PART VII.
PENALTIES.
ARTICLE 227.
The Allied and Associated Powers publicly arraign William II of Hohenzollern,
formerly German Emperor, for a supreme offence against international morality
and the sanctity of treaties.
A special tribunal will be constituted to try the accused, thereby assuring
him the guarantees essential to the right of defence. It will be composed of
five judges, one appointed by each of the following Powers: namely, the United
States of America, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan.
In its decision the tribunal will be guided by the highest motives of
international policy, with a view to vindicating the solemn obligations of
international undertakings and the validity of international morality. It will
be its duty to fix the punishment which it considers should be imposed.
The Allied and Associated Powers will address a request to the Government of
the Netherlands for the surrender to them of the ex- Emperor in order that he
may be put on trial.
ARTICLE 228.
The German Government recognises the right of the Allied and Associated
Powers to bring before military tribunals persons accused of having committed
acts in violation of the laws and customs of war. Such persons shall, if found
guilty, be sentenced to punishments laid down by law. This provision will apply
notwithstanding any proceedings or prosecution before a tribunal in Germany or
in the territory of her allies.
The German Government shall hand over to the Allied and Associated Powers, or
to such one of them as shall so request, all persons accused of having committed
an act in violation of the laws and customs of war, who are specified either by
name or by the rank, office or employment which they held under the German
authorities.
ARTICLE 229.
Persons guilty of criminal acts against the nationals of one of the Allied
and Associated Powers will be brought before the military tribunals of that
Power.
Persons guilty of criminal acts against the nationals of more than one of the
Allied and Associated Powers will be brought before military tribunals composed
of members of the military tribunals of the Powers concerned.
In every case the accused will be entitled to name his own counsel.
ARTICLE 230.
The German Government undertakes to furnish all documents and information of
every kind, the production of which may be considered necessary to ensure the
full knowledge of the incriminating acts, the discovery of offenders and the
just appreciation of responsibility.
PART VIII.
REPARATION.
SECTION l.
GENERAL PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 231.
The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the
responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to
which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been
subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of
Germany and her allies.
ARTICLE: 232.
The Allied and Associated Governments recognise that the resources of Germany
are not adequate, after taking into account permanent diminutions of such
resources which will result from other provisions of the present Treaty, to make
complete reparation for all such loss and damage.
The Allied and Associated Governments, however, require, and Germany
undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage done to the civilian
population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to their property during the
period of the belligerency of each as an Allied or Associated Power against
Germany by such aggression by land, by sea and from the air, and in general all
damage as defined in Annex l hereto.
In accordance with Germany's pledges, already given, as to complete
restoration for Belgium, Germany undertakes, in addition to the compensation for
damage elsewhere in this Part provided for, as a consequence of the violation of
the Treaty of 1839, to make reimbursement of all sums which Belgium has borrowed
from the Allied and Associated Governments up to November 11, 1918, together
with interest at the rate of five per cent (5%) per annum on such sums. This
amount shall be determined by the Reparation Commission, and the German
Government undertakes thereupon forthwith to make a special issue of bearer
bonds to an equivalent amount payable in marks gold, on May 1, 1926, or, at the
option of the German Government, on the 1st of May in any year up to 1926.
Subject to the foregoing, the form of such bonds shall be determined by the
Reparation Commission. Such bonds shall be handed over to the Reparation
Commission, which has authority to take and acknowledge receipt thereof on
behalf of Belgium.
ARTICLE 233.
The amount of the above damage for which compensation is to be made by
Germany shall be determined by an Inter-Allied Commission, to be called the
Reparation Commission and constituted in the form and with the powers set forth
hereunder and in Annexes II to VII inclusive hereto.
This Commission shall consider the claims and give to the German Government a
just opportunity to be heard.
The findings of the Commission as to the amount of damage defined as above
shall be concluded and notified to the German Government on or before May 1,
1921, as representing the extent of that Government's obligations. ,
The Commission shall concurrently draw up a schedule of payments prescribing
the time and manner for securing and discharging the entire obligation within a
period of thirty years from May 1, 1921. If, however, within the period
mentioned, Germany fails to discharge her obligations, any balance remaining
unpaid may, within the discretion of the Commission, be postponed for settlement
in subsequent years, or may be handled otherwise in such manner as the Allied
and Associated Governments, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in
this Part of the present Treaty, shall determine.
ARTICLE 234.
The Reparation Commission shall after May 1 , 1921, from time to time,
consider the resources and capacity of Germany, and, after giving her
representatives a just opportunity to be heard, shall have discretion to extend
the date, and to modify the form of payments, such as are to be provided for in
accordance with Article 233; but not to cancel any part, except with the
specific authority of the several Governments represented upon the Commission.
ARTICLE 235.
