insolvency" bears the same meaning as it has in
English law.
5. Creditors shall give notice to the Creditor Clearing Office within
six months of its establishment of debts due to them, and shall furnish
the Clearing Office with any documents and information required of them.
The high contracting parties will take all suitable measures to trace
and punish collusion between enemy creditors and debtors. The clearing
offices will communicate to one another any evidence and information
which might help the discovery and punishment of such collusion.
The high contracting parties will facilitate as much as possible postal
and telegraphic communication at the expense of the parties concerned
and through the intervention of the clearing offices between debtors and
creditors desirous of coming to an agreement as to the amount of their
debt.
The Creditor Clearing Office will notify the Debtor Clearing Office of
all debts declared to it. The Debtor Clearing Office will, in due
course, inform the Creditor Clearing Office which debts are admitted and
which debts are contested. In the latter case the Debtor Clearing Office
will give the grounds for the non-admission of debt.
6. When a debt has been admitted, in whole or in part, the Debtor
Clearing Office will at once credit the Creditor Clearing Office with
the amount admitted, and at the same time notify it of such credit.
7. The debt shall be deemed to be admitted in full and shall be credited
forthwith to the Creditor Clearing Office unless within three months
from the receipt of the notification or such longer time as may be
agreed to by the Creditor Clearing Office notice has been given by the
Debtor Clearing Office that it is not admitted.
8. When the whole or part of a debt is not admitted the two clearing
offices will examine into the matter jointly, and will endeavor to bring
the parties to an agreement.
9. The Creditor Clearing Office will pay to the individual creditor the
sums credited to it out of the funds placed at its disposal by the
Government of its country and in accordance with the conditions fixed by
the said Government, retaining any sums considered necessary to cover
risks, expenses, or commissions.
10. Any person having claimed payment of an enemy debt which is not
admitted in whole or in part shall pay to the clearing office by way of
fine interest at 5 per cent. on the part not admitted. Any person having
unduly refused to admit the whole or part of a debt claimed from him
shall pay by way of fine interest at 5 per cent. on the amount with
regard to which his refusal shall be disallowed.
Such interest shall run from the date of expiration of the period
provided for in Paragraph 7 until the date on which the claim shall have
been disallowed or the debt paid.
Each clearing office shall in so far as it is concerned take steps to
collect the fines above provided for, and will be responsible if such
fines cannot be collected.
The fines will be credited to the other clearing office, which shall
retain them as a contribution toward the cost of carrying out the
present provisions.
11. The balance between the clearing offices shall be struck monthly,
and the credit balance paid in cash by the debtor State within a week.
Nevertheless, any credit balances which may be due by one or more of the
Allied and Associated Powers shall be retained until complete payment
shall have been effected of the sums due to the Allied or Associated
Powers or their nationals on account of the war.
12. To facilitate discussion between the clearing offices each of them
shall have a representative at the place where the other is established.
13. Except for special reasons all discussions in regard to claims will,
so far as possible, take place at the Debtor Clearing Office.
14. In conformity with Article 296, Paragraph (b), the high contracting
parties are responsible for the payment of the enemy debts owing by
their nationals.
The Debtor Clearing Office will therefore credit the Creditor Clearing
Office with all debts admitted, even in case of inability to collect
them from the individual debtor. The Governments concerned will,
nevertheless, invest their respective clearing offices with all
necessary powers for the recovery of debts which have been admitted.
As an exception the admitted debts owing by persons having suffered
injury from acts of war shall only be credited to the Creditor Clearing
Office when the compensation due to the person concerned in respect of
such injury shall have been paid.
15. Each Government will defray the expenses of the clearing office set
up in its territory, including the salaries of the staff.
16. Where the two clearing offices are unable to agree whether a debt
claimed is due, or in case of a difference between an enemy debtor and
an enemy creditor, or between the clearing offices, the dispute shall
either be referred to arbitration if the parties so agree under
conditions fixed by agreement between them, or referred to the mixed
arbitral tribunal provided for in Section VI. hereafter.
At the request of the Creditor Clearing Office the dispute may, however,
be submitted to the jurisdiction of the courts of the place of domicile
of the debtor.
17. Recovery of sums found by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal, the court, or
the arbitration tribunal to be due shall be effected through the
clearing offices as if these sums were debts admitted by the Debtor
Clearing Office.
18. Each of the Governments concerned shall appoint an agent who will be
responsible for the presentation to the mixed arbitral tribunal of the
cases conducted on behalf of its clearing office. This agent will
exercise a general control over the representatives or counsel employed
by its nationals.
Decisions will be arrived at on documentary evidence, but it will be
open to the tribunal to hear the parties in person, or, according to
their preference, by their representatives approved by the two
Governments, or by the agent referred to above, who shall be competent
to intervene along with the party or to reopen and maintain a claim
abandoned by the same.
19. The clearing offices concerned will lay before the mixed arbitral
tribunal all the information and documents in their possession, so as to
enable the tribunal to decide rapidly on the cases which are brought
before it.
20. Where one of the parties concerned appeals against the joint
decision of the two clearing offices he shall make a deposit against the
costs, which deposit shall only be refunded when the first judgment is
modified in favor of the appellant and in proportion to the success he
may attain, his opponent in case of such a refund being required to pay
an equivalent proportion of the costs and expenses. Security accepted by
the tribunal may be substituted for a deposit.
A fee of 5 per cent. of the amount in dispute shall be charged in
respect of all cases brought before the tribunal. This fee shall, unless
the tribunal directs otherwise, be borne by the unsuccessful party. Such
fee shall be added to the deposit referred to. It is also independent of
the security.
The tribunal may award to one of the parties a sum in respect of the
expenses of the proceedings.
Any sum payable under this paragraph shall be credited to the clearing
office of the successful party as a separate item.
21. With a view to the rapid settlement of claims, due regard shall be
paid in the appointment of all persons connected with the clearing
offices or with the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal to their knowledge of the
language of the other country concerned. Each of the clearing offices
will be at liberty to correspond with the other, and to forward
documents in its own language.
22. Subject to any special agreement to the contrary between the
Governments concerned, debts shall carry interest in accordance with the
following provisions:
Interest shall not be payable on sums of money due by way of dividend,
interest, or other periodical payments which themselves represent
interest on capital.
The rate of interest shall be 5 per cent. per annum except in cases
where, by contract, law, or custom, the creditor is entitled to payment
of interest at a different rate. In such cases the rate to which he is
entitled shall prevail.
Interest shall run from the date of commencement of hostilities (or, if
the sum of money to be recovered fell due during the war, from the date
at which it fell due) until the sum is credited to the clearing office
of the creditor.
Sums due by way of interest shall be treated as debts admitted by the
clearing offices and shall be credited to the Creditor Clearing Office
in the same way as such debts.
23. Where by decision of the clearing offices or the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal a claim is held not to fall within Article 296, the creditor
shall be at liberty to prosecute the claim before the courts or to take
such other proceedings as may be open to him.
The presentation of a claim to the clearing office suspends the
operation of any period of prescription.
24. The high contracting parties agree to regard the decisions of the
Mixed Arbitral Tribunal as final and conclusive, and to render them
binding upon their nationals.
25. In any case where a Creditor Clearing Office declines to notify a
claim to the Debtor Clearing Office, or to take any step provided for in
this annex, intended to make effective in whole or in part a request of
which it has received due notice, the enemy creditor shall be entitled
to receive from the clearing office a certificate setting out the amount
of the claim, and shall then be entitled to prosecute the claim before
the courts or to take such other proceedings as may be open to him.
