done with money obtained from Chinese sources; if, however, foreign capital is wanted for that object, the Government is obliged to give the preference to the Bank. The length of these additional lines shall be determined by the Government.

ART. 21. The Bank, being the agent of the bondholders, shall deal with the management of the road in all matters concerning the railway, as the representative of the bondholders.

ART. 22. Should any events of a political or economic character occur in the country during the period between the signing of the present Agreement and the issuing of the prospectus of the Loan, which would have an injurious effect on the money market and cause a decline in Chinese securities, and in consequence cause the Bank difficulty in issuing the bonds for the present Loan, the Government by mutual agreement with the Bank shall grant to the latter an extension of the time for carrying out the conditions of the Agreement. If at the expiration of the designated time the Loan has not been issued, the present Agreement shall be considered as cancelled. The Government in that case will repay to the Bank the advance made according to Article 3 of this Agreement, with accrued interest, and the Bank shall be entitled to no other compensation.

ART. 23. The Bank is authorized, with the consent of the DirectorGeneral, to transfer the rights and obligations which it has obtained by this Agreement, either wholly or in part to another Japanese subject, or to entrust them to another person as its attorney.

ART. 24. In order to secure a wide distribution of the bonds, the Bank will be given the right to express the price of the bonds in English, French and American currencies; the bonds will be printed in the Chinese, Japanese, English and French languages; the places of payment of the principal and interest on the Loan, to the holders of the bonds, will be London, Paris and New York, and the Bank may issue the bonds either wholly or in part in the three cities named.

ART. 25. The present Agreement, with its Annexes, was ratified by the President of the Republic of China on the .... of December of the year 1915 (4th year of the Chinese Republic, and the .... December, 4th year of the Reign of Taisho, in Japanese chronology), regarding which an official communication was made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Japanese Minister at Peking.

ART. 26. The present Agreement is drawn up in four copies in the Chinese language and four copies in the Japanese language, of which three copies in each language will be delivered to the Government and one copy of each will be kept by the Bank. Should it happen that there be a divergence between the texts of the Chinese and Japanese copies, the Japanese text will be given the preference.

December 27th, 4th year of the Republic.

ANNEX I

December 27th, 1915 (4th year of the Republic, according to the Chinese chronology), and December 27th, 1915 (4th year of the Reign of Taisho, according to the Japanese chronology), the Chinese Government (hereinafter called the Government) and the Yokohama Specie Bank (hereinafter called the Bank) concluded between themselves an Agreement for a Loan for the purpose of building a Railway Line from Ssupingkai to Chengchiatun. With the object of accomplishing the earliest possible completion of operations, the parties have concluded also the following Supplementary Agreement. With regard to points not mentioned in the present Annex, the text of the original Agreement continues to be in force.

ARTICLE 1. Having regard to the fact that, in consequence of the European War, which has affected the money market most seriously, it is acknowledged that it is not feasible to issue the bonds at present, the Government, having it in view to start immediately building the SsupingkaiChengchiatun Railway, is borrowing from the Bank 3,400,000 Shanghai Taels.

ART. 2. The Bank reserves to itself the right to return to itself the amount advanced, with accrued interest, in accordance with the first part of Article 13 of the Agreement, from the amount received from the sale of bonds. The Government and the Bank must decide by mutual agreement the question of the feasibility and advantageousness of issuing the bonds.

ART. 3. The present advance is destined exclusively for the expenses of building the Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun Railway, which include payment for the expropriation of land, purchase of rolling-stock, acquiring every kind of material and other articles required, and also the payment of interest while building, and for operating the road.

ART. 4. The payment of the interest on this advance will be effected 14 days in advance of the due date, from the amount of the advance, during the period of construction of the road, and, upon completion of the construction, first of all from the revenues of the road and then, in case they should be insufficient, from other Government revenues.

ART. 5. The Government guarantees punctuality in the payment of the principal and interest of the present advance; if this advance and also the revenues of the road shall not be sufficient for the payment of interest and for the liquidation of the principal, the Government will make the necessary payments from other sources.

ART. 6. Previous to the issue of the bonds of the SsupingkaiChengchiatun Railway, the revenues of the Railway, and also all property of the road, movable and immovable, already in existence or which may

belong to it in the future, shall be considered as given to the Bank as security for this advance.

ART. 7. The amount of the present Loan shall be paid into the Shanghai Branch of the Bank for account of the Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun Railway, and the Bank will pay the usual interest on this account. If the Director-General wishes to debit this account, at any one time, in a sum exceeding 200,000 Taels, he must inform the Bank 10 days in advance.

ART. 8. The present advance will be expended in proportion to the requirements for the surveys and for the work of building the road, and the money will be paid by the Bank upon the presentation to it of a written order, signed by the Director-General and the Chief Accountant, supplemented by documents exactly designating the kind and cost of the work which is being undertaken.

1. The Chinese Government, in the person of the Minister of Communications, has borrowed from the Yokohama Specie Bank the sum of 3,400,000 Shanghai Taels. This money will be paid by the Bank either all at one time or by instalments, on separate receipts.