In order to enable the Allied and Associated Powers to proceed at once to the
restoration of their industrial and economic life, pending the full
determination of their claims, Germany shall pay in such installments and in
such manner (whether in gold, commodities, ships, securities or otherwise) as
the Reparation Commission may fix, during 1919, 1920 and the first four months
Of 1921 , the equivalent of 20,000,000,000 gold marks. Out of this sum the
expenses of the armies of occupation subsequent to the Armistice of November 11,
1918, shall first be met, and such supplies of food and raw materials as may be
judged by the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers to be
essential to enable Germany to meet her obligations for reparation may also,
with the approval of the said Governments, be paid for out of the above sum. The
balance shall be reckoned towards liquidation of the amounts due for reparation.
Germany shall further deposit bonds as prescribed in paragraph 12 (c) Of Annex
II hereto.
ARTICLE 236.
Germany further agrees to the direct application of her economic resources to
reparation as specified in Annexes, III, IV, V, and VI, relating respectively to
merchant shipping, to physical restoration, to coal and derivatives of coal, and
to dyestuffs and other chemical products; provided always that the value of the
property transferred and any services rendered by her under these Annexes,
assessed in the manner therein prescribed shall be credited to her towards
liquidation of her obligations under the above Articles.
ARTICLE 237.
The successive installments, including the above sum, paid over by Germany in
satisfaction of the above claims will be divided by the Allied and Associated
Governments in proportions which have been determined upon by them in advance on
a basis of general equity and of the rights of each.
For the purposes of this division the value of property transferred and
services rendered under Article 243, and under Annexes III, IV, V, VI, and VII,
shall be reckoned in the same manner as cash payments effected in that year.
ARTICLE 238.
In addition to the payments mentioned above Germany shall effect, in
accordance with the procedure laid down by the Reparation Commission,
restitution in cash of cash taken away, seized or sequestrated, and also
restitution of animals, objects of every nature and securities taken away,
seized or sequestrated, in the cases in which it proves possible to identify
them in territory belonging to Germany or her allies.
Until this procedure is laid down, restitution will continue in accordance
with the provisions of the Armistice of November 11, 1918, and its renewals and
the Protocols thereto.
ARTICLE 239.
The German Government undertakes to make forthwith the restitution
contemplated by Article 238 and to make the payments and deliveries contemplated
by Articles 233, 234, 235 and 236.
ARTICLE 240.
The German Government recognises the Commission provided for by Article 233
as the same may be constituted by the Allied and Associated Governments in
accordance with Annex II, and agrees irrevocably to the possession and exercise
by such Commission of the power and authority given to it under the present
Treaty.
The German Government will supply to the Commission all the information which
the Commission may require relative to the financial situation and operations
and to the property, productive capacity, and stocks and current production of
raw materials and manufactured articles of Germany and her nationals, and
further any information relative to military operations which in the judgment of
the Commission may be necessary for the assessment of Germany's liability for
reparation as defined in Annex I.
The German Government will accord to the members of the Commission and its
authorised agents the same rights and immunities as are enjoyed in Germany by
duly accredited diplomatic agents of friendly Powers.
Germany further agrees to provide for the salaries and expenses of the
Commission and of such staff as it may employ.
ARTICLE 241.
Germany undertakes to pass, issue and maintain in force any legislation,
orders and decrees that may be necessary to give complete effect to these
provisions.
ARTICLE 242.
The provisions of this Part of the present Treaty do not apply to the
property, rights and interests referred to in Sections III and IV of Part X
(Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, nor to the product of their
liquidation, except so far as concerns any final balance in favour of Germany
under Article 243 (a).
ARTICLE 243.
The following shall be reckoned as credits to Germany in respect of her
reparation obligations:
(a) Any final balance in favour of Germany under Section V (Alsace- Lorraine)
of Part III (Political Clauses for Europe) and Sections III and IV of Part X
(Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty;
(b) Amounts due to Germany in respect of transfers under Section IV (Saar
Basin) of Part III (Political Clauses for Europe), Part IX Financial Clauses),
and Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways);
(c) Amounts which in the judgment of the Reparation Commission should be
credited to Germany on account of any other transfers under the present Treaty
of property, rights, concessions or other interests.
In no case, however, shall credit be given for property restored in
accordance with Article 238 of the present Part.
ARTICLE 244.
The transfer of the German submarine cables which do not form the subject of
particular provisions of the present Treaty is regulated by Annex VII hereto.
ANNEX I.
Compensation may be claimed from Germany under Article 232 above in respect
of the total damage under the following categories:
(l) Damage to injured persons and to surviving dependents by personal injury
to or death of civilians caused by acts of war, including bombardments or other
attacks on land, on sea, or from the air, and all the direct consequences
thereof, and of all operations of war by the two groups of belligerents wherever
arising.
(2) Damage caused by Germany or her allies to civilian victims of acts of
cruelty, violence or maltreatment (including injuries to life or health as a
consequence of imprisonment, deportation, internment or evacuation, of exposure
at sea or of being forced to labour), wherever arising, and to the surviving
dependents of such victims.
(3) Damage caused by Germany or her allies in their own territory or in
occupied or invaded territory to civilian victims of all acts injurious to
health or capacity to work, or to honour, as well as to the surviving dependents
of such victims.