SECTION IV.--_Property, Rights, and Interests_
=ARTICLE 297.=--The question of private property, rights, and interests
in an enemy country shall be settled according to the principles laid
down in this section and to the provisions of the annex hereto:
(a) The exceptional war measures and measures of transfer (defined in
Paragraph 3 of the annex hereto) taken by Germany with respect to the
property, rights, and interests of nationals of Allied or Associated
Powers, including companies and associations in which they are
interested, when liquidation has not been completed, shall be
immediately discontinued or stayed and the property, rights, and
interests concerned restored to their owners, who shall enjoy full
rights therein in accordance with the provisions of Article 298.
(b) Subject to any contrary stipulations which may be provided for in
the present treaty, the Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right
to retain and liquidate all property, rights, and interests belonging at
the date of the coming into force of the present treaty to German
nationals, or companies controlled by them, within their territories,
colonies, possessions, and protectorates including territories ceded to
them by the present treaty.
The liquidation shall be carried out in accordance with the laws of the
Allied or Associated State concerned, and the German owner shall not be
able to dispose of such property, rights, or interests nor to subject
them to any charge without the consent of that State.
German nationals who acquire _ipso facto_ the nationality of an Allied
or Associated Power in accordance with the provisions of the present
treaty will not be considered as German nationals within the meaning of
this paragraph.
(c) The price of the amount of compensation in respect of the exercise
of the right referred to in the preceding Paragraph (b) will be fixed in
accordance with the methods of sale or valuation adopted by the laws of
the country in which the property has been retained or liquidated.
(d) As between the Allied and Associated Powers or their nationals on
the one hand and Germany or her nationals on the other hand, all the
exceptional war measures, or measures of transfer, or acts done or to be
done in execution of such measures as defined in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of
the annex hereto shall be considered as final and binding upon all
persons except as regards the reservations laid down in the present
treaty.
(e) The nationals of Allied and Associated Powers shall be entitled to
compensation in respect of damage or injury inflicted upon their
property, rights, or interests including any company or association in
which they are interested, in German territory as it existed on Aug. 1,
1914, by the application either of the exceptional war measures or
measures of transfer mentioned in Paragraphs 1 and 3 of the annex
hereto. The claims made in this respect by such nationals shall be
investigated, and the total of the compensation shall be determined by
the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal provided for in Section VI, or by an
arbitrator appointed by that tribunal. This compensation shall be borne
by Germany, and may be charged upon the property of German nationals,
within the territory or under the control of the claimant's State. This
property may be constituted as a pledge for enemy liabilities under the
conditions fixed by Paragraph 4 of the annex hereto. The payment of this
compensation may be made by the Allied or Associated State, and the
amount will be debited to Germany.
(f) Whenever a national of an Allied or Associated Power is entitled to
property which has been subjected to a measure of transfer in German
territory and expresses a desire for its restitution, his claim for
compensation in accordance with Paragraph (e) shall be satisfied by the
restitution of the said property if it still exists in specie.
In such case Germany shall take all necessary steps to restore the
evicted owner to the possession of his property, free from all
incumbrances or burdens with which it may have been charged after the
liquidation, and to indemnify all third parties injured by the
restitution.
If the restitution provided for in this paragraph cannot be effected,
private agreements arranged by the intermediation of the powers
concerned or the clearing offices provided for in the Annex to Section
III. may be made, in order to secure that the national of the Allied or
Associated Power may secure compensation for the injury referred to in
Paragraph (e) by the grant of advantages or equivalents which he agrees
to accept in place of the property, rights or interests of which he was
deprived.
Through restitution in accordance with this article the price or the
amount of compensation fixed by the application of Paragraph (e) will be
reduced by the actual value of the property restored, account being
taken of compensation in respect of loss of use or deterioration.
(g) The rights conferred by Paragraph (f) are reserved to owners who are
nationals of Allied or Associated Powers within whose territory
legislative measures prescribing the general liquidation of enemy
property, rights or interests were not applied before the signature of
the armistice.
(h) Except in cases where, by application of Paragraph (f), restitutions
in specie have been made, the net proceeds of sales of enemy property,
rights or interests wherever situated carried out either by virtue of
war legislation, or by application of this article, and in general all
cash assets of enemies, shall be dealt with as follows:
(1) As regards powers adopting Section III. and the annex thereto, the
said proceeds and cash assets shall be credited to the power of which
the owner is a national, through the clearing office established
thereunder; any credit balance in favor of Germany resulting therefrom
shall be dealt with as provided in Article 243.
(2) As regards powers not adopting Section III. and the annex thereto,
the proceeds of the property, rights and interests, and the cash assets,
of the nationals or Allied or Associated Powers held by Germany shall be
paid immediately to the person entitled thereto or to his Government;
the proceeds of the property, rights and interests, and the cash assets,
of German nationals received by an Allied or Associated Power shall be
subject to disposal by such power in accordance with its laws and
regulations and may be applied in payment of the claims and debts
defined by this article or Paragraph 4 of the annex hereto. Any
property, rights and interests or proceeds thereof or cash assets not
used as above provided may be retained by the said Allied or Associated
Power and if retained the cash value thereof shall be dealt with as
provided in Article 243.
In the case of liquidations effected in new States, which are
signatories of the present treaty as Allied and Associated Powers, or in
States which are not entitled to share in the reparation payments to be
made by Germany, the proceeds of liquidations effected by such States
shall, subject to the rights of the Reparation Commission under the
present treaty, particularly under Articles 235 and 260, be paid direct
to the owner. If on the application of that owner the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal, provided for by Section VI. of this part or an arbitrator
appointed by that tribunal, is satisfied that the conditions of the sale
or measures taken by the Government of the State in question outside its
general legislation were unfairly prejudicial to the price obtained,
they shall have discretion to award to the owner equitable compensation
to be paid by that State.
(i) Germany undertakes to compensate its nationals in respect of the
sale or retention of their property, rights or interests in Allied or
Associated States.
(j) The amount of all taxes and imposts upon capital levied or to be
levied by Germany on the property, rights, and interests of the
nationals of the Allied or Associated Powers from the 11th of November,
1918, until three months from the coming into force of the present
treaty, or, in the case of property, rights or interests which have been
subjected to exceptional measures of war, until restitution in
accordance with the present treaty, shall be restored to the owners.
=ARTICLE 298.=--Germany undertakes, with regard to the property, rights
and interests, including companies and associations in which they were
interested, restored to nationals of Allied and Associated Powers in
accordance with the provisions of Article 297, Paragraph (a) or (f):
(a) to restore and maintain, except as expressly provided in the present
treaty, the property, rights, and interests of the nationals of Allied
or Associated Powers in the legal position obtaining in respect of the
property, rights, and interests of German nationals under the laws in
force before the war.
(b) not to subject the property, rights, or interests of the nationals
of the Allied or Associated Powers to any measures in derogation of
property rights which are not applied equally to the property, rights,
and interests of German nationals, and to pay adequate compensation in
the event of the application of these measures.
ANNEX
1. In accordance with the provisions of Article 297, Paragraph (d), the
validity of vesting orders and of orders for the winding up of
businesses or companies, and of any other orders, directions, decisions,
or instructions of any court or any department of the Government of any
of the high contracting parties made or given, or purporting to be made
or given, in pursuance of war legislation with regard to enemy property,
rights, and interests is confirmed. The interests of all persons shall
be regarded as having been effectively dealt with by any order,
direction, decision, or instruction dealing with property in which they
may be interested, whether or not such interests are specifically
mentioned in the order, direction, decision, or instruction. No question
shall be raised as to the regularity of a transfer of any property,
rights, or interests dealt with in pursuance of any such order,
direction, decision, or instruction. Every action taken with regard to
any property, business, or company, whether as regards its
investigation, sequestration, compulsory administration, use,
requisition, supervision, or winding up, the sale or management of
property, rights, or interests, the collection or discharge of debts,
the payment of costs, charges or expenses, or any other matter
whatsoever, in pursuance of orders, directions, decisions, or
instructions of any court or of any department of the Government of any
of the high contracting parties, made or given, or purporting to be made
or given in pursuance of war legislation with regard to enemy property,
rights or interests, is confirmed. Provided that the provisions of this
paragraph shall not be held to prejudice the titles to property
heretofore acquired in good faith and for value and in accordance with
the laws of the country in which the property is situated by nationals
of the Allied and Associated Powers.
