Germany. ARRANGEMENT SETTING FORTH THE RELATIONS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE IMPERIAL POSTAL ADMINISTRATION OF GERMANY AND THE IMPERIAL POSTAL ADMINISTRATION OF CHINA.* October 25th and November 3rd, 1905 ARTICLE I-EXCHANGE OF MAILS.-1.-There shall be between the Imperial Postal Administration of Germany and the Imperial Postal Administration of China a regular exchange of postal articles of all kinds-ordinary, registered, international, and in transit, closed or à découvert-by any means of transport, ordinary or special, now established or hereafter to be established, which each Administration may have at its disposal. 2-The exchange of mails between the two Administrations will take place through the German Post Offices established in the Treaty ports and the Chinese Post Offices established in the same ports. The following are to be recognised as Offices of exchange by the Chinese Administration: the German Office in the Legation quarter at Peking, under the same conditions as the other Foreign Offices therein opened; the German Office at Chinan; and, temporarily, according to the special understanding on that point, the German Office at Weihsien,-both situated outside the international trade mart limits; and, on the other hand, by the German Administration: the Chinese Office at Tsingtau, with the understanding that that Omice will, for the transport of its mails, avail of the Shantung Railway without the intermediary of the German Office. ARTICLE II.—TRANSPORT OF MAILS.—1.—The Chinese Post Offices will accept from the German Post Offices mails, closed or à découtert, destined for Chinese, German, or Foreign Post Offices established in or out of China, and will undertake to transmit them to destination by the (most rapid) means of transport at the disposal of the Chinese Administration (for its own sendings). 2.-The German Post Offices will accept from the Chinese Post Offices mails, closed or à découvert, destined for Chinese, German, or Foreign Post Offices established in or out of China, and will undertake to transmit them to destination by the (most rapid) means of transport at the disposal of the German Administration (for its own sendings). 3. The German Office at Tsingtau will hand, à découvert, to the Chinese Office the articles of correspondence for the localities of the interior other than Weihsien and Chinan, and, inversely, the Chinese Office will hand to the German Office the articles of correspondence from these localities destined for Tsingtau. 4.—Each Administration will support the cost of maintenance of the transport services, ordinary or special, which it may establish for the carriage of mails, but will be entitled to claim payment of the transit charges hereunder stipulated in Article V. ARTICLE ÎII.-REMITTING OF MAILS.-1.-The remitting of mails, closed or à découvert, from * See $ 4 of the Sino-Japanese Agreement of March 26th, 1917, in regard to Postal and Telegraphic Operations at the Leased Territory of Kiaochow Bay and along the Kiao-Tsi Railway (No. 1917/5, post.) In B & F. State Papers, vol. 99, p. 954, are printed the following communications interchanged between the Inspector-General of Customs and the German Minister at Peking in regard to this Arrangement:— The Inspector-General of Customs and Posts to His Excellency the German Minister. "Sir, "1. It is understood that the suppression of the German Post Offices in the interior of Shantung will take place after the conclusion of the present Agreement, with the exception of the Offices of Exchange designated in paragraph 2 of Article I, the Office of Kaomi not being withdrawn till after the military evacuation of that place; 2.-Your Excellency's Government would be pleased to receive from the Chinese Administration the assurance that German-speaking employés will be, as far as possible, used in the postal establishments situated in the sphere of German interests in Shantung; and "3.-Your Excellency will recommend to your Government to exercise influence on the Shantung Railway Administration to bring it to grant to the Chinese Post Office equitable conditions, proportionate to those usual on other railway lines in China, for the concession of the right to use this Administra tion's lines for the transport of its despatches under the supervision of its own agents independently of the German Postal Service. "In acknowledging your Excellency's remarks on these three points I place willingly on record my agreement with them; it may be well to add, however, that German-speaking employés can only be used if procurable, and that the matters referred to under paragraphs 1 and 3 are questions which formed, from the first, an essential part of the negotiations now concluded. "I shall be glad if the question mentioned in the last paragraph of your Excellency's letter can be speedily settled; it will be in the interest of the public and a simple measure of reciprocity if, as desired by China, the Chinese Post Office at Tsingtau is allowed to land and ship direct from or to its own steamers the mails passing through that port. 44 "I have, etc., "ROBERT HART." His Excellency the German Minister to the Inspector-General of Customs and Posts. Sir one Administration to the other will take place at the (corresponding) Offices (of exchange) or any other authorised places for exchange (fixed on by mutual consent), and will be made from hand to hand between agents regularly appointed for this duty. 2.