"Art. 29.-—(Not settled.)

"Art. 58. [Follows Art. 29 as referring to the same subject.]-Goods having for their destination one of the points inside the station areas which have paid duty on importation may be transmitted to places in the interior upon presentation of an application to the entering Customs or the Harbin Head Custom House together with a receipt of either of the Custom Houses at the Stations Manchuria or Pogranitchnaya in proof of payment of the Import duty, and upon payment of Transit dues at the rate fixed in Article 3 of the present Regulations.

"The Customs concerned, or the Head Custom House at Harbin, after having verified the goods with the entries in the Receipts in proof of payment of duty and after having levied the said Transit dues, issues to the owner of the goods Transit Certificates mentioned above.

"Art. 30.-Transit Certificates may, at the option of the owner of goods, be issued for a whole consignment of the goods or for each separate lot of a consignment as may be decided by the owner of goods.

66 EXPORT OF GOODS.

"Art. 31.-On arrival of a train from Manchuria at the Stations Manchuria or Pogranitchnaya the Railway officials present to the Customs House Train and Car Lists and the duplicate copies of Bills of Lading.

"Art. 32.-Only such goods as are addressed to the Stations in Russia outside the 50versts frontier zone are liable to Export duty after examination by the Customs.

66

'Art. 33.-Goods exported from Manchuria are examined by the Chinese Customs who assess the Export duty according to the Chinese Tariff and then by the Russian Customs who calculate the Import duty according to the Russian Tariff, or, in order to avoid delay, according to circumstances, examination and assessment of duty are carried out by both Customs jointly and simultaneously.

"Art. 34.-Goods which are liable to Chinese Export duty may not be despatched by railway into the Russian Empire before duty has been paid.

Art. 35.-Goods the exportation of which from the Chinese Empire is prohibited will be confiscated by the Chinese Customs.

46

Art. 36.-In the case of goods brought to the Stations Manchuria or Pogranitchnaya for transmission into the Russian Empire which have already paid Export duty, these will be released by the Chinese Customs without a fresh levy of Export duty, in the event of a Certificate regarding such payment being presented and if the packages upon outside inspection prove to be in agreement with the particulars given in the Certificate. In case of discrepancy or a suspicion about the goods, these will be examined.

66 RAILWAY GOODS.

"Art. 37.-All articles and materials required for the construction, working and repairs of the Chinese Eastern Railway Line are exempt from all Customs taxes and duties as well as those levied inland. In these are also included all articles required for the protection of the line.

"Art. 38.-For the above mentioned goods the Railway presents to the Customs duplicate copies of Bills of Lading and the goods will be released by the Customs at once after an outside inspection and comparison of packages with the particulars in the Bills of Lading, with the exception of those special cases when the Harbin Head Custom House directs the Custom House to examine a particular lot of railway goods.

66

Art. 39. The said duplicate copies of Bills of Lading will be accompanied by certificates or declarations issued by the Chinese Eastern Railway to the effect that these goods are its own property and intended for its requirements (use).

"Art. 40.-In case it is intended to sell or transmit to an outsider materials or articles mentioned in Article 37, whether on account of their not being needed or being worn out, a declaration of such intention to the Customs is necessary, who on consideration of the circumstances, gives the permission, and levies duty, if such is due.

66 GOODS IN TRANSIT.

"Art. 41.-Goods passing from one locality of the Russian Empire to another in transit through Manchuria are released at once by the Customs without levy of duty and without hindrance if the seals affixed at the entering Station by the Russian and Chinese Customs are intact. The Chinese Customs seals are affixed to the cars after the Russian Customs seals.

Art. 42. The Railway hands over to the Customs for information duplicate copies of Bills of Lading for the transit goods mentioned in the preceding article. Art. 43.

66

Should seals of one of the Customs be damaged or lost en route while

the seals of the other Customs or the Railway seals are intact and the latter agree with the entries made in the Car List, the leaving Customs orders the release of the car on its journey without making a detailed internal verification of the cargo.

66

'Art. 44.-Should all the seals affixed at the entering station be damaged or lost or only a part of them making unhindered access into the car possible, or the car be damaged en route, and require a reloading of goods, the railway station at which the damage is discovered, informs immediately by telegraph the Customs at the station of entry as well as the nearest Custom House and detains the car until the receipt of a telegraphic reply.

