ARTICLE XI.-RESPONSIBILITY.-1.-Except in cases of force majeure, if a postal parcel be lost, despoiled, or damaged, the sender or, in his default or by his request, the addressee shall be entitled to an indemnity corresponding to the actual amount of the loss, the spoliation, or the damage, unless this damage be caused by the fault or by the negligence of the sender, or be due to the nature of the parcel itself; but this indemnity shall not exceed 25 francs for ordinary parcels and the declared value for parcels of declared value.

Besides, the sender of a lost parcel shall be entitled to refund of the postage on the parcel and also to the postage expenses connected with making the inquiries when the cause of the claim is due to the fault of the Post Office. However, the insurance fee shall be retained by the Postal Administrations.

2. The obligation to pay the indemnity shall be incumbent upon the Administration of the Office of origin; it shall then rest with this Administration to prefer a claim against the responsible Administration, that is to say, against the Administration upon whose territory or in whose services the loss, spoliation, or damage shall have taken place.

3. Until proved to the contrary, the responsibility shall remain with the Administration which, having received the parcel without making any remark, can establish neither its delivery at its destination nor, as may happen, its regular transmission to the next Administration.

4. The payment of the indemnity by the Office of origin shall be made as soon as possible, and not later than one year after the date of the claim. The responsible Office shall refund without delay to the Office of origin the amount of the indemnity paid by the latter.

The Office of origin shall be authorised to indemnify the sender on behalf of the intermediary Office or of the Office of destination which, having been regularly notified, shall have allowed one year to elapse without having settled the claim. Moreover, in the case of an Office, whose responsibility shall be duly established, which shall decline altogether to pay the indemnity, it shall undertake to pay, besides the indemnity, the necessary expenses resulting from undue delay in making the payment.

5. It is understood that a claim shall be admitted only if made within one year from the date of posting the parcel; after this limit the claimant shall not be entitled to any indemnity.

6.—If the loss or damage happen during transmission between the Offices of exchange of the two Administrations, thus rendering it impossible to decide upon which of the two territories the act took place, the two Administrations concerned shall share the loss equally.

7. The Administrations shall cease to be responsible for postal parcels delivery of which shall have been taken by the persons entitled to receive them.

8. The Administration of Posts of Hongkong shall not be liable for loss or damage to contents of parcels exchanged in closed mails between two Chinese Post Offices through the intermediary of the Hongkong Administration.

ARTICLE XII.-OFFICES AUTHORISED TO EXCHANGE PARCELS.-The Postal Administrations of Hongkong and of China shall designate the Offices or the localities at which the exchange of postal parcels is to be allowed.

They shall supply each other with a list of the places open to this service.

ARTICLE XIII.—ARTICLES PROHIBITED.-Parcels shall not contain any letter or note, either sealed or open, that might establish a correspondence between the sender and the addressee. Exception may be made only in the case of invoices, price lists, and other open documents that relate exclusively to the contents of the parcel.

The sender shall also be forbidden to enclose in a parcel any explosive or inflammable material and generally all articles the transmission of which presents any danger whatsoever, or the importation of which shall be contrary to the laws or to Customs regulations or otherwise not authorised.

Parcels containing money, articles made of gold or of silver, and other precious articles must have their value declared.

In case of infraction of these above rules the parcel shall simply be returned to the place of origin.

The two Administrations shall communicate to each other a list of things and products forbidden importation into their territories.

ARTICLE XIV.-SUSPENSION OF THE SERVICE.-In extraordinary circumstances, of a nature to justify the measure, each Administration may temporarily suspend the parcel post service, either entirely or partially, on condition that immediate notice be given, if need be by telegraph, to the other Administration concerned.

ARTICLE XV.-FULFILMENT OF THE CONVENTION.-The Postal Administrations of Hongkong and of China shall settle all matters of detail and of disposition, in order to ensure the fulfilment of the present Convention.