-The duplicate copy of the Way Bill, called Part, brought by the remitting agent and indicating the number of packages or bags remitted, will be at once signed by the receiving agent and handed back to him as acknowledgment of receipt. Inside each package or bag a Feuille d'Avis will be enclosed, containing the particulars called for in Article XX of the Règlement appended to the International Convention of Washington. 3. From the moment this agent has taken delivery of the mails and issued an acknowledgment of receipt without making any observation as to the number or condition of the packages or bags, the despatching Office will be discharged of further responsibility, which thereafter will lie with the receiving Office (till proved to the contrary). ARTICLE IV. POSTAGE AND DELIVERY.-1.-Each Administration will use its own postage stamps to frank any mail matter, whatever its destination, originating in its own Offices, and will deliver to the addressees free of additional charge in all the localities where it has a Post Office any mail matter, whatever its origin, which arrives duly and sufficiently prepaid by means of postage stamps of the other Administration (or recognised in the countries of origin). 2. Each Administration fixes its own tariffs. It is understood that the German Administration will not apply to mail matter exchanged between its own Offices in China taxes lower than those adopted by the Chinese Administration. On the other hand, the Chinese Administration will comply, in respect of any mail matter it may exchange with the Union countries through the German Offices, with the stipulations of Article 5 of the Convention of Washington. The two Administrations will communicate to each other their tariffs. N.B.-Chinese Post Offices steam served by railways or steamers will transmit and deliver without charge the international articles of correspondence duly stamped at Union rates handed to them à découvert by the German bureaux, as also those originating at, or destined for, Tsingtau, stamped at the rate ruling between the German bureaux in China; but, letters and postcards excepted, these articles will be liable, in the Chinese bureaux non-steam served, to the domestic charge laid down in the Chinese tariff. 3.-Mail matter destined for places inland where no Post Office, Chinese or German, is yet opened will be sent to destination through private agencies at the risk and expense of the addressees. 4.-Should it happen that, on Chinese territory and in the same town, both a Chinese and German Post Office exist, each Office will undertake the delivery of any mail matter arriving to its address. But the German Post Offices may continue, by payment of an adequate tax, to avail themselves of the services of the Chinese Offices to ensure the distribution of their mail matter. ARTICLE V.-TRANSIT CHARGES.-1.-Closed mails and correspondence à découvert despatched on account of Chinese or German Post Offices by means of the transport services of one or the other of the contracting Administrations will be submitted, to the benefit of the Administration whose services carry these mails, to the following transit charges: (a.) Within the Chinese Empire and along the littoral of China, Foreign bordering countries included, when the distance does not exceed 1,500 nautical miles, and when both the Chinese and the Foreign ports are united by the same line of steamers: 1°. For territorial transit by rail, and also for maritime transit not exceeding 300 nautical miles, 2 francs per kilogramme of letters or postcards, and 25 centimes per kilogramme of other articles; 2o. For territorial transit by courier, and also for maritime transit exceeding 300 nautical miles, 5 francs per kilogramme of letters and postcards, and 50 centimes per kilogramme of other articles. (b.) Outside of the Chinese Empire,t for any transport of mails other than the categories 1o. For territorial or maritime transit, the amounts, per kilogramme of letters 2. It is understood: 1o. That any territorial transit by rail is free of charge if the Administration concerned is already entitled to claim, on the mail matter thus conveyed by rail, refund for maritime transit; 20. That any transit on the Yangtze-kiang is considered as maritime transit; 3°. That mail matter originating from Foreign countries remitted à découvert at the place of landing by a German Office to a Chinese Office, or vice versa, to be transmitted to inland places, will be exempted from transit charges; 4°. That the reductions or exemptions stipulated in Article 4 of the Convention of Washington will also apply to the present Arrangement. 3.