(4) Damage caused by any kind of maltreatment of prisoners of war.
(5) As damage caused to the peoples of the Allied and Associated Powers, all
pensions and compensation in the nature of pensions to naval and military
victims of war (including members of the air force), whether mutilated, wounded,
sick or invalided, and to the dependents of such victims, the amount due to the
Allied and Associated Governments being calculated for each of them as being the
capitalised cost of such pensions and compensation at the date of the coming
into force of the present Treaty on the basis of the scales in force in France
at such date.
(6) The cost of assistance by the Government of the Allied and Associated
Powers to prisoners of war and to their families and dependents.
(7) Allowances by the Governments of the Allied and Associated Powers to the
families and dependents of mobilised persons or persons serving with the forces,
the amount due to them for each calendar year in which hostilities occurred
being calculated for each Government on the basis of the average scale for such
payments in force in France during that year.
(8) Damage caused to civilians by being forced by Germany or her allies to
labour without just remuneration.
(9) Damage in respect of all property wherever situated belonging to any of
the Allied or Associated States or their nationals, with the exception of naval
and military works or materials, which has been carried off, seized, injured or
destroyed by the acts of Germany or her allies on land, on sea or from the air,
or damage directly in consequence of hostilities or of any operations of war.
(10) Damage in the form of levies, fines and other similar exactions imposed
by Germany or her allies upon the civilian population.
ANNEX II.
1.
The Commission referred to in Article 233 shall be called "The Reparation
Commission" and is hereinafter referred to as "the Commission".
2.
Delegates to this Commission shall be nominated by the United States of
America, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and the Serb-Croat-Slovene
State. Each of these Powers will appoint one Delegate and also one Assistant
Delegate, who will take his place in case of illness or necessary absence, but
at other times will only have the right to be present at proceedings without
taking any part therein.
On no occasion shall the Delegates of more than five of the above Powers have
the right to take part in the proceedings of the Commission and to record their
votes. The Delegates of the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy shall
have this right on all occasions. The Delegate of Belgium shall have this right
on all occasions other than those referred to below. The Delegate of Japan shall
have this right on occasions when questions relating to damage at sea, and
questions arising under Article 200 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) in which
Japanese interests are concerned, are under consideration. The Delegate of the
Serb-Croat-Slovene State shall have this right when questions relating to
Austria, Hungary or Bulgaria are under consideration.
Each Government represented on the Commission shall have the right to
withdraw therefrom upon twelve months, notice filed with the Commission and
confirmed in the course of the sixth month after the date of the original
notice.
3.
Such of the other Allied and Associated Powers as may be interested shall
have the right to appoint a Delegate to be present and act as Assessor only
while their respective claims and interests are under examination or discussion,
but without the right to vote.
4.
In case of the death, resignation or recall of any Delegate, Assistant
Delegate or Assessor, a successor to him shall be nominated as soon as possible.
5.
The Commission will have its principal permanent Bureau in Paris and will
hold its first meeting in Paris as soon as practicable after the coming into
force of the present Treaty, and thereafter will meet in such place or places
and at such time as it may deem convenient and as may be necessary for the most
expeditious discharge of its duties.
6.
At its first meeting the Commission shall elect, from among the Delegates
referred to above, a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, who shall hold office for one
year and shall be eligible for re- election. If a vacancy in the Chairmanship or
Vice-Chairmanship should occur during the annual period, the Commission shall
proceed to a new election for the remainder of the said period.
7.
The Commission is authorised to appoint all necessary officers, agents and
employees who may be required for the execution of its functions, and to fix
their remuneration; to constitute committees, whose members need not necessarily
be members of the Commission, and to take all executive steps necessary for the
purpose of discharging its duties; and to delegate authority and discretion to
officers, agents and committees.
8.
All proceedings of the Commission shall be private, unless, on particular
occasions, the Con mission shall otherwise determine for special reasons.
9
The Commission shall be required, if the German Government so desire, to
hear, within a period which it will fix from time to time, evidence and
arguments on the part of Germany on any question connected with her capacity to
pay.
10.
The Commission shall consider the claims and give to the German Government a
just opportunity to be heard, but not to take any part whatever in the decisions
of the Commission The Commission shall afford a similar opportunity to the
allies of Germany, when it shall consider that their interests are in question .
11.
The Commission shall not be bound by any particular code or rules of law or
by any particular rule of evidence or of procedure, but shall be guided by
justice, equity and good faith. Its decisions must follow the same principles
and rules in all cases where they are applicable. It will establish rules
relating to methods of proof of claims. It may act on any trustworthy modes of
computation.
12.
The Commission shall have all the powers conferred upon it, and shall
exercise all the functions assigned to it, by the present Treaty.