2. Interest, which will be computed at the rate of 7% per annum, will be paid by the Government semi-annually, counting from the day the Loan is concluded.

3. The other terms of the Loan are stated in the Annex to the Agreement concluded between the Chinese Government and the Yokohama Specie Bank, for the building of the Ssupingkai-Chengchiatun Railway, on December 4th year of the Chinese Republic, corresponding to December 4th year of the Reign of Taisho.

.....

No. 38

JAPAN AND RUSSIA

Convention in regard to cooperation in the Far East.-July 3, 1916

The Imperial Government of Russia and the Imperial Government of Japan, having resolved to unite their efforts for the maintenance of a permanent peace in the Far East, are agreed upon the following:

ARTICLE I.—Russia will not be a party to any arrangement or political combination directed against Japan.

Japan will not be a party to any arrangement or political combination directed against Russia.

ARTICLE II. In the event that the territorial rights or the special interests, in the Far East, of one of the Contracting Parties, recognized by the other Contracting Party, should be menaced, Russia and Japan will confer in regard to the measures to be taken with a view to the support or cooperation to be given each other in order to safeguard and defend those rights and interests.

In faith whereof, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Convention and affixed their seals thereto. Done at Petrograd, June 20/July 3, 1916, corresponding to the 3rd day of the 7th month of the 5th year of Taisho.

In the New York Evening Post of March 2, 1918, was printed the following translation of what purports to be a secret treaty concluded between Japan and Russia simultaneously with the convention given above, and stated to have been "revealed from the files of the Russian Foreign Office at Petrograd by the Trotzky-Lenine Government":

Alleged Secret Treaty of Alliance between Russia and Japan, July 3, 1916 The Russian Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial Government, aiming to strengthen the firm friendship between them, established through the secret agreements of July 17/30, 1907, June 21/July 4, 1910, and June 25/July 8, 1912, have agreed to supplement the aforesaid secret agreements with the following articles:

ARTICLE I. Both the high-contracting parties recognize that the vital interests of one and the other of them require the safeguarding of China from the political dom

1 MACMURRAY, vol. II, p. 1327, translation from the French text as printed in Rus

sian Bulletin of the Laws, No. 190, Section I, July 12/25, 1916.

In connection with this treaty see also Russo-Japanese conventions of July 30, 1907 (No. 20, ante) and July 4, 1910 (No. 30, ante).

See Note to this document, infra.

ination of any third Power whatsoever, having hostile designs against Russia or Japan; and therefore mutually obligate themselves, in the future at all times when circumstances demand, to enter into open-hearted dealings, based on complete trust, in order to take necessary measures with the object of preventing the possibility of occurrence of said state of affairs.

ART. II. In the event, in consequence of measures taken by mutual consent of Russia and Japan, on the basis of the preceding article, a declaration of war is made by any third Power, contemplated by Article I of this agreement, against one of the contracting parties, the other party, at the first demand of its ally, must come to its aid. Each of the high-contracting parties herewith covenants, in the event such a condition arises, not to conclude peace with the common enemy, without preliminary consent therefor from its ally.

ART. III. The conditions under which each of the high-contracting parties will lend armed assistance to the other side, by virtue of the preceding article, as well as the means by which such assistance shall be accomplished, must be determined in common by the corresponding authorities of one and the other contracting parties.

ART. IV. It is requisite to have in view that neither one nor the other of the high-contracting parties must consider itself bound by Article II of this agreement to lend armed aid to its ally, unless it be given guarantees by its allies that the latter will give it assistance corresponding in character to the importance of the approaching conflict.

ART. V. The present agreement shall have force from the time of its execution, and shall continue to be in force until July 1/14, of the year 1921.

In the event the other of the High-Contracting Parties does not deem it necessary twelve months prior to the end of said period, to declare its unwillingness to continue the present agreement in force, then the said agreement shall continue in force for a period of one year after the declaration of one of the Contracting Parties disclaiming the said agreement.

ART. VI. The present agreement must remain profoundly secret except to both of the High-Contracting Parties.

In witness whereof the persons invested with full power by both parties, have signed and affixed their seals to the present agreement at Petrograd on the 20th of June/July 3, of the year 1916, which corresponds in the Japanese calendar to the third day of the seventh month of the fifth year of the reign of Taisho.

JAPAN (Okura & Company) AND CHINA (Government of Fengtien Province)

Contract for the extension of a loan for yen 1,500,000.1-October 16, 1916

The Province of Fengtien of the Republic of China (hereinafter called the party of the first part, on October 16, 1915, concluded an agreement with Messrs. Okura & Co., of Tokio, Japanese Empire (hereinafter called the party of the second part), to extend a loan of Yen 1,500,000.

1 MACMURRAY, vol. II, p. 1335, translation from Chinese text.

In connection with this loan, consult the Agreement of April 22, 1918, for a loan from the Bank of Chosen to the Fengtien Provincial Government for the readjustmeat of the reserves of the Provincial Government Bank of Manchuria (ibid., p. 1416).