The provisions of this paragraph do not apply to such of the
above-mentioned measures as have been taken by the German authorities in
invaded or occupied territory, nor to such of the above mentioned
measures as have been taken by Germany or the German authorities since
Nov. 11, 1918, all of which shall be void.
2. No claim or action shall be made or brought against any Allied or
Associated Power or against any person acting on behalf of or under the
direction of any legal authority or department of the Government of such
a power by Germany or by any German national wherever resident in
respect of any act or omission with regard to his property, rights, or
interests during the war or in preparation for the war. Similarly no
claim or action shall be made or brought against any person in respect
of any act or omission under or in accordance with the exceptional war
measures, laws, or regulations of any Allied or Associated Power.
3. In Article 297 and this Annex the expression "exceptional war
measures" includes measures of all kinds, legislative, administrative,
judicial, or others, that have been taken or will be taken hereafter
with regard to enemy property, and which have had or will have the
effect of removing from the proprietors the power of disposition over
their property, though without affecting the ownership, such as measures
of supervision, of compulsory administration, and of sequestration; or
measures which have had or will have as an object the seizure of, the
use of, or the interference with enemy assets, for whatsoever motive,
under whatsoever form or in whatsoever place. Acts in the execution of
these measures include all detentions, instructions, orders or decrees
of Government departments or courts applying these measures to enemy
property, as well as acts performed by any person connected with the
administration or the supervision of enemy property, such as the payment
of debts, the collecting of credits, the payment of any costs, charges,
or expenses, or the collecting of fees.
Measures of transfer are those which have affected or will affect the
ownership of enemy property by transferring it in whole or in part to a
person other than the enemy owner, and without his consent, such as
measures directing the sale, liquidation, or devolution of ownership in
enemy property, or the canceling of titles or securities.
4. All property, rights, and interests of German nationals within the
territory of any Allied or Associated Power and the net proceeds of
their sale, liquidation or other dealing therewith may be charged by
that Allied or Associated Power in the first place with payment of
amounts due in respect of claims by the nationals of that Allied or
Associated Power with regard to their property, rights, and interests,
including companies and associations in which they are interested, in
German territory, or debts owing to them by German nationals, and with
payment of claims growing out of acts committed by the German Government
or by any German authorities since July 31, 1914, and before that Allied
or Associated Power entered into the war. The amount of such claims may
be assessed by an arbitrator appointed by Gustave Ador, if he is
willing, or if no such appointment is made by him by an arbitrator
appointed by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal provided for in Section VI.
They may be charged in the second place with payment of the amounts due
in respect of claims by the nationals of such Allied or Associated Power
with regard to their property, rights, and interests in the territory of
other enemy powers, or debts owing to them by nationals of such powers
in so far as those claims or debts are otherwise unsatisfied.
5. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 297, where immediately
before the outbreak of war a company incorporated in an Allied or
Associated State had rights in common with a company controlled by it
and incorporated in Germany to the use of trade-marks in third
countries, or enjoyed the use in common with such company of unique
means of reproduction of goods or articles for sale in third countries,
the former company shall alone have the right to use these trade-marks
in third countries to the exclusion of the German company, and these
unique means of reproduction shall be handed over to the former company,
notwithstanding any action taken under German war legislation with
regard to the latter company or its business, industrial property or
shares. Nevertheless, the former company, if requested, shall deliver to
the latter company derivative copies permitting the continuation of
reproduction of articles for use within German territory.
6. Up to the time when restitution is carried out in accordance with
Article 297, Germany is responsible for the conservation of property,
rights, and interests of the nationals of Allied or Associated Powers,
including companies and associations in which they are interested, that
have been subjected by her to exceptional war measures.
7. Within one year from the coming into force of the present treaty the
Allied or Associated Powers will specify the property, rights and
interests over which they intend to exercise the right provided in
Article 297, Paragraph (f).
8. The restriction provided in Article 297 will be carried out by order
of the German Government or of the authorities which have been
substituted for it. Detailed accounts of the action of administrators
shall be furnished to the interested persons by the German authorities
upon request, which may be made at any time after the coming into force
of the present treaty.
9. Until completion of the liquidation provided for by Article 297,
Paragraph (b), the property, rights and interests of German nationals
will continue to be subject to exceptional war measures that have been
or will be taken with regard to them.
10. Germany will within six months from the coming into force of the
present treaty, deliver to each Allied or Associated Power all
securities, certificates, deeds, or other documents of title held by its
nationals and relating to property, rights or interests situated in the
territory of that Allied or Associated Power, including any shares,
stock, debentures, debenture stock, or other obligations of any company
incorporated in accordance with the laws of that power.
Germany will at any time on demand of any Allied or Associated Power
furnish such information as may be required with regard to the property,
rights, and interests of German nationals within the territory of such
Allied or Associated Power, or with regard to any transactions
concerning such property, rights or interests effected since July 1,
1914.
11. The expression "cash assets" includes all deposits or funds
established before or after the declaration of war, as well as all
assets coming from deposits, revenues, or profits collected by
administrators, sequestrators, or others from funds placed on deposit or
otherwise, but does not include sums belonging to the Allied or
Associated Powers or to their component States, provinces, or
municipalities.
[Illustration: Copyright Harris & Ewing
Henry Cabot Lodge
Republican Senator from Massachusetts.
One of the most earnest opponents of the peace treaty as originally
drawn up.]
12. All investments wheresoever effected with the cash assets of
nationals of the high contracting parties, including companies and
associations in which such nationals were interested, by persons
responsible for the administration, of enemy properties or having
control over such administration, or by order of such persons or of any
authority whatsoever shall be annulled. These cash assets shall be
accounted for irrespective of any such investment.
13. Within one month from the coming into force of the present treaty,
or on demand at any time, Germany will deliver to the Allied and
Associated Powers all accounts, vouchers, records, documents, and
information of any kind which may be within German territory, and which
concern the property, rights and interests of the nationals of those
powers, including companies and associations in which they are
interested, that have been subjected to an exceptional war measure, or
to a measure of transfer either in German territory or in territory
occupied by Germany or her allies.
The controllers, supervisors, managers, administrators, sequestrators,
liquidators, and receivers shall be personally responsible under
guarantee of the German Government for the immediate delivery in full of
these accounts and documents, and for their accuracy.
14. The provisions of Article 297 and this annex relating to property,
rights and interests in an enemy country, and the proceeds of the
liquidation thereof, apply to debts, credits and accounts, Section III.
regulating only the method of payment.
In the settlement of matters provided for in Article 297 between Germany
and the Allied or Associated States, their colonies or protectorates, or
any one of the British Dominions or India, in respect of any of which a
declaration shall not have been made that they adopt Section III., and
between their respective nationals, the provisions of Section III.
respecting the currency in which payment is to be made and the rate of
exchange and of interest shall apply unless the Government of the Allied
or Associated Power concerned shall within six months of the coming into
force of the present treaty notify Germany that the said provisions are
not to be applied.
15. The provisions of Article 297 and this annex apply to industrial,
literary, and artistic property which has been or will be dealt with in
the liquidation of property, rights, interests, companies, or businesses
under war legislation by the Allied or Associated Powers, or in
accordance with the stipulations of Article 297, Paragraph (b).