The Commission shall in general have wide latitude as to its control and
handling of the whole reparation problem as dealt with in this Part of the
present Treaty and shall have authority to interpret its provisions. Subject to
the provisions of the present Treaty, the Commission is constituted by the
several Allied and Associated Governments referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3
above as the exclusive agency of the said Governments respectively for
receiving, selling, holding, and distributing the reparation payments to be made
by Germany under this Part of the present Treaty. The Commission must comply
with the following conditions and provisions:
(a) Whatever part of the full amount of the proved claims is not paid in
gold, or in ships, securities and commodities or otherwise, Germany shall be
required, under such conditions as the Commission may determine, to cover by way
of guarantee by an equivalent issue of bonds, obligations or otherwise, in order
to constitute an acknowledgment of the said part of the debt.
(b) In periodically estimating Germany's capacity to pay, the Commission
shall examine the German system of taxation, first, to the end that the sums for
reparation which Germany is required to pay shall become a charge upon all her
revenues prior to that for the service or discharge of any domestic loan, and
secondly, so as to satisfy itself that, in general, the German scheme of
taxation is fully as heavy proportionately as that of any of the Powers
represented on the Commission.
(c) In order to facilitate and continue the immediate restoration of the
economic life of the Allied and Associated countries, the Commission will as
provided in Article 235 take from Germany by way of security for and
acknowledgment of her debt a first installment of gold bearer bonds free of all
taxes and charges of every description established or to be established by the
Government of the German Empire or of the German States, or by any authority
subject to them; these bonds will be delivered on account and in three portions,
the marks gold being payable in conformity with Article 262 of Part IX
(Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty as follows:
(1) To be issued forthwith, 20,000,000,000 Marks gold bearer bonds, payable
not later than May l, 1921, without interest. There shall be specially applied
towards the amortisation of these bonds the payments which Germany is pledged to
make in conformity with Article 235, after deduction of the sums used for the
reimbursement of expenses of the armies of occupation and for payment of
foodstuffs and raw materials. Such bonds as have not been redeemed by May l,
1921, shall then be exchanged for new bonds of the same type as those provided
for below (paragraph l2, C, (2).
(2) To be issued forthwith, further 40,000,000,000 Marks gold bearer bonds,
bearing interest at 2-1/2 per cent. per annum between 1921 and l926, and
thereafter at 5 per cent. per annum with an additional l per cent. for
amortisation beginning in 1926 on the whole amount of the issue.
(3) To be delivered forthwith a covering undertaking in writing to issue
when, but not until, the Commission is satisfied that Germany can meet such
interest and sinking fund obligations, a further installment of 40,000,000,000
Marks gold 5 per cent. bearer bonds, the time and mode of payment of principal
and interest to be determined by the Commission.
The dates for payment of interest, the manner of applying the amortisation
fund, and all other questions relating to the issue, management and regulation
of the bond issue shall be determined by the Commission from time to time.
Further issues by way of acknowledgment and security may be required as the
Commission subsequently determines from time to time.
(d) In the event of bonds, obligations or other evidence of indebtedness
issued by Germany by way of security for or acknowledgment of her reparation
debt being disposed of outright, not by way of pledge, to persons other than the
several Governments in whose favour Germany's original reparation indebtedness
was created, an amount of such reparation indebtedness shall be deemed to be
extinguished corresponding to the nominal value of the bonds, etc., so disposed
of outright, and the obligation of Germany in respect of such bonds shall be
confined to her liabilities to the holders of the bonds, as expressed upon their
face.
(e) The damage for repairing, reconstructing and rebuilding property in the
invaded and devastated districts, including reinstallation of furniture,
machinery and other equipment, will be calculated according to the cost at the
dates when the work is done.
(f) Decisions of the Commission relating to the total or partial cancellation
of the capital or interest of any verified debt of Germany must be accompanied
by a statement of its reasons.
13.
As to voting, the Commission will observe the following rules:
When a decision of the Commission is taken, the votes of all the Delegates
entitled to vote, or in the absence of any of them, of their Assistant
Delegates, shall be recorded. Abstention from voting is to be treated as a vote
against the proposal under discussion. Assessors have no vote.
On the following questions unanimity is necessary:
(a) Questions involving the sovereignty of any of the Allied and Associated
Powers, or the cancellation of the whole or any part of the debt or obligations
of Germany;
(b) Questions of determining the amount and conditions of bonds or other
obligations to be issued by the German Government and of fixing the time and
manner for selling, negotiating or distributing such bonds;
(c) Any postponement, total or partial, beyond the end of 1930, of the
payment of installments falling due between May 1, 1921, and the end of 1926
inclusive;
(d) Any postponement, total or partial, of any installment falling due after
1926 for a period exceeding three years;
(e) Questions of applying in any particular case a method of measuring
damages different from that which has been previously applied in a similar case;
(f) Questions of the interpretation of the provisions of this Part of the
present Treaty.
All other questions shall be decided by the vote of a majority.
In case of any difference of opinion among the Delegates, which cannot be
solved by reference to their Governments, upon the question whether a given case
is one which requires a unanimous vote for its decision or not, such difference
shall be referred to the immediate arbitration of some impartial person to be
agreed upon by their Governments, whose award the Allied and Associated
Governments agree to accept.