"Art 45.-It rests with the Custom House which receives the telegram to appoint a special employé to carry out the investigation into the causes of damage or loss of seals, or to commission the Railway to make such investigation or to authorise the despatch of the car for investigation to the leaving frontier station.

'Art. 46. If at the investigation or upon inspection and comparison of cargo with documents at the place of accident or at the leaving Customs the cargo be found in full agreement with the documents it will be allowed to proceed without hindrance.

"Art. 47.-On the cars with damaged or lost seals new seals will be affixed at the place of accident with which they will proceed to the frontier leaving Customs, proper remarks to the effect being made on the cargo documents; if a special Customs officer be sent to make the investigation, in addition to the Railway seals attached at the place of accident, Customs seals will be affixed by him also. In the absence of the Customs officer the cars will proceed with only the Railway seals.

"Art. 49.-In case of shortage, loss or disagreement of cargo, caused through derailment or other uncontrollable forces (force majeure) the Railway is not responsible to the Customs, but in all such cases the railway must take proper steps to prevent pilfering, loss, etc., of the remaining cargo.

Art. 50.-If, in cases described in Article 49, it is intended to sell the remaining or damaged cargo on the spot, Customs permission must be obtained beforehand. Import duty (and Transit dues, if leviable) must be paid by the purchaser before delivery of the sold cargo.

"Art 51.-In case the investigation proves the guilt of Railway employés, the Customs concerned notifies this to the Railway authorities for them to take such action as may be deemed necessary, and the Railway authorities will inform the Customs of the decision given.

"Art. 52.-In case foreign goods are re-exported from China, the import duty originally paid will be refunded in accordance with the rules followed by the Chinese Maritime Customs, as given below.

66

Art. 53. Foreign goods which have paid Import duty, if re-exported from China within three years from the date of such payment, may receive refund of the previously paid Import duty in the form of Drawback Certificate.

"Art. 54.-Drawback Certificates are accepted by the Customs without deduction in payment of Export and Import duties. If desired, they may be exchanged for ready

money.

"Art. 55.-Drawback Certificates are issued by the Customs within three weeks from the day of presentation of documents establishing the right of the owner of goods to a refund of duty, in case the goods prove to be in all respects in agreement with the description recorded at the time of importation, if they are in their original packages, bearing all the distinguishing signs and marks, and if the duty the refund of which is requested was actually paid within the specified term.

"Art. 56.-Should the examination prove discrepancy between goods and documents and fraud be discovered, the goods will be confiscated.

“Art. 57.—If fraud be discovered when refund of duty is claimed on foreign goods, the Customs at its option either inflicts a fine not exceeding five times the duty the refund of which was applied for, or confiscates the goods concerned.

'Art. 58.-(Follows Art. 29.)

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Art. 60.-The following Articles prohibited to be imported and exported, in accordance with Article 15 of the Regulations for Land Trade of 1881, if carried through the Stations Manchuria and Pogranitchnaya will be considered as contraband articles and liable to confiscation: Powder, Artillery Ammunition, Cannon, Guns, Rifles, Pistols and all kinds of Fire Arms, Military Munitions and Implements of War, Salt, Opium. Likewise it is prohibited to export from China through the Stations Manchuria and Pogranitchnaya Rice and Chinese Copper Coins.

"RULES REGARDING PASSENGERS' LUGGAGE.

"Art. 61.-Passengers' luggage is passed after examination duty free.

66

Art. 62. As luggage are generally recognised all articles accompanying a passenger whether intended for his personal use or required on the journey.

"Art. 63.-Should there be discovered among the passengers' luggage articles prohibited to be imported or exported, they will be confiscated.

"Art. 64.-Dutiable articles whether of the nature of goods or in excessive quantity evidently intended for sale, carried among the luggage, must be declared before examination by the owner when questioned by the examining officer, otherwise the articles will be confiscated and the owner may be fined.