They shall supply to each other a list of the countries with which they may respectively serve as intermediaries.

ARTICLE XVI.-GENERAL PROVISION.-The internal legislation of each of the contracting countries, as well as the dispositions of the International Convention of Washington and of the "Règlement de détail" thereto annexed, shall remain applicable to all points not herein provided for or not contrary to the present Convention.

ARTICLE XVII.-DURATION OF THE PRESENT CONVENTION.-The present Arrangement shall be put into operation from a day mutually to be agreed upon by both Administrations, and it shall remain in force for an indefinite period. However, the contracting parties reserve to themselves the right to make at any time such modifications therein as they may by mutual agreement judge necessary, or to terminate the Arrangement by giving at least six months notice in advance.

NUMBER 1909/5.

BRAZIL AND CHINA.

Arbitration Convention.*-August 3, 1909.

The President of the United States of Brazil and his Majesty the Emperor of China, desiring to conclude an Arbitration Convention in application of the principles enounced in Articles 15 to 19 and 21 of the Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes, signed at the Hague on the 29th July, 1899, and in Articles 37 to 40 and 42 of the Convention signed in the same city of the Hague on the 18th October, 1907, have named as their plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

The President of the United States of Brazil, Mr. M. C. Goncalves Pereira, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to China and to Japan; His Majesty, the Emperor of China, Mr. Lien Fang, Vice-President of the Board of Foreign Affairs;

Who, being duly authorized, have agreed upon the following articles:

ART. I.-Differences which may arise of a legal nature or relating to the interpretation of treaties existing between the two Contracting Parties, and which it may not have been possible to settle by diplomacy, shall be referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration established at the Hague by the Convention of the 29th July, 1899, provided, nevertheless, that they do not affect the vital interests, the independence, or the honor of the two Contracting States, and do not concern the interests of Third Parties; it being further understood that, if one of the two Contracting Parties prefer it, all arbitration resulting from the present Convention shall be submitted to a Head of a State, to a friendly Government, or one or more arbitrators chosen outside the list of the Tribunal of the Hague.

ART. II. In each individual case the High Contracting Parties before appealing to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague, to other arbitrators or to a sole arbitrator, shall conclude a special agreement defining clearly the matter in dispute, the scope of the powers of the arbitrator or arbitrators, and the periods to be fixed for the formation of the arbitral tribunal or the choice of an arbitrator or of arbitrators, as well as the rules of the procedure.

It is understood that with respect to the United States of Brazil, such special agreement will be made by the President of the Republic with the consent of the National Congress, and with respect to the Chinese Empire, by the Emperor in such form and under such conditions as he shall deem necessary or convenient.

ART. III. The present Convention shall remain in force for the period

* Translation, as printed in Am. Int. Law Journal, Supplement, 1910, p. 255. Portuguese, French and Chinese texts printed in Customs, vol. II, p. 824; French text

in Hsuan Tung Tiao Yüeh, vol. I, p. 6.

of five years from the date of the exchange of ratifications. If it is not denounced six months before the expiration of this period it will continue to remain in force for a new period of five years and so successively.

ART. IV.—The present Convention will be ratified after the legal formalities in the two countries have been observed, and the ratifications will be exchanged at Rio de Janeiro as soon as possible.

The present Convention is drawn up in the Portuguese, Chinese and French. languages. Four copies have been prepared. In case of disagreement, the French text alone shall be authoritative.

In testimony whereof we, the above-named plenipotentiaries, have signed the present Convention and affixed our seals thereto.

Done at Peking the third of August, one thousand nine hundred and nine, corresponding to the eighteenth day of the sixth moon of the first year of Hsüan Tung.

JAPAN (South Manchuria Railway Company) AND CHINA.

Detailed Agreement for the Hsinmint'un-Mukden Railway loan.*-
August 18, 1909.