14.
Decisions of the Commission, in accordance with the powers conferred upon it,
shall forthwith become binding and may be put into immediate execution without
further Proceedings.
15.
The Commission will issue to each of the interested Powers, in such form as
the Commission shall fix:
(l) A certificate stating that it holds for the account of the said Power
bonds of the issues mentioned above, the said certificate, on the demand of the
Power concerned, being divisible in a number of parts not exceeding five;
(2) From time to time certificates stating the goods delivered by Germany on
account of her reparation debt which it holds for the account of the said Power.
The said certificates shall be registered, and upon notice to the Commission,
may be transferred by endorsement.
When bonds are issued for sale or negotiation, and when goods are delivered
by the Commission, certificates to an equivalent value must be withdrawn.
16.
Interest shall be debited to Germany as from May 1, 1921, in respect of her
debt as determined by the Commission, after allowing for sums already covered by
cash payments or their equivalent, or by bonds issued to the Commission, or
under Article 243. The rate of interest shall be 5 per cent. unless the
Commission shall determine at some future time that circumstances justify a
variation of the rate.
The Commission, in fixing on May 1, 1921, the total amount of the debt of
Germany, may take account of interest due on sums arising out of the reparation
of material damage as from November 11, 1918, up to May 1, 1921.
17.
In case of default by Germany in the performance of any obligation under this
Part of the present Treaty, the Commission will forthwith give notice of such
default to each of the interested Powers and may make such recommendations as to
the action to be taken in consequence of such default as it may think necessary.
18.
The measures which the Allied and Associated Powers shall have the right to
take, in case of voluntary default by Germany, and which Germany agrees not to
regard as acts of war may include economic and financial prohibitions and
reprisals and in general such other measures as the respective Governments may
determine to be necessary in the circumstances.
19.
Payments required to be made in gold or its equivalent on account of the
proved claims of the Allied and Associated Powers may at any time be accepted by
the Commission in the form of chattels, properties, commodities, businesses,
rights, concessions within or without German territory, ships, bonds, shares or
securities of any kind, or currencies of Germany or other States, the value of
such substitutes for good being fixed at a fair and just amount by the
Commission itself.
20.
The Commission, in fixing or accepting payment in specified properties or
rights, shall have due regard for any legal or equitable interests of the Allied
and Associated Powers or of neutral Powers or of their nationals therein.
21.
No member of the Commission shall be responsible, except to the Government
appointing him, for any action or omission as such member. No one of the Allied
or Associated Governments assumes any responsibility in respect of any other
Government.
22.
Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty this Annex may be amended by
the unanimous decision of the Governments represented from time to time upon the
Commission.
23.
When all the amounts due from Germany and her allies under the present Treaty
or the decisions of the Commission have been discharged and all sums received,
or their equivalents, shall have been distributed to the Powers interested, the
Commission shall be dissolved.
ANNEX III.
1.
Germany recognises the right of the Allied and Associated Powers to the
replacement, ton for ton (gross tonnage) and class for class, of all merchant
ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war.
Nevertheless, and in spite of the fact that the tonnage of German shipping at
present in existence is much less than that lost by the Allied and Associated
Powers in consequence of the German aggression, the right thus recognised will
be enforced on German ships and boats under the following conditions:
The German Government, on behalf of themselves and so as to bind all other
persons interested, cede to the Allied and Associated Governments the property
in all the German merchant ships which are of 1,600 tons gross and upwards; in
one-half, reckoned in tonnage, of the ships which are between 1,000 tons and
1,600 tons gross; in one-quarter, reckoned in tonnage, of the steam trawlers;
and in one-quarter, reckoned in tonnage, of the other fishing boats.
2.
The German Government will, within two months of the coming into force of the
present Treaty, deliver to the Reparation Commission all the ships and boats
mentioned in paragraph 1.
3.
The ships and boats mentioned in paragraph 1 include all ships and boats
which (a) fly, or may be entitled to fly, the German merchant flag; or (b) are
owned by any German national, company or corporation or by any company or
corporation belonging to a country other than an Allied or Associated country
and under the control or direction of German nationals; or (c) are now under
construction (1) in Germany, (2) in other than Allied or Associated countries
for the account of any German national, company or corporation.
4.
For the purpose of providing documents of title for the ships and boats to be
handed over as above mentioned, the German Government will:
(a) Deliver to the Reparation Commission in respect of each vessel a bill of
sale or other document of title evidencing the transfer to the Commission of the
entire property in the vessel free from all encumbrances, charges and liens of
all kinds, as the Commission may require;
(b) Take all measures that may be indicated by the Reparation Commission for
ensuring that the ships themselves shall be placed at its disposal.
5.
As an additional part of reparation, Germany agrees to cause merchant ships
to be built in German yards for the account of the Allied and Associated
Governments as follows:
(a) Within three months of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the
Reparation Commission will notify to the German Government the amount of tonnage
to be laid down in German ship- yards in each of the two years next succeeding
the three months mentioned above.