"NOTE.-In case of any changes made in the rules existing in the Chinese Maritome Customs at the ports regarding luggage these will also be extended to the Chinese Customs established after the pattern of the latter at the terminal points of the Railway. "Art. 65.-The examination of passengers and their luggage arriving from Russia will be carried out by the officers of the Chinese Customs in presence of a Russian Customs Official and, if articles prohibited by the Russian law for exportation into China be discovered, such will be handed over to the Russian Customs to deal with.

"The examination of passengers and their luggage proceeding from Manchuria into the Russian Empire will be carried out in the presence of an officer of the Chinese Customs by the Russian Customs; should any article prohibited to be exported from China be discovered, such will be handed over to the Chinese Customs to deal with. Articles liable to Export duty will be charged duty on.

"RULES REGARDING POSTAL PARCELS.

"1. GENERAL RULES.

"Art. 66.-Postal parcels imported into, and exported from, China are, like other goods, subject to Customs examination and payment of duty according to general rules.

Art. 67. All regulations relative to duty payment at reduced rate or exemption from duty are equally applicable to articles sent by postal parcels from within, or into, the station

areas.

"Art. 68.-Postal parcels going in transit by railway are exempted from payment of Import and Export duties.

Art. 69.-Postal parcels are-besides Import and Export duties-liable to Transit dues or Likin according to general rules.

'Art. 70.-Articles which are prohibited to be imported into, or exported from, China may not be sent in postal parcels.

"Art. 71.-Parcels addressed to places in China must be accompanied by Customs Declarations in duplicate on the lines given in the Parcel Post rules of the Rome Convention (Detailed Regulations, Art. VI, 1.).

46

Art. 72.-In the declarations must be given: place of despatch, denomination of contents, quantity, gross and net weight, value of contents, form of packing, place of destination and name of addressee.

"Art. 73.-On arrival of parcels at the Stations Manchuria and Pogranitchnaya the Postal department hand's in to the Custom House a List of parcels in duplicate together with two copies of the corresponding declarations. In the list the parcels must be grouped together as far as possible according to their places of destination.

Art. 74.-The Custom House either demands the presentation of all, or a part of, parcels for examination, or sends an Officer to examine them at the Post Office, or on the strength of declarations passes the parcels without examination.

Art. 75.-The amount of duty, if any is due, will be marked on the declarations and in the list, of each of which the Custom House retains one copy and returns the duplicate copies of the list and declarations to the Post Office.

44

Art. 76.-Parcels not liable to duty will be marked in the list and on the declarations 'duty free.'

Art. 77.—If addressees of parcels are in a place where there is a Custom House they are to pay the duty to the Customs which issue receipts on the presentation of which the Post office delivers the parcel. Duty may also be paid to the Post office which in such cases transmits the sums collected to the Custom House.

"The issue of parcels for which duty had been fixed by the Customs is not to take place before the presentation of Customs receipt or until the amount of duty had been paid to the Post office.

"Art. 78.-Parcels addressed to other places in China where there are no Custom Houses are to be sent to the Post office nearest to the place of residence of the addressee

accompanied by declarations and with a remark duty free' or 'duty amounting to Roubles........copecks to be collected before delivery,' (which resembles to Trade charges for the amount of duty due).

"Art. 79.-Sums collected by Post offices from the addressees of parcels will be remitted by them to the entering Customs concerned or to the Harbin Custom House in full at the expense of receivers of parcels.

"Art. 80.-For the execution of such Customs formalities the Postal department has the right to exact from addressees a commission at the rate fixed by International or Russian Postal regulations.

"Art. 81.—In case of a refusal of the addressee to pay the duty parcels will be dealt with in accordance with the existing Postal regulations; but if it be decided to sell such parcel the duty assessed must be paid by the purchaser.

“B. Parcels sent from China.

"Art. 82.-Parcels to be exported from Manchuria and despatched from the Stations Manchuria and Pogranitchnaya or from places where there is a Custom House must be first presented to the Customs for examination and payment of duty, whenever such is due, and to receive a permit without which the Post office will not accept parcels (for transmission).