-Charges for transport of mails by means of services or ships independent of the German or Chinese Administrations will be settled under the terms agreed between the interested parties. ARTICLE VI.-MEN-OF-WAR MAILS.-The closed mails handed in to the Chinese Offices by a German bureau for transmission to the commander of a man-of-war of whatever nationality, or by the commander of a man-of-war of whatever nationality for transmission to a German bureau, will be subjected, in account with the German bureau, sender or receiver, to the transit charges enumerated in the preceding Article. ARTICLE VII.-TRANSIT STATISTICS.-The balancing of the transit charges account will necessitate an annual settlement between the two Administrations, to be calculated on the basis of statistics taken annually under the rules laid down in the Convention of the Postal Union in force at the *Articles of correspondence of all categories. domestic or international. + Articles of correspondence destined for Union countries. time. These statistics will be taken each year during the first 28 days of the months of May and November alternately. ARTICLE VIII-PARCEL POST.-1.-The exchange of parcels, as also the exchange of money orders, letters with declared value of contents, etc., will be made the subject of special arrangements as soon as the principal Arrangement is put in force. 2.-Meanwhile, in order to offer immediate facilities for the exchange of parcels, the Chinese Administration is willing: (a.) To transmit and distribute, on condition that the addressee will pay the domestic tariff, the parcels-ordinary, insured, or taxed with trade charges-emanating from Union countries handed in by a German Office: (b.) To transmit to German Offices, after payment of the domestic tariff by the sender, the parcels ordinary, insured, or taxed with trade charges-destined for Union countries which may be handed in by the public. 3. As to domestic parcels emanating from or destined for Tsingtau, and also the parcels transmitted in closed bags from one Office to the other by the Chinese or German Offices, they will be provisionally transmitted and distributed subject to the conditions of ulterior arrangements between the two Administrations. ARTICLE IX.-RESPONSIBILITY AND LIABILITY.-1.-In case of the loss of a registered article of correspondence or of a closed mail, the Administration which has undertaken its transport and cannot account for its delivery or transmission to the other Administration will be held responsible for the lost registered article or the registered articles contained in the closed mail, within the limits of Article 8 of the "Convention Principale' " of Washington and of Article XXIII of the "Règlement d'Ordre et de Détail" thereto appended. 2.-The loss or spoliation of a parcel will give right to an indemnity, which may amount to the equivalent of the loss or damage suffered, but can in no case exceed 25 francs for non-insured parcels or 1,000 francs for insured parcels. 3.-The protection granted above to registered articles and parcels will not extend beyond the working limits of the postal services of the contracting Administrations, and will not cover losses of damages arising from cases of force majeure, such as tempest, shipwreck, war, brigandage, etc. ARTICLE X.-NOTICE OF CHANGES IN ORGANISATION.-The Postal Administrations of China and Germany will communicate to each other the changes which may take place in the organisation and arrivals and departures of their respective services for the transport of mails, whenever notice of such changes may prove useful to the two Administrations or to the Foreign Administrations that have recourse to their intermediation. ARTICLE XI.-EXTENT OF PRESENT ARRANGEMENT.-The Postal Administration of China, though it has not yet subscribed to the Treaties of the Universal Postal Union, hereby agrees to abide, as far as the present Arrangement is concerned, by the stipulations of the "Convention Principale" and of the "Règlement d'Ordre et de Détail," concluded at Washington on the 15th June 1897. The present Arrangement will thus form with the documents of the Postal Union mentioned above, the whole of the dispositions to be, as far as possible, observed in the postal relations between the Chinese Post Offices and the German Post Offices. ARTICLE XII.-DURATION OF ARRANGEMENT. The present Arrangement will be gradually put in force as soon as possible, and will remain in force for an indeterminate period. The two Administrations may, however, at any time introduce in it any such modifications as they, on consultation, may find necessary, or bring the Arrangement to an end by giving notice at least six months in advance. Great Britain (Natal). POSTAL ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN CHINA AND NATAL. October 28th and December 27th, 1905 In order to establish an exchange of correspondence between China and the British Colonies in South Africa, the undersigned, duly authorised for that purpose, have agreed upon the following Articles: ARTICLE I.