(b) Within two years of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the
Reparation Commission will notify to the German Government the amount of tonnage
to be laid down in each of the three years following the two years mentioned
above.
(c) The amount of tonnage to be laid down in each year shall not exceed
200,000 tons, gross tonnage.
(d) The specifications of the ships to be built, the conditions under which
they are to be built and delivered, the price per ton at which they are to be
accounted for by the Reparation Commission, and all other questions relating to
the accounting ordering, building and delivery of the ships, shall be determined
by the Commission.
6.
Germany undertakes to restore in kind and in normal condition of upkeep to
the Allied and Associated Powers, within two months of the coming into force of
the present Treaty, in accordance with procedure to be laid down by the
Reparation Commission, any boats and other movable appliances belonging to
inland navigation which since August 1, 1914, have by any means whatever come
into her possession or into the possession of her nationals, and which can be
identified
With a view to make good the loss in inland navigation tonnage from whatever
cause arising, which has been incurred during the war by the Allied and
Associated Powers, and which cannot be made good by means of the restitution
prescribed above, Germany agrees to cede to the Reparation Commission a portion
of the German river fleet up to the amount of the loss mentioned above, provided
that such cession shall not exceed 20 per cent. of the river fleet as it existed
on November 11, 1918.
The conditions of this cession shall be settled by the arbitrators referred
to in Article 339 of Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present
Treaty, who are charged with the settlement of difficulties relating to the
apportionment of river tonnage resulting from the new international regime
applicable to certain river systems or from the territorial changes affecting
those systems.
7.
Germany agrees to take any measures that may be indicated to her by the
Reparation Commission for obtaining the full title to the property in all ships
which have during the war been transferred, or are in process of transfer, to
neutral flags, without the consent of the Allied and Associated Governments.
8.
Germany waives all claims of any description against the Allied and
Associated Governments and their nationals in respect of the detention,
employment, loss or damage of any German ships or boats, exception being made of
payments due in respect of the employment of ships in conformity with the
Armistice Agreement of January 13, 1919, and subsequent Agreements.
The handing over of the ships of the German mercantile marine must be
continued without interruption in accordance with the said Agreement.
9.
Germany waives all claims to vessels or cargoes sunk by or in consequence of
naval action and subsequently salved, in which any of the Allied or Associated
Governments or their nationals may have any interest either as owners,
charterers, insurers or otherwise, notwithstanding any decree of condemnation
which may have been made by a Prize Court of Germany or of her allies.
ANNEX IV.
1.
The Allied and Associated Powers require, and Germany undertakes, that in
part satisfaction of her obligations expressed in the present Part she will, as
hereinafter provided, devote her economic resources directly to the physical
restoration of the invaded areas of the Allied and Associated Powers, to the
extent that these Powers may determine.
2.
The Allied and Associated Governments may file with the Reparation Commission
lists showing:
(a) Animals, machinery, equipment, tools and like articles of a commercial
character, which have been seized, consumed or destroyed by Germany or destroyed
in direct consequence of military operations, and which such Governments, for
the purpose of meeting immediate and urgent needs, desire to have replaced by
animals and articles of the same nature which are in being in German territory
at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty;
(b) Reconstruction materials (stones, bricks, refractory bricks, tiles, wood,
window-glass, steel, lime, cement, etc.), 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
December 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, 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 disorganised 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 m excess of thirty 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 utilised 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 ensure 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:
(1) 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.
(2) 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 III of the renewal dated January
16, 1919, of the Armistice.
ANNEX V.
1.
Germany accords the following options for the delivery of coal and
derivatives of coal to the undermentioned signatories of the present Treaty.
2.
Germany undertakes to deliver to France seven million 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
twenty million tons in any one year of the first five years, and eight million
tons in any one year of the succeeding five years.
It is understood that due diligence will be exercised in the restoration of
the destroyed mines in the Nord and the Pas de Calais.
3.
Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium eight million 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: 4-1/2 million tons,
- 1920 to 1921: 6
- 1921 to 1922: 7-1/2
- 1922 to 1923: 8
- 1923 to 1924 and each of the following five years: 8-1/2
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 that the pithead price does not exceed the pithead
price of British coal for export. In the 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. 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 3 tons of coke to 4
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, anthracene, napthalene or pitch.
9.
The price paid for coke and for the articles referred to in the preceding
paragraph 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 January 1, 1920, and at least 30
days, notice of deliveries to be made between the coming into force of this
Treaty and January 1, 1920. Until Germany has received the demands referred to
in this paragraph, the provisions of the Protocol of December 25, 1918,
(Execution of Article VI of the Armistice of November 11, 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 authorised 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 January 1, 1920, and during each period of six months thereafter
until January 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 prewar 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 favour
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 lat. :2° 30' N.; long.:7° 40' W. of Greenwich:
to about lat.