SECTION V.--_Contracts, Prescriptions, Judgments_
=ARTICLE 299.=--(a) Any contract concluded between enemies shall be
regarded as having been dissolved as from the time when any two of the
parties become enemies, except in respect of any debt or other pecuniary
obligation arising out of any act done or money paid thereunder, and
subject to the exceptions and special rules with regard to particular
contracts or classes of contracts contained herein or in the annex
hereto.
(b) Any contract of which the execution shall be required in the general
interest, within six months from the date of the coming into force of
the present treaty, by the Allied or Associated Governments of which one
of the parties is a national, shall be excepted from dissolution under
this article.
When the execution of the contract thus kept alive would, owing to the
alteration of trade conditions, cause one of the parties substantial
prejudice the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal provided for by Section VI. shall
be empowered to grant to the prejudiced party equitable compensation.
(c) Having regard to the provisions of the Constitution and law of the
United States of America, of Brazil, and of Japan, neither the present
Article, nor Article 300, nor the Annex hereto shall apply to contracts
made between nationals of these States and German nationals; nor shall
Article 305 apply to the United States of America or its nationals.
(d) The present Article and the Annex hereto shall not apply to
contracts the parties to which became enemies by reason of one of them
being an inhabitant of territory of which the sovereignty has been
transferred, if such party shall acquire under the present Treaty the
nationality of an Allied or Associated Power, nor shall they apply to
contracts between nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers between
whom trading has been prohibited by reason of one of the parties being
in allied or associated territory in the occupation of the enemy.
(e) Nothing in the present Article or the Annex hereto shall be deemed
to invalidate a transaction lawfully carried out in accordance with a
contract between enemies if it has been carried out with the authority
of one of the belligerent Powers.
=ARTICLE 300.=--(a) All periods of prescription, or limitation of right
of action, whether they began to run before or after the outbreak of
war, shall be treated in the territory of the High Contracting Parties,
so far as regards relations between enemies, as having been suspended
for the duration of the war. They shall begin to run again at earliest
three months after the coming into force of the present Treaty. This
provision shall apply to the period prescribed for the presentation of
interest or dividend coupons or for the presentation for repayment of
securities drawn for repayment or repayable on any other ground.
(b) Where, on account of failure to perform any act or comply with any
formality during the war, measures of execution have been taken in
German territory to the prejudice of a national of an Allied or
Associated Power, the claim of such national shall, if the matter does
not fall within the competence of the courts of an Allied or Associated
Power, be heard by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal provided for by Section
VI.
(c) Upon the application of any interested person who is a national of
an Allied or Associated Power, the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal shall order
the restoration of the rights which have been prejudiced by the measures
of execution referred to in Paragraph (b), wherever, having regard to
the particular circumstances of the case, such restoration is equitable
and possible.
If such restoration is inequitable or impossible the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal may grant compensation to the prejudiced party to be paid by
the German Government.
(d) Where a contract between enemies has been dissolved by reason either
of failure on the part of either party to carry out its provisions or of
the exercise of a right stipulated in the contract itself the party
prejudiced may apply to the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal for relief. The
tribunal will have the powers provided for in Paragraph (c).
(e) The provisions of the preceding paragraphs of this article shall
apply to the nationals of Allied and Associated Powers who have been
prejudiced by reason of measures referred to above taken by Germany in
invaded or occupied territory, if they have not been otherwise
compensated.
(f) Germany shall compensate any third party who may be prejudiced by
any restitution or restoration ordered by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal
under the provisions of the preceding paragraphs of this Article.
(g) As regards negotiable instruments, the period of three months
provided under paragraph (a) shall commence as from the date on which
any exceptional regulations applied in the territories of the interested
power with regard to negotiable instruments shall have definitely ceased
to have force.
=ARTICLE 301.=--As between enemies, no negotiable instrument made before
the war shall be deemed to have become invalid by reason only of failure
within the required time to present the instrument for acceptance or
payment or to give notice of non-acceptance or non-payment to drawers or
indorsers or to protest the instrument, nor by reason of failure to
complete any formality during the war.
Where the period within which a negotiable instrument should have been
presented for acceptance or for payment, or within which notice of
non-acceptance or non-payment should have been given to the drawer or
indorser within which the instrument should have been protested, has
elapsed during the war, and the party who should have presented or
protested the instrument or have given notice of non-acceptance or
non-payment has failed to do so during the war, a period of not less
than three months from the coming into force of the present treaty shall
be allowed within which presentation, notice of non-acceptance or
non-payment or protest may be made.
=ARTICLE 302.=--Judgments given by the courts of an Allied or Associated
Power in all cases which, under the present treaty, they are competent
to decide, shall be recognized in Germany as final, and shall be
enforced without it being necessary to have them declared executory.
If a judgment in respect of any dispute which may have arisen has been
given during the war by a German court against a national of an Allied
or Associated State in a case in which he was not able to make his
defense, the allied and associated national who has suffered prejudice
thereby shall be entitled to recover compensation, to be fixed by the
Mixed Arbitral Tribunal provided for in Section VI.
At the instance of the national of the Allied or Associated Power the
compensation above mentioned may, upon order to that effect of the Mixed
Arbitral Tribunal, be effected where it is possible by replacing the
parties in the situation which they occupied before the judgment was
given by the German court.
The above compensation may likewise be obtained before the Mixed
Arbitral Tribunal by the nationals of Allied or Associated Powers who
have suffered prejudice by judicial measures taken in invaded or
occupied territories, if they have not been otherwise compensated.
=ARTICLE 303.=--For the purpose of Sections III., IV., V., and VII., the
expression "during the war" means for each Allied or Associated Power
the period between the commencement of the state of war between that
power and Germany and the coming into force of the present treaty.
ANNEX
I. _General Provisions_
1. Within the meaning of Articles 299, 300 and 301, the parties to a
contract shall be regarded as enemies when trading between them shall
have been prohibited by or otherwise became unlawful under laws, orders
or regulations to which one of those parties was subject. They shall be
deemed to have become enemies from the date when such trading was
prohibited or otherwise became unlawful.
2. The following classes of contracts are excepted from dissolution by
Article 299 and, without prejudice to the rights contained in Article
297 (b) of Section IV., remain in force subject to the application of
domestic laws, orders or regulations made during the war by the Allied
and Associated Powers and subject to the terms of the contracts:
(a) Contracts having for their object the transfer of estates or of real
or personal property where the property therein had passed or the object
had been delivered before the parties became enemies;
(b) Leases and agreements for leases of land and houses;
(c) Contracts of mortgage, pledge, or lien;
(d) Concessions concerning mines, quarries or deposits;
(e) Contracts between individuals or companies and States, provinces,
municipalities, or other similar juridical persons charged with
administrative functions, and concessions granted by States, provinces,
municipalities, or other similar juridical persons charged with
administrative functions.
3. If the provisions of a contract are in part dissolved under Article
299, the remaining provisions of that contract shall, subject to the
same application of domestic laws as is provided for in Paragraph 2,
continue in force if they are severable, but where they are not
severable the contract shall be deemed to have been dissolved in its
entirety.
II. _Provisions Relating to Certain Classes of Contracts_
_Stock Exchange and Commercial Exchange Contracts_
4. (a) Rules made during the war by any recognized exchange of
commercial association providing for the closure of contracts entered
into before the war by an enemy are confirmed by the high contracting
parties, as also any action taken thereunder, provided:--
(i.) That the contract was expressed to be made subject to the rules of
the exchange or association in question;
(ii.) That the rules applied to all persons concerned;
(iii.) That the conditions attaching to the closure were fair and
reasonable.