-There shall be a regular exchange of correspondence of all kinds between the Postal Administration of China and the Postal Administration of Natal-via Durban or other designated place or places in Natal for correspondence from China, and via any Chinese Treaty port for correspondence from Natal. ARTICLE II.-Each Administration shall be entitled to send through the intermediate agency of the other either closed mails or correspondence à découvert to any other country with which the latter Administration has postal relations. The charges payable by the despatching Administration in respect of such transit correspondence shall be at the rates prescribed by the Universal Postal Union Convention and settled yearly on the basis of statistics taken as may be agreed upon hereafter. ARTICLE III.Each Administration shall use its own postage stamps and maintain Union rates for all articles of correspondence exchanged between them; full prepayment at these rates shall entitle the articles to be delivered free of all charges irrespective of their destination, except that, in China, correspondence addressed to places beyond Chinese Post Office lines shall be forwarded to destination through private agencies at the risk and expense of the addressees, and that heavy mail articles, viz., newspapers, printed matter, and commercial samples, addressed to places not accessible by railway or steamer, shall be liable on delivery to an additional rate fixed by tariff and calculated to cover courier expenses. ARTICLE IV. The stipulations of the Union Conventions and Arrangements concluded at Washington shall be applicable as regards every postal relation between China and Natal not provided for by the Articles above mentioned. ARTICLE V.-This Arrangement may end on giving six months notice in advance. Russia. AGREEMENT CONCERNING THE POSTAL RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA.* February 6/19th, 1909 ARTICLE I.-EXCHANGE OF MAILS.-1.-There shall be established between the Postal Administrations of Russia and China a regular exchange of mail matter, including both ordinary and registered letters (letters, postcards, printed matter, commercial papers, and samples), whether sent direct in closed mails or à découvert. This exchange shall take place by any means of transport, ordinary or special, now established or hereafter to be established, which each Administration may have at its disposal. 2. The exchange of mails between the two Administrations will take place between their respective Post Offices in the conventional towns of China and Manchuria open to foreign trade, to wit: Peking (Legation Quarter), Tientsin, Chefoo, Hankow, Shanghai, Harbin, Chanchunfu (Kuanch'engtsze), Manchuli, and Pogranitschnaia, on condition, however, that Chinese Post Offices in Manchuria will make use of the Chinese Eastern Railway for the transport of their courier mails without the intermediary of the Russian Offices and on the basis fixed by a Special Agreement which shall be concluded with this object (in respect of the transport of courier mails not liable to transit charges) between the Chinese Postal Administration and the afore-mentioned Railway Company through the good offices of the Head Office of the Russian Posts. ARTICLE II-TRANSPORT OF MAILS.-1.-The Chinese Post Offices will accept from the Russian Post Offices mails destined for Chinese or Russian Post Offices or for foreign Post Offices established in China, and will forward the said mails to their destination by the most rapid means of transport at the disposal of the Chinese Administration. The Chinese Administration will likewise accept, either to transport or remit, without extra postage, to all parts of China where are now established or shall hereafter be opened Offices or Agencies controlled by its Administration, mails originating in foreign countries which shall be handed over to it à découvert by the Russian Post Office, provided that these mails are fully franked, in conformity with the international tariff, whether in Russian stamps, in case they have been posted in Russian Offices, or in the stamps of the country of origin, should they originate in a third country. As regards mails destined for the interior of China, where as yet the Chinese Post Office is not in operation, they will be subject to an additional charge to be levied from the addressee as special transport fee. In addition, and except in the case of ordinary letters and postcards, a special inland fee will be charged for heavy and cumbersome mail matter, such as newspapers, books, etc., destined for inland places not accessible by railway or steamer. 2. The Russian_Post_Offices will accept from Chinese Post Offices mails destined for Russian, Chinese, or foreign Post Offices established in or out of China and will transmit them to destination by the most rapid means of transport at the disposal of the Russian Post Office. The aforesaid Office will, moreover, accept, both to transport and remit, without extra franking, mails destined for countries other than China which shall be handed over to it by the Chinese Office à découvert, if these mails are completely franked by means of Chinese stamps, in conformity with the international tariff. 