:2° 20' N.; long.:5° 30, W. of Greenwich;
and from about lat. :3° 48' N.;
long.:0° 00', 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 the 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 1870-1871 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
1870-1871 and all the political papers taken by the German authorities on
October 1o, 1870, at the chateau of Cercay, near Brunoy (Seine-et-Oise)
belonging at the time to Mr. Rouher, formerly Minister of State.
ARTICLE 246.
Within six months from 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 two great artistic works:
(1) 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;
(2) 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 November 11, 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 or river,
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 of November 11, 1918, and
subsequent Armistice Agreements, and recognises 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
VII of the Armistice of November 11, 1918, or Article III of the Armistice
Agreement of January l6, 1919, as well as of any other material handed over in
accordance with the Armistice of November 11, 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 favour of the Allied or Associated Powers or
their nationals respectively, before the date at which a state of war existed
between Germany and the Allied or Associated Power 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 August 1, 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 payment;
A portion of the debt as it stood on August 1, 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 colonisation of Poland shall be excluded
from the apportionment to be made under Article 254.
(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 territories 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 purposes 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 organisations 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 recognises 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 gold deposit constituted in the Reichsbank
or elsewhere, representing the residue of the advance in gold agreed to on May
5, 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 of November 11, 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 Roumania 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 whatsoever
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 those 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 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 Mandatory 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 favour 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 or Turkey, and, in particular, any claims which may arise, now or
hereafter, from the fulfilment 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 January
1, 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
Bleichroder 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
reimbursement shall be effected at the rate of exchange of the day of the
deposit.
PART X.
ECONOMIC CLAUSES.
SECTION l.
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 Germany 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 regime 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 favour, 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 Articles 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 re- importation 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, mercerisation, 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
regime 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 favourable duties which were applied to
imports into Germany on July 31, 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 December 25, 1902, enjoyed at the above-mentioned date
(July 31, 1914) rates conventionalised 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 July 31, 1914.
ARTICLE 270.
The Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right to apply to German
territory occupied by their troops a special customs regime 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 favoured 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 recognised as valid
by Germany before the war, or which may hereafter be recognised as valid by the
principal maritime States, shall be recognised 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
sea-coast or not, provided that such certificates and documents shall be issued
m conformity with the general practice observed in the principal maritime
States.
The High Contracting Parties agree to recognise 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 description
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 favoured 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 l, 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 recognise 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 naturalisation 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 27l 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 28l.
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:
(l) Conventions of March l4, 1884, December 1, 1886, and March 23, 1887, and
Final Protocol of July 7, 1887, regarding the protection of submarine cables.
(2) Convention of October 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 standardisation of
railways.
(5) Convention of July 5, 1890, regarding the publication of customs tariffs
and the organisation of an International Union for the publication of customs
tariffs.
(6) Convention of December 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 the toll dues on the
Scheldt.
(11) Convention of October 29, 1888, regarding the establishment of a
definite arrangement guaranteeing the free use of the Suez Canal.
(12) Conventions of September 23, 1910, respecting the unification of certain
regulations regarding collisions and salvage at sea.
(13) Convention of December 21, 1904, regarding the exemption of hospital
ships from dues and charges in ports
(14) Convention of February 4, 1898, regarding the tonnage measurement of
vessels for inland navigation.
(15) Convention of September 26, 1906, for the suppression of nightwork for
women.
(16) Convention of September 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 30, 1892, April l5, l893, April 3, l894,
March l9, 1897, and December 3, 1903.
(20) Convention of May 20, 1875, regarding the unification and improvement of
the metric system.
(21) Convention of November 29, 1906, regarding the unification of
pharmacopoeial formulae for potent drugs.
(22) Convention of November 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 November 3, 188l, and April l5, l889, regarding
precautionary measures against phylloxera.
(25) Convention of March 19, l902, regarding the protection of birds useful
to agriculture.
(26) Convention of June l2, 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 S, 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 February 1, 1889, regulating the
fisheries in the North Sea outside territorial waters.
(2) The Conventions and Protocols of November 16, 1887, February 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; and the
International Convention of Berne of September 9, 1886, for the protection of
literary and artistic works, revised at Berlin on November 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 Roumania.
ARTICLE 288.
The special rights and privileges granted to Germany by Article 3 of the
Convention of December 2, 1899, relating to Samoa shall be considered to have
terminated on August 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 recognises that all the treaties, conventions or agreements which she
has concluded with Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey since August 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 August 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 recognises 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 Roumania, before August 1, 1914, or
after that date until 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 August 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 favours of any kind to Germany or to a
German national, such concessions, privileges and favours are ipso facto
annulled by the present Treaty.
No claims or indemnities which may result from this annulment hall 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 nonbelligerent States or their nationals since
August 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 January
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.
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 hereto 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
ratification 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.
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 endeavour 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 towards 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 favour 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 manowners 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 or 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 August 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 (6) 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 encumbrances 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 favour 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 of 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 her 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 November 11, 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 November 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
cancelling 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 Mr. 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, in so far as those
claims 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 trademarks 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 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 restitution 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.