(b) The preceding paragraph shall not apply to rules made during the
occupation by exchange or commercial associations in the districts
occupied by the enemy.
(c) The closure of contracts relating to cotton "futures," which were
closed as on the 31st July, 1914, under the decision of the Liverpool
Cotton Association, is also confirmed.
_Security_
(5) The sale of a security held for an unpaid debt owing by an enemy
shall be deemed to have been valid irrespective of notice to the owner
if the creditor acted in good faith and with reasonable care and
prudence, and no claim by the debtor on the ground of such sale shall be
admitted.
This stipulation shall not apply to any sale of securities effected by
an enemy during the occupation in regions invaded or occupied by the
enemy.
_Negotiable Instruments_
6. As regards powers which adopt Section III. and the Annex thereto the
pecuniary obligations existing between enemies and resulting from the
issue of negotiable instruments shall be adjusted in conformity with the
said Annex by the instrumentality of the Clearing Offices, which shall
assume the rights of the holder as regards the various remedies open to
him.
7. If a person has either before or during the war become liable upon a
negotiable instrument in accordance with an undertaking given to him by
a person who has subsequently become an enemy, the latter shall remain
liable to indemnify the former in respect of his liability,
notwithstanding the outbreak of war.
III. _Contracts of Insurance_
8. Contracts of insurance entered into by any person with another person
who subsequently became an enemy will be dealt with in accordance with
the following paragraphs:
_Fire Insurance_
9. Contracts for the insurance of property against fire entered into by
a person interested in such property with another person who
subsequently became an enemy shall not be deemed to have been dissolved
by the outbreak of war, or by the fact of the person becoming an enemy,
or on account of the failure during the war and for a period of three
months thereafter to perform his obligations under the contract, but
they shall be dissolved at the date when the annual premium becomes
payable for the first time after the expiration of a period of three
months after the coming into force of the present treaty.
A settlement shall be effected of unpaid premiums which became due
during the war, or of claims for losses which occurred during the war.
10. Where by administrative or legislative action an insurance against
fire effected before the war has been transferred during the war from
the original to another insurer, the transfer will be recognized and the
liability of the original insurer will be deemed to have ceased as from
the date of the transfer. The original insurer will, however, be
entitled to receive on demand full information as to the terms of the
transfer, and if it should appear that these terms were not equitable
they shall be amended so far as may be necessary to render them
equitable.
Furthermore, the insured shall, subject to the concurrence of the
original insurer, be entitled to retransfer the contract to the original
insurer as from the date of the demand.
_Life Insurance_
11. Contracts of life insurance entered into between an insurer and a
person who subsequently became an enemy shall not be deemed to have been
dissolved by the outbreak of war, or by the fact of the person becoming
an enemy.
Any sum which during the war became due upon a contract deemed not to
have been dissolved under the preceding provision shall be recoverable
after the war with the addition of interest of five per cent. per annum
from the date of its becoming due up to the day of payment.
Where the contract has lapsed during the war owing to non-payment of
premiums, or has become void from breach of the conditions of the
contract, the assured or his representatives or the persons entitled
shall have the right at any time within twelve months of the coming into
force of the present treaty to claim from the insurer the surrender
value of the policy at the date of its lapse or avoidance.
Where the contract has lapsed during the war owing to non-payment of
premiums the payment of which has been prevented by the enforcement of
measures of war, the assured or his representative or the persons
entitled shall have the right to restore the contract on payment of the
premiums with interest at five per cent. per annum within three months
from the coming into effect of the present treaty.
12. Any Allied or Associated Power may within three months of the coming
into force of the present treaty cancel all the contracts of insurance
running between a German insurance company and its nationals under
conditions which shall protect its nationals from any prejudice.
To this end the German insurance company will hand over to the allied or
associated Government concerned, the proportion of its assets
attributable to the policies so canceled and will be relieved from all
liability in respect of such policies. The assets to be handed over
shall be determined by an actuary appointed by the Mixed Arbitral
Tribunal.
13. Where contracts of life insurance have been entered into by a local
branch of an insurance company established in a country which
subsequently became an enemy country, the contract shall, in the absence
of any stipulation to the contrary in the contract itself, be governed
by the local law, but the insurer shall be entitled to demand from the
insured or his representatives the refund of sums paid on claims made or
enforced under measures taken during the war, if the making or
enforcement of such claims was not in accordance with the terms of the
contract itself or was not consistent with the laws or treaties existing
at the time when it was entered into.
14. In any case where by the law applicable to the contract the insurer
remains bound by the contract notwithstanding the non-payment of
premiums until notice is given to the insured of the termination of the
contract, he shall be entitled where the giving of such notice was
prevented by the war to recover the unpaid premiums with interest at
five per cent. per annum from the insured.
15. Insurance contracts shall be considered as contracts of life
assurance for the purpose of Paragraphs 11 to 14 when they depend on the
probabilities of human life combined with the rate of interest for the
calculation of the reciprocal engagements between the two parties.
_Marine Insurance_
16. Contracts of marine insurance including time policies and voyage
policies entered into between an insurer and a person who subsequently
became an enemy, shall be deemed to have been dissolved on his becoming
an enemy, except in cases where the risk undertaken in the contract had
attached before he became an enemy.
Where the risk had not attached, money paid by way of premium or
otherwise shall be recoverable from the insurer.
Where the risk had attached, effect shall be given to the contract
notwithstanding the party becoming an enemy, and sums due under the
contract either by way of premiums or in respect of losses shall be
recoverable after the coming into force of the present treaty.
In the event of any agreement being come to for the payment of interest
on sums due before the war to or by the nationals of States which have
been at war and recovered after the war, such interest shall in the case
of losses recoverable under contracts of marine insurance run from the
expiration of a period of one year from the date of the loss.
17. No contract of marine insurance with an insured person who
subsequently became an enemy shall be deemed to cover losses due to
belligerent action by the power of which the insurer was a national or
by the allies or associates of such power.
18. Where it is shown that a person who had before the war entered into
a contract of marine insurance with an insurer who subsequently became
an enemy entered after the outbreak of war into a new contract covering
the same risk with an insurer who was not an enemy, the new contract
shall be deemed to be substituted for the original contract as from the
date when it was entered into, and the premiums payable shall be
adjusted on the basis of the original insurer having remained liable on
the contract only up till the time when the new contract was entered
into.
_Other Insurances_
19. Contracts of insurance entered into before the war between an
insurer and a person who subsequently became an enemy other than
contracts dealt with in Paragraphs 9 to 18 shall be treated in all
respects on the same footing as contracts of fire insurance between the
same persons would be dealt with under the said paragraphs.
_Re-Insurance_
20. All treaties of re-insurance with a person who became an enemy shall
be regarded as having been abrogated by the person becoming an enemy,
but without prejudice in the case of life or marine risks which had
attached before the war to the right to recover payment after the war
for sums due in respect of such risks.
Nevertheless, if, owing to invasion, it has been impossible for the
re-insured to find another re-insurer, the treaty shall remain in force
until three months after the coming into force of the present treaty.
Where a re-insurance treaty becomes void under this paragraph, there
shall be an adjustment of accounts between the parties in respect both
of premiums paid and payable and of liabilities for losses in respect of
life or marine risk which had attached before the war. In the case of
risks other than those mentioned in Paragraphs 11 to 18 the adjustment
of accounts shall be made as at the date of the parties becoming enemies
without regard to claims for losses which may have occurred since that
date.
21. The provisions of the preceding paragraph will extend equally to
re-insurances existing at the date of the parties becoming enemies of
particular risks undertaken by the insurer in a contract of insurance
against any risks other than life or marine risks.