3.-Mails from Russian Post Offices destined for transportation by steamers belonging to the Chinese Postal Service or railways under the control of the Chinese Government must be transmitted through the intermediary of the Chinese Offices of exchange; mails from Chinese Post Offices destined for transportation by steamers in the Russian Postal Service or by railways under the control of the Russian Government must be transmitted through the intermediary of the Russian Offices of exchange (with the exception specified in Article I, paragraph 2, regarding Chinese courier mails transported free of charge). The method of transport for mails will be settled by mutual agreement between the Russian and Chinese Post Offices in such a way as to obviate any delay in the transport of the mails. ARTICLE III.-TRANSIT CHARGES.-1.-Mails in transit forwarded by means of the services of one or the other of the contracting Administrations will be submitted, to the benefit of the Administration whose services carry these mails, to the following transit charges: French text printed in Soglashenia, p. 65, where it is accompanied by exchange of notes of which the purport is indicated by the following translation of the note addressed by the Russian Minister at Peking to the Inspector General of Imperial Posts of China, under date of February 4/17, 1909: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the note that your Excellency was so good as to address to me under date of February 17, on the subject of the three points examined separately from the postal arrangement between our two respective administrations, and upon which we have come to an agreement, to wit: "1st. For the purpose of avoiding all discussion in future as to the payment of postage upon mail originating from the treaty towns of Manchuria or other provinces, it is agreed that in principle such mail should be post-paid with Chinese stamps, and that those post-paid with Russian or foreign stamps, which in the course of transmission should happen to fall under the Chinese system, are to be considered as taxable. "2nd. As regards the objection made by the Russian administration to the presence of a Chinese letter box in the reserved compartments of the trains of the Chinese Eastern Company, the Chinese administration expresses a desire to have this objection withdrawn; the use of a box in those compartments can merely prevent the public from mistakenly placing letters post-marked with the stamps of one administration, in the box of the other administration, which renders such letters liable to be taxed. While awaiting the decision of Petersburg on this point, the Chinese administration proposes, during stops of the trains, to place a loose post box on the platform of the car for the convenience of the public. "3rd. In accordance with the note attached to Article 4 of the agreement with the Chinese Eastern Railway Company, the Chinese posts and the company are at liberty to come to a separate agreement to fix the price of transportation of books, printed matter, newspapers, etc., of the Chinese posts. "In reply, I hasten to confirm to you officially, herewith, our agreement upon these several points. Accept, etc." See also the Arrangement with the Chinese Eastern Railway Company for the transportation of mails of the Chinese imperial posts, February 6/19, 1909 (No. 1909/2, post). (a.) Within the Chinese Empire and along the littoral of China bordering on foreign countries, if the distance does not exceed 1,500 nautical miles and when both the Chinese and the foreign ports are united by the same line of steamers: 1°. For land transport by rail, and also for sea transport not exceeding 300 nautical miles, 1 franc 50 centimes per kilogramme of letters and postcards, and 20 centimes per kilogramme of other articles. 2°. For land transport by courier, and also for sea transport exceeding 300 nautical miles, 4 francs per kilogramme of letters and postcards and 50 centimes per kilogramme of other articles. (b.) Outside of the Chinese Empire, for any transport of mails other than the categories provided for in the preceding paragraph, (a.): 1o. For land or sea transport, within the limits of the Postal Union, the transit charges per kilogramme of letters, postcards, and other articles shall be reckoned in conformity with Article 4 of the "Convention Principale" of Rome. 2o. Correspondence franked by means of Chinese stamps and destined for Russia and Russian possessions or for foreign countries, in transit through the Russian Office, will be forwarded to their respective destinations in the same manner and liable to the same transit charges as the correspondence remitted to the Russian Office by the other Administrations of the Postal Union (including the transport charges due to the Chinese Eastern Railway). These transit charges will be guaranteed by the Russian Administration and periodically refunded by the Chinese Administration. 