"Art. 83.-When conveying such duty-paid parcels through the Stations Manchuria and Pogranitchnaya a List of parcels together with one copy of Customs declarations is to be presented by the Postal department to the Custom House concerned. Parcels of this category must as far as possible be packed up separately from other parcels which have not paid duty. Such packages at the option of the Customs will travel under seals of the Custom House which levied duty as far as the frontier station where the seals will be removed by the leaving Customs.

"Art. 84.-Whenever parcels are to be sent from places where there is no Custom House a Customs declaration in triplicate must simultaneously be handed in to the Post Office and duty paid at the rate of 5% on the value declared. The amount of duty is to be simultaneously forwarded to the leaving Customs at the expense of the sender.

"Art. 85.-On arrival of such parcels at the frontier station a List in duplicate together with Customs declarations in triplicate is to be presented to the Customs. The amount of duty levied and remitted must be marked in the List and on Declarations.

"Art. 86.-The Custom House either demands the presentation of all, or of a part of, passing parcels for examination, or sends an Officer to examine at the Post office (or in the Postal car), or gives permission for the parcels to be sent on without examination, and retains one copy each of the List and Declarations.

"Art. 87.-If at the examination a discrepancy between the contents of a parcel and the declaration be discovered giving ground to suspect intention to defraud the Customs, such parcels will be liable to confiscation.

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'Art. 88.-In case of too low a declaration of the value on the basis of which duty was levied by the Postal department at the place of despatch of a parcel, the release of such a parcel for abroad may be deferred by the Customs until the deficient amount had been paid up."

NUMBER 1907/11.

JAPAN AND RUSSIA.

Political Convention.*-July 30, 1907.

The Government of his Majesty the Emperor of Japan and the Government of his Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, desiring to consolidate the rela

* Translation from the French text as printed in Traités et Conventions, p. 60. French text printed also in the Russian Yellow-Book, Documents relatifs à la Conclusion entre la Russie et le Japon de la Convention Politique du 17/30 juillet, 1907 (St. Petersburg, 1907); Hertslet, p. 619; Am. Int. Law Journal, Supplement, 1907, p. 396 (French text and translation).

See also the Russo-Japanese conventions of July 4, 1910 (No. 1910/1, post), and of July 3, 1916 (No. 1916/9, post).

tions of peace and good neighbourhood which have happily been re-established between Japan and Russia, and wishing to remove for the future every cause of misunderstanding in the relations of the two Empires, have agreed upon the following provisions:

Art. I.-Each of the High Contracting Parties engages to respect the actual territorial integrity of the other, and all the rights accruing to one and the other Party from the treaties, conventions and contracts in force between them and China, copies of which have been exchanged between the Contracting Parties (in so far as these rights are not incompatible with the principle of equal opportunity), from the treaty signed at Portsmouth on the 5th of September (23rd of August), 1905,† as well as from the special conventions concluded between Japan and Russia.

Art. II. The two High Contracting Parties recognise the independence and the territorial integrity of the Empire of China and the principle of equal opportunity in whatever concerns the commerce and industry of all nations in that empire, and engage to sustain and defend the maintenance of the status quo and respect for this principle by all the pacific means within their reach.

In witness whereof, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention and have affixed their seals.

Done at St. Petersburg, the 30th day of the 7th month of the 40th year of Meiji, corresponding to the 30th (17th) of July, 1907.

RUSSIA (Chinese Eastern Railway Company) AND CHINA (Heilungkiang Province).

Agreement regarding the operation of coal mines in Heilungkiang Province.*— August 30, 1907.

With a view to establishing definite rules for the exploration and operation of coal deposits in Heilungkiang Province for the needs of the Chinese Eastern Railway, we the undersigned, Major General Horvath, Manager of the Chinese Eastern Railway, and Mr. Daniel, Plenipotentiary of the Manager of the Chinese Eastern Railway, parties of the first part, and Expectant Taotai Sun-syao-lyan,

*Translation from the Russian text as printed in Soglashenia, p. 42. To the text as there given is appended a note that an agreement regarding the operation of coal mines in Kirin Province, in identical terms (mutatis mutandis), was signed on the same date, by the same parties on the Russian side, and by Tu Hsiao-Ying, Expectant Taotai, as the delegate of Kirin Province. See also Note to this document, post, p. 661.

No. 1905/8, ante.