22. Re-insurance of life risks effected by particular contracts and not
under any general treaty remain in force.
The provisions of Paragraph 12 apply to treaties of re-insurance of life
insurance contracts in which enemy companies are the re-insurers.
23. In case of a re-insurance effected before the war of a contract of
marine insurance the cession of a risk which had been ceded to the
re-insurer shall, if it had attached before the outbreak of war, remain
valid and effect be given to the contract notwithstanding the outbreak
of war; sums due under the contract of re-insurance in respect either of
premiums or of losses shall be recoverable after the war.
24. The provisions of Paragraphs 17 and 18 and the last part of
Paragraph 16 shall apply to contracts for the re-insurance of marine
risks.
SECTION VI.--_Mixed Arbitral Tribunal_
=ARTICLE 304.=--(a) Within three months from the date of the coming into
force of the present treaty, a Mixed Arbitral Tribunal shall be
established between each of the Allied and Associated Powers on the one
hand and Germany on the other hand. Each such tribunal shall consist of
three members. Each of the Governments concerned shall appoint one of
these members. The President shall be chosen by agreement between the
two Governments concerned.
In case of failure to reach agreement, the President of the tribunal and
two other persons either of whom may in case of need take his place,
shall be chosen by the Council of the League of Nations, or, until this
is set up, by M. Gustave Ador if he is willing. These persons shall be
nationals of Powers that have remained neutral during the war.
If any Government does not proceed within a period of one month in case
there is a vacancy to appoint a member of the tribunal, such member
shall be chosen by the other Government from the two persons mentioned
above other than the President.
The decision of the majority of the members of the tribunal shall be the
decision of the tribunal.
(b) The Mixed Arbitral Tribunals established pursuant to Paragraph (a)
shall decide all questions within their competence under Sections III.,
IV., V., and VII.
In addition, all questions, whatsoever their nature, relating to
contracts concluded before the coming into force of the present treaty
between nationals of the Allied and Associated Powers and German
nationals shall be decided by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal, always
excepting questions which, under the laws of the Allied, Associated or
neutral powers, are within the jurisdiction of the national courts of
those powers. Such questions shall be decided by the national courts in
question, to the exclusion of the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal. The party who
is a national of an Allied or Associated Power may nevertheless bring
the case before the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal if this is not prohibited by
the laws of his country.
(c) If the number of cases justifies it, additional members shall be
appointed and each Mixed Arbitral Tribunal shall sit in divisions. Each
of these divisions will be constituted as above.
(d) Each Mixed Arbitral Tribunal will settle its own procedure except in
so far as it is provided in the following Annex, and is empowered to
award the sums to be paid by the loser in respect of the costs and
expenses of the proceedings.
(e) Each Government will pay the remuneration of the member of the Mixed
Arbitral Tribunal appointed by it and of any agent whom it may appoint
to represent it before the Tribunal. The remuneration of the President
will be determined by special agreement between the Governments
concerned, and this remuneration and the joint expenses of each
tribunal will be paid by the two Governments in equal moieties.
(f) The high contracting parties agree that their courts and authorities
shall render to the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal direct all the assistance in
their power, particularly as regards transmitting notices and collecting
evidence.
(g) The high contracting parties agree to regard the decisions of the
Mixed Arbitral Tribunal as final and conclusive, and to render them
binding upon their nationals.
ANNEX
1. Should one of the members of the Tribunal either die, retire, or be
unable for any reason whatever to discharge his functions, the same
procedure will be followed for filling the vacancy as was followed for
appointing him.
2. The tribunal may adopt such rules of procedure as shall be in
accordance with justice and equity and decide the order and time at
which each party must conclude its arguments, and may arrange all
formalities required for dealing with the evidence.
3. The agent and counsel of the parties on each side are authorized to
present orally and in writing to the tribunal arguments in support or in
defense of each case.
4. The tribunal shall keep record of the questions and cases submitted
and the proceedings thereon, with the dates of such proceedings.
5. Each of the Powers concerned may appoint a secretary. These
secretaries shall act together as joint secretaries of the tribunal and
shall be subject to its direction. The tribunal may appoint and employ
any other necessary officer or officers to assist in the performance of
its duties.
6. The tribunal shall decide all questions and matters submitted upon
such evidence and information as may be furnished by the parties
concerned.
7. Germany agrees to give the tribunal all facilities and information
required by it for carrying out its investigations.
8. The language in which the proceedings shall be conducted shall,
unless otherwise agreed, be English, French, Italian, or Japanese, as
may be determined by the Allied or Associated Power concerned.
9. The place and time for the meetings of each tribunal shall be
determined by the President of the tribunal.
=ARTICLE 305.=--Whenever a competent court has given or gives a decision
in a case covered by Sections III., IV., V. or VII., and such decision
is inconsistent with the provisions of such sections, the party who is
prejudiced by the decision shall be entitled to obtain redress which
shall be fixed by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal. At the request of the
national of an Allied or Associated Power, the redress may, whenever
possible, be effected by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal directing the
replacement of the parties in the position occupied by them before the
judgment was given by the German Court.
SECTION VII.--_Industrial Property_
=ARTICLE 306.=--Subject to the stipulations of the present treaty,
rights of industrial, literary, and artistic property, as such property
is defined by the International Conventions of Paris and of Berne,
mentioned in Article 286, shall be re-established or restored, as from
the coming into force of the present treaty in the territories of the
high contracting parties, in favor of the persons entitled to the
benefit of them at the moment when the state of war commenced, or their
legal representatives. Equally, rights which, except for the war, would
have been acquired during the war in consequence of an application made
for the protection of industrial property, or the publication of a
literary or artistic work, shall be recognized and established in favor
of those persons who would have been entitled thereto, from the coming
into force of the present treaty.
Nevertheless, all acts done by virtue of the special measures taken
during the war under legislative, executive or administrative authority
of any Allied or Associated Power in regard to the rights of German
nationals in industrial, literary or artistic property shall remain in
force and shall continue to maintain their full effect.
No claim shall be made or action brought by Germany or German nationals
in respect of the use during the war by the Government of any Allied or
Associated Power, or by any persons acting on behalf or with the assent
of such Government of any rights in industrial, literary or artistic
property, nor in respect of the sale, offering for sale, or use of any
products, articles, or apparatus whatsoever to which such rights
applied.
Unless the legislation of any one of the Allied or Associated Powers in
force at the moment of the signature of the present treaty otherwise
directs, sums due or paid in virtue of any act or operation resulting
from the execution of the special measures mentioned in Paragraph 1 of
this article shall be dealt with in the same way as other sums due to
German nationals are directed to be dealt with by the present treaty;
and sums produced by any special measures taken by the German Government
in respect of rights in industrial, literary or artistic property
belonging to the nationals of the Allied or Associated Powers shall be
considered and treated in the same way as other debts due from German
nationals.
Each of the Allied and Associated Powers reserves to itself the right to
impose such limitations, conditions or restrictions on rights of
industrial, literary or artistic property (with the exception of
trade-marks) acquired before or during the war, or which may be
subsequently acquired in accordance with its legislation, by German
nationals, whether by granting licenses, or by the working, or by
preserving control over their exploitation, or in any other way as may
be considered necessary for national defense or in the public interest,
or for assuring the fair treatment by Germany of the rights of
industrial, literary, and artistic property held in German territory by
its nationals, or for securing the due fulfillment of all the
obligations undertaken by Germany in the present treaty.
As regards rights of industrial, literary and artistic property acquired
after the coming into force of the present treaty, the right so reserved
by the Allied and Associated Powers shall only be exercised in cases
where these limitations, conditions or restrictions may be considered
necessary for national defense or in the public interest.