2.-Charges for transport of mails by means of services or steamers independent of the Russian or Chinese Administrations will be settled by agreement between the interested countries. ARTICLE IV.-TRANSIT STATISTICS.-The balancing of the transit charges in connexion with the categories of correspondence specified above in Article III, paragraph 1, will be calculated on the basis of statistics taken under the rules laid down in the "Règlement d'Exécution" of the "Convention Principale" of Rome. The regulations laid down in Article VI of the final Protocol of the above-named Convention will be applied to the aforesaid balances and statistics. ARTICLE V.-NOTICE OF CHANGES IN ORGANISATION.-The Postal Administrations of Russia and China will communicate to each other the changes which may take place in the organisation of their postal service and in the arrivals and departures of mails, whenever notice of such changes may prove useful to the two Administrations or to the foreign Administrations that have recourse to their intermediation. ARTICLE VI.-EXTENT OF THE PRESENT AGREEMENT.-In all matters not provided for in the present Agreement, the contracting Postal Administrations agree to abide by the stipulations of the "Convention Principale" and of the Règlement" belonging thereto signed at Rome on the 26th day of May 1906. It is thus understood that the present Agreement, as also the treaties of the Union referred to above, shall be binding as a regulation, and that the two Administrations shall be bound in any particular case to conform thereto in their postal relations. ARTICLE VII.-DURATION OF AGREEMENT.-The present Agreement will come into force on the day of its signature. It will remain in force for an indeterminate period. The two Administrations will, however, have the right to introduce into it such modifications as by mutual agreement they may find necessary, or to bring the Agreement to an end by giving each other notice six months in advance. AGREEMENT SETTING FORTH THE Japan. RELATIONS ESTABLISHED BETWEEN THE IMPERIAL POSTAL ADMINISTRATION OF JAPAN AND THE IMPERIAL POSTAL ADMINISTRATION OF CHINA. February 9th, 1910 ARTICLE I.-EXCHANGE OF MAILS.-1.-There shall be between the Imperial Administration of Japan and the Imperial Administration of China a regular exchange of postal articles of all kindsordinary, registered, international, and in transit, closed or à découvert by means of any transport, ordinary or special, now established or hereafter to be established, which each Administration may have at its disposal. 2. The exchange of mails between the two Administrations will take place through the Japanese Post Offices established in the treaty ports and the Chinese Post Offices established in the same The following are also recognised by the Chinese Administration as Offices of exchange: the Japanese Post Office in the Legation Quarter at Peking, under the same conditions as other foreign Post Offices therein opened; the Japanese Postal Agency at Tangku, for the exchange of steamer mails; and the Japanese Post Offices opened in Tatungkow, Antung, Newchwang, Liaoyang, Moukden, Tiehling, and Changchun. 3.-The remitting of mails, closed or à découvert, from one administration to the other will take place at the (corresponding) Offices (of exchange) or any other authorised places for exchange (fixed on by mutual consent), and will be made from hand to hand between agents regularly appointed for this duty. ARTICLE II.-CLOSED MAILS BY RAIL.-1.-Closed mails sent from or through Chinese Post Offices and destined for Chinese, Japanese, or foreign Post Offices established in or out of China, to be conveyed by means of Japanese railways in China, shall be consigned to or received from the said railways through the intermediary of the Japanese Post Offices at those places of exchange where Japanese Post Offices exist. 2. Closed mails sent from or through Japanese Post Offices and destined for Japanese, Chinese, or foreign Post Offices established in or out of China, to be conveyed by means of Chinese railways in China, shall be consigned to or received from the said railways through the intermediary of the Chinese Post Offices at places of exchange. 3. At those places where there are no Offices of exchange the mails above cited will be handed direct to or from the responsible officers on the trains, under local arrangements to be made by the officials of the two contracting Postal Administrations. ARTICLE III-CLOSED MAILS BY STEAMERS.-1.-Closed mails sent from or through Chinese Post Offices and destined for Chinese, Japanese, or foreign Post Offices established in or out of China, to be conveyed by means of steamers subsidised by the Imperial Japanese Government or generally those steamers in the mail service of the Empire of Japan, shall be embarked on or received from the said steamers through the intermediary of the Japanese Post Offices at the places of exchange or direct to the responsible officers on board at places where no Japanese Office of exchange exists. |