The deputy, named below, of the Chinese Board of Posts and Communications (hereinafter called the Board of Posts and Communications) and the deputy, named below, of the South Manchuria Railway Joint Stock Company (hereinafter called the Company), acting in accordance with the HsinmintunMukden and Kirin-Changchun Railway agreements between the Chinese and Japanese Governments of the 33rd year of Kuanghsü, 3rd moon, 3rd day, or the 40th year of Meiji, 4th month, 15th day (April 15, 1907), and also in accordance with the supplementary agreement of the 34th year of Kuanghsü, 10th moon, 19th day, or the 41st year of Meiji, 11th month, 12th day (November 12, 1908) (hereinafter called the Supplementary Agreement), have drawn up the following agreement providing for a loan for that part of the Hsinmint'unMukden Railway lying east of the Liao River.

ARTICLE 1. In accordance with Article 1 of the Supplementary Agreement,

* Translation from the Chinese text as printed in Wang, p. 137.

In connection with this agreement see also the Convention regarding the HsinminMukden and Kirin-Changchun railways, April 15, 1907 (No. 1907/3, ante): the Agreement for the handing over by Japan of the Hsinmin-Mukden Railway, May 27, 1907 (No. 1907/5, ante): the Supplementary Agreement for a loan for the Hsinmin-Mukden and KirinCh'angch'un railways, November 12, 1908 (No. 1908/18, ante).

the Company agrees to make a loan of half the amount required for the construction of that part of the Hsinmint'un-Mukden Railway lying east of the Liao River, namely yen 320,000, Japanese currency, at a discount of 93, to be handed over at Tokyo to the Chinese Minister to Japan, the Chinese Minister there to hand over to the Company a certificate as per Form A attached to this agreement.

ARTICLE 2.-After this agreement has been drawn up, within one month after a note is addressed thereon to the Japanese Minister at Peking, the loan fixed as above will be paid in full in one instalment on the date fixed by the Chinese Government. The date for the receiving of the loan by the Chinese Government will be notified to the Company ten days before the loan is paid.

ARTICLE 3.-The loan will be for a term of eighteen years, and will be repaid in thirty-six equal instalments, beginning from the date when the loan is paid to China, every half year (Gregorian Calendar), in accordance with the attached amortization table. Interest on that part of the capital which is repaid will cease on the date of payment.

ARTICLE 4.-Interest will be reckoned from the date of the payment of the loan to China, and will be payable once every half year (Gregorian Calendar) in accordance with the attached table.

ARTICLE 5.-The Director General of the Peking-Mukden Line will turn over the capital and interest, as payment thereof falls due, to the Company at Dairen or Tokyo, as convenient to the Chinese Government. The Company will then deliver to the Director General of the Peking-Mukden Line certificates as per Forms B and C attached to this agreement, in accordance with the amount of capital and interest paid, as per the attached amortization and interest tables. ARTICLE 6. In accordance with Article 5 of the Supplementary Agreement, the capital and interest due annually will be reduced to Hang P'ing Hua Pao Taels due each month, and deposited at the Tientsin branch of the Yokohama Specie Bank.

Interest on the deposits referred to in the preceding paragraph will be paid to the Peking-Mukden Line by the Tientsin branch of the said bank in accordance with the current advertised rate of interest.

The matters referred to in the preceding two paragraphs will be carried on during the life of the said bank.

If the life of the said bank should expire and should be extended, the same procedure will continue to be followed.

If the life of the said bank should not be extended, the Company will then indicate another bank, and the same procedure will be continued.

ARTICLE 7.-All matters in this agreement pertaining to the payment of capital and interest, which may not have been clearly stated, may be discussed and settled by the Chinese Railway Administration (hereinafter called the Administration) and the Company, as occasion therefor arises.

ARTICLE 8.-This agreement must be approved by the Governments of the two nations, after which it will be put into effect.

ARTICLE 9.-After the agreement has been signed and sealed, the Director General of the Administration will refer it by memorial to the Throne, and the