In the event of the application of the provisions of the preceding
paragraph by any of the Allied or Associated Powers, there shall be paid
reasonable indemnities or royalties which shall be dealt with in the
same way as other sums due to German nationals are directed to be dealt
with by the present treaty.
Each of the Allied or Associated Powers reserves the right to treat as
void and of no effect any transfer in whole or in part of or other
dealing with rights of or in respect of industrial, literary or
artistic property effected after Aug. 1, 1914, or in the future, which
would have the result of defeating the objects of the provisions of this
article.
The provisions of this article shall not apply to rights in industrial,
literary or artistic property which have been dealt with in the
liquidation of businesses or companies under war legislation by the
Allied or Associated Powers, or which may be so dealt with by virtue of
Article 297, Paragraph (b).
=ARTICLE 307.=--A minimum of one year after the coming into force of the
present treaty shall be accorded to the nationals of the high
contracting parties, without extension fees or other penalty, in order
to enable such persons to accomplish any act, fulfill any formality, pay
any fees, and generally satisfy any obligation prescribed by the laws or
regulations of the respective States relating to the obtaining,
preserving or opposing rights to, or in respect of, industrial property
either acquired before the 1st of August, 1914, or which, except for the
war, might have been acquired since that date as a result of an
application made before the war or during its continuance, but nothing
in this article shall give any right to reopen interference proceedings
in the United States of America where a final hearing has taken place.
All rights in, or in respect of, such property which may have lapsed by
reason of any failure to accomplish any act, fulfill any formality, or
make any payment, shall revive, but subject in the case of patents and
designs to the imposition of such conditions as each Allied or
Associated Power may deem reasonably necessary for the protection of
persons who have manufactured or made use of the subject matter of such
property while the rights had lapsed. Further, where rights to patents
or designs belonging to German nationals are revived under this article,
they shall be subject in respect of the grant of licenses to the same
provisions as would have been applicable to them during the war, as well
as to all the provisions of the present treaty.
The period from the 1st August, 1914, until the coming into force of the
present treaty shall be excluded in considering the time within which a
patent should be worked or a trade mark or design used, and it is
further agreed that no patent, registered trade mark or design in force
on the 1st of August, 1914, shall be subject to revocation or
cancellation by reason only of the failure to work such patent or use
such trade mark or design for two years after the coming into force of
the present treaty.
=ARTICLE 308.=--The rights of priority, provided by Article IV. of the
International Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property of
Paris, of the 20th March, 1883, revised at Washington in 1911, or by any
other convention or statute, for the filing or registration of
applications for patents or models of utility, and for the registration
of trade marks, designs, and models which had not expired on the 1st
August, 1914, and those which have arisen during the war, or would have
arisen but for the war, shall be extended by each of the high
contracting parties in favor of all nationals of the other high
contracting parties for a period of six months after the coming into
force of the present treaty.
Nevertheless, such extension shall in no way affect the right of any of
the high contracting parties or of any person who before the coming into
force of the present treaty was _bona fide_ in possession of any rights
of industrial property conflicting with rights applied for by another
who claims rights of priority in respect of them, to exercise such
rights by itself or himself personally, or by such agents or licensees
as derived their rights from it or him before the coming into force of
the present treaty; and such persons shall not be amenable to any action
or other process of law in respect of infringement.
=ARTICLE 309.=--No action shall be brought and no claim made by persons
residing or carrying on business within the territories of Germany on
the one part and of the Allied or Associated Powers on the other, or
persons who are nationals of such powers, respectively, or by any one
deriving title during the war from such persons, by reason or any action
which has taken place within the territory of the other party between
the date of the declaration of war and that of the coming into force of
the present treaty, which might constitute an infringement of the rights
of industrial property or rights of literary and artistic property,
either existing at any time during the war or revived under the
provisions of Articles 307 and 308.
[Illustration: America's Peace Capitol in Paris
The Hotel Crillon, facing upon the Place de la Concorde, was
requisitioned to serve during the Peace Conference as the office and
living quarters of President Wilson's staff.
Copyright Underwood & Underwood]
Equally, no action for infringement of industrial, literary or artistic
property rights by such persons shall at any time be permissible in
respect of the sale or offering for sale for a period of one year after
the signature of the present treaty in the territories of the Allied or
Associated Powers on the one hand or Germany on the other, of products
or articles manufactured, or of literary or artistic works published,
during the period between the declaration of war and the signature of
the present treaty, or against those who have acquired and continue to
use them. It is understood, nevertheless, that this provision shall not
apply when the possessor of the rights was domiciled or had an
industrial or commercial establishment in the districts occupied by
Germany during the war.
This article shall not apply as between the United States of America on
the one hand and Germany on the other.
=ARTICLE 310.=--Licenses in respect of industrial, literary, or artistic
property concluded before the war between nationals of the Allied or
Associated Powers or persons residing in their territory or carrying on
business therein, on the one part, and German nationals, on the other
part, shall be considered as canceled as from the date of the
declaration of war between Germany and the Allied or Associated Powers.
But, in any case, the former beneficiary of a contract of this kind
shall have the right, within a period of six months after the coming
into force of the present treaty, to demand from the proprietor of the
rights the grant of a new license, the conditions of which, in default
of agreement between the parties, shall be fixed by the duly qualified
tribunal in the country under whose legislation the rights had been
acquired, except in the case of licenses held in respect of rights
acquired under German law. In such cases the conditions shall be fixed
by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal referred to in Section VI. of this Part.
The tribunal may, if necessary, fix also the amount which it may deem
just should be paid by reason of the use of the rights during the war.
No license in respect of industrial, literary, or artistic property,
granted under the special war legislation of any Allied or Associated
Power, shall be affected by the continued existence of any license
entered into before the war, but shall remain valid and of full effect,
and a license so granted to the former beneficiary of a license entered
into before the war shall be considered as substituted for such license.
Where sums have been paid during the war by virtue of a license or
agreement concluded before the war in respect of rights of industrial
property or for the reproduction or the representation of literary,
dramatic, or artistic works, these sums shall be dealt with in the same
manner as other debts or credits of German nationals, as provided by the
present treaty.
This Article shall not apply as between the United States of America on
the one hand and Germany on the other.
=ARTICLE 311.=--The inhabitants of territories separated from Germany by
virtue of the present treaty shall, notwithstanding this separation and
the change of nationality consequent thereon, continue to enjoy in
Germany all the rights in industrial, literary, and artistic property to
which they were entitled under German legislation at the time of the
separation.
Rights of industrial, literary and artistic property which are in force
in the territories separated from Germany under the present treaty at
the moment of the separation of these territories from Germany, or which
will be re-established or restored in accordance with the provisions of
Article 306 of the present treaty, shall be recognized by the State to
which the said territory is transferred and shall remain in force in
that territory for the same period of time given them under the German
law.
SECTION VIII.--_Social and State Insurance in Ceded Territory_
=ARTICLE 312.=--Without prejudice to the provisions contained in other
articles of the present treaty, the German Government undertakes to
transfer to any power to which German territory in Europe is ceded, and
to any power administering former German territory as a mandatory under
Article 22 of Part I. (League of Nations), such portion of the reserves
accumulated by the Government of the German Empire or of German States,
or by public or private organizations under their control, as is
attributable to the carrying on of social or State insurance in such
territory.
The powers to which these funds are transferred must apply them to the
performance of the obligations arising from such insurances.
The conditions of the transfer will be determined by special conventions
to be concluded between the German Government and the Governments
concerned.
In case these special conventions are not concluded in accordance with
the above paragraph within three months after the coming into force of
the present treaty, the conditions of transfer shall in each case be
referred to a commission of five members, one of whom shall be appointed
by the German Government, one by the other interested Government, and
three by the governing body of the International Labor Office from the
nationals of other States. This commission shall by majority vote within
three months after appointment adopt recommendations for submission to
the Council of the League of Nations, and the decisions of the council
shall forthwith be accepted as final by Germany and the other Government
concerned.
PART XI
Aerial Navigation
=ARTICLE 313.=--The aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers shall
have full liberty of passage and landing over and in the territory and
territorial waters of Germany, and shall enjoy the same privileges as
German aircraft, particularly in case of distress by land or sea.
=ARTICLE 314.=--The aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers shall,
while in transit to any foreign country whatever, enjoy the right of
flying over the territory and territorial waters of Germany without
landing subject always to any regulations which may be made by Germany,
and which shall be applicable equally to the aircraft of Germany and
those of the Allied and Associated Countries.
=ARTICLE 315.=--All aerodromes in Germany open to national public
traffic shall be open for the aircraft of the Allied and Associated
Powers, and in any such aerodrome such aircraft shall be treated on a
footing of equality with German aircraft as regards charges of every
description, including charges for landing and accommodation.
=ARTICLE 316.=--Subject to the present provisions, the rights of
passage, transit and landing provided for in Articles 313, 314 and 315
are subject to the observation of such regulations as Germany may
consider it necessary to enact, but such regulations shall be applied
without distinction to German aircraft and to those of Allied and
Associated Countries.
=ARTICLE 317.=--Certificates of nationality, airworthiness, or
competency, and licenses, issued or recognized as valid by any of the
Allied or Associated Powers, shall be recognized in Germany as valid and
as equivalent to the certificates and licenses issued by Germany.
=ARTICLE 318.=--As regards internal commercial air traffic, the aircraft
of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy in Germany most favored
nation treatment.
=ARTICLE 319.=--Germany undertakes to enforce the necessary measures to
insure that all German aircraft flying over her territory shall comply
with the rules as to lights and signals, rules of the air and rules for
air traffic on and in the neighborhood of aerodromes, which have been
laid down in the convention relative to aerial navigation concluded
between the Allied and Associated Powers.
=ARTICLE 320.=--The obligations imposed by the preceding provisions
shall remain in force until the 1st January, 1923, unless before that
date Germany shall have been admitted into the League of Nations or
shall have been authorized, by consent of the Allied and Associated
Powers, to adhere to the convention relative to aerial navigation
concluded between those powers.
PART XII
Ports, Waterways, and Railways
SECTION I.--_General Provisions_
=ARTICLE 321.=--Germany undertakes to grant freedom of transit through
her territories on the routes most convenient for international transit,
either by rail, navigable waterway, or canal, to persons, goods,
vessels, carriages, wagons, and mails coming from or going to the
territories of any of the Allied and Associated Powers (whether
contiguous or not); for this purpose the crossing of territorial waters
shall be allowed. Such persons, goods, vessels, carriages, wagons, and
mails shall not be subjected to any transit duty or to any undue delays
or restrictions, and shall be entitled in Germany to national treatment
as regards charges, facilities, and all other matters.
Goods in transit shall be exempt from all customs or other similar
duties.
All charges imposed on transport in transit shall be reasonable, having
regard to the conditions of the traffic. No charge, facility, or
restriction shall depend directly or indirectly on the ownership or on
the nationality of the ship or other means of transport on which any
part of the through journey has been, or is to be, accomplished.
=ARTICLE 322.=--Germany undertakes neither to impose nor to maintain any
control over transmigration traffic through her territories beyond
measures necessary to insure that passengers are _bona fide_ in transit;
nor to allow any shipping company or any other private body,
corporation, or person interested in the traffic to take any part
whatever in, or to exercise any direct or indirect influence over, any
administrative service that may be necessary for this purpose.
=ARTICLE 323.=--Germany undertakes to make no discrimination or
preference, direct or indirect, in the duties, charges, and prohibitions
relating to importations into or exportations from her territories, or,
subject to the special engagements contained in the present treaty, in
the charges and conditions of transport of goods or persons entering or
leaving her territories, based on the frontier crossed; or on the kind,
ownership, or flag of the means of transport (including aircraft)
employed; or on the original or immediate place of departure of the
vessel, wagon, or aircraft or other means of transport employed, or its
ultimate or intermediate destination; or on the route of or places of
transshipment on the journey; or on whether any port through which the
goods are imported or exported is a German port or a port belonging to
any foreign country or on whether the goods are imported or exported by
sea, by land, or by air.
Germany particularly undertakes not to establish against the ports and
vessels of any of the Allied and Associated Powers any surtax or any
direct or indirect bounty for export or import by German ports of
vessels, or by those of another power, for example by means of combined
tariffs. She further undertakes that persons or goods passing through a
port or using a vessel of any of the Allied and Associated Powers shall
not be subjected to any formality or delay whatever to which such
persons or goods would not be subjected if they passed through a German
port or a port of any other power, or used a German vessel or a vessel
of any other power.
=ARTICLE 324.=--All necessary administrative and technical measures
shall be taken to shorten, as much as possible, the transmission of
goods across the German frontiers and to insure their forwarding and
transport from such frontiers, irrespective of whether such goods are
coming from or going to the territories of the Allied and Associated
Powers or are in transit from or to those territories, under the same
material conditions in such matters as rapidity of carriage and care en
route as are enjoyed by other goods of the same kind carried on German
territory under similar conditions of transport.
In particular, the transport of perishable goods shall be promptly and
regularly carried out, and the customs formalities shall be effected in
such a way as to allow the goods to be carried straight through by
trains which make connection.
=ARTICLE 325.=--The seaports of the Allied and Associated Powers are
entitled to all favors and to all reduced tariffs granted on German
railways or navigable waterways for the benefit of German ports or of
any port of another power.
=ARTICLE 326.=--Germany may not refuse to participate in the tariffs or
combinations of tariffs intended to secure for ports of any of the
Allied and Associated Powers advantages similar to those granted by
Germany to her own ports or the ports of any other power.
SECTION II.--_Navigation_
CHAPTER I.--FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION
=ARTICLE 327.=--The nationals of any of the Allied and Associated Powers
as well as their vessels and property shall enjoy in all German ports
and in the inland navigation routes of Germany, the same treatment in
all respects as German nationals, vessels and property.
In particular the vessels of any one of the Allied or Associated Powers
shall be entitled to transport goods of any description, and passengers,
to or from any ports or places in German territory to which German
vessels may have access, under conditions which shall not be more
onerous than those applied in the case of national vessels; they shall
be treated on a footing of equality with national vessels as regards
port and harbor facilities and charges of every description, including
facilities for stationing, loading and unloading, and duties and charges
of tonnage, harbor, pilotage, lighthouse, quarantine, and all analogous
duties and charges of whatsoever nature, levied in the name of or for
the profit of the Government, public functionaries, private individuals,
corporations or establishments of any kind.
In the event of Germany granting a preferential régime to any of the
Allied or Associated Powers or to any other foreign power, this régime
shall be extended immediately and unconditionally to all the Allied and
Associated Powers.
There shall be no impediment to the movement of persons or vessels other
than those arising from prescriptions concerning customs, police,
sanitation, emigration and immigration and those relating to the import
and export of prohibited goods. Such regulations must be reasonable and
uniform and must not impede traffic unnecessarily.
CHAPTER II.--FREE ZONES IN PORTS
=ARTICLE 328.=--The free zones existing in German ports on the 1st
August, 1914, shall be maintained. These free zones and any other free
zones which may be established in German territory by the present treaty
shall be subject to the régime provided for in the following articles.
Goods entering or leaving a free zone shall not be subjected to any
import or export duty, other than those provided for in Article 330.