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 became 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 nonpayment 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,
or 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 nonpayment 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
recognised in Germany as final, and shall be enforced without it being necessary
to have them declared executory.
If a judgment in respect to 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 defence, 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 recognised Exchange or 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:
(1) That the contract was expressed to be made subject to the rules of the
Exchange or Association in question;
(2) That the rules applied to all persons concerned;
(3) 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 Exchanges or Commercial Associations in the districts occupied by
the enemy.
(c) The closure of contracts relating to cotton "futures", which were closed
as on July 31, 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 recognised 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.
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 at 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 nonpayment of premiums,
or has become void from breach of the conditions of the contract, the assured or
his representatives or the person 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 nonpayment 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 force 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 cancelled 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 nonpayment 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 g 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 risks
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 reinsurers.
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 Tribunals 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 function, 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 authorised to present
orally and in writing to the Tribunal arguments in Support or in defence 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 favour 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 recognised and established in favour 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 l 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 licences, or by
the working, or by preserving control over their exploitation, or in any other
way, as may be considered necessary for national defence, 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 fulfilment 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 defence or in the public interest.
In the event of the application of the provisions of the preceding paragraph
by any Allied or Associated Power, 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 August 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,
fulfil 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 August 1, 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, fulfil 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 licences 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 August 1, 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 August 1, 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 4 of the International Convention
for the Protection of Industrial Property of Paris, of March 20, 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 August
1, 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 favour
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 of 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.
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 cancelled as
from the date of the declaration of war between Germany and the Allied or
Associated Power. 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 recognised 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 organisations 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 Labour 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
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 to 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
observance 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 the Allied and Associated countries.
ARTICLE 317.
Certificate of nationality, airworthiness, or competency, and licences,
issued or recognised as valid by any of the Allied or Associated Powers, shall
be recognised in Germany as valid and as equivalent to the certificates and
licences issued by Germany.
ARTICLE 318.
As regards internal commercial air traffic, the aircraft of the, Allied and
Associated Powers shall enjoy in Germany most favoured nation treatment.
ARTICLE 319.
Germany undertakes to enforce the necessary measures to ensure 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
neighbourhood 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 January 1, 1923, unless before that date Germany shall have been admitted
into the League of Nations or shall have been authorised, 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
ensure 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 trans-shipment 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 or 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 ensure 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 favours
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 on 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 harbour facilities and charges of every
description, including facilities for stationing loading, and unloading, and
duties and charges of tonnage, harbour, pilotage, light-house, 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 regime to any of the Allied
or Associated Powers or to any other foreign Power, this regime 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 1N PORTS.
ARTICLE 328.
The free zones existing in German ports on August 1, 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 regime
provided for in the following
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.
Vessels and goods entering a free zone may be subjected to the charges
established to cover expenses of administration, upkeep and improvement of the
port, as well as to the charges for the use of various installations, provided
that these charges shall be reasonable having regard to the expenditure
incurred, and shall be levied in the conditions of equality provided for in
Article 327.
Goods shall not be subjected to any other charge except a statistical duty
which shall not exceed 1 mille ad valorem, and which shall be devoted
exclusively to defraying the expenses of compiling statements of the traffic in
the port.
ARTICLE 329.
The facilities granted for the erection of warehouses, for packing and for
unpacking goods, shall be in accordance with trade requirements for the time
being. All goods allowed to be consumed in the free zone shall be exempt from
duty, whether of excise or of any other description, apart from the statistical
duty provided for in Article 328 above.
There shall be no discrimination in regard to any of the provisions of the
present Article between persons belonging to different nationalities or between
goods of different origin or destination.
ARTICLE 330.
Import duties may be levied on goods leaving the free zone for consumption in
the country on the territory of which the port is situated. Conversely, export
duties may be levied on goods coming from such country and brought into the free
zone. These import and export duties shall be levied on the same basis and at
the same rates as similar duties levied at the other Customs frontiers of the
country concerned. On the other hand, Germany shall not levy, under any
denomination, any import, export or transit duty on goods carried by land or
water across her territory to or from the free zone from or to any other State.
Germany shall draw up the necessary regulations to secure and guarantee such
freedom of transit over such railways and waterways in her territory as normally
give access to the free zone.
CHAPTER III.
CLAUSES RELATING TO THE ELBE, THE ODER, THE NIEMEN (RUSSSTROM- MEMEL-NIEMEN)
AND THE DANUBE.
(l) General Clauses.
ARTICLE 331.
The following rivers are declared international: the Elbe (Labe) from its
confluence with the Vltava (Moldau), and the Vltava (Moldau) from Prague; the
Oder (Odra) from its confluence with the Oppa; the Niemen
(Russstrom-Memel-Niemen) from Grodno; the Danube from Ulm; and all navigable
parts of these river systems which naturally provide more than one State with
access to the sea, with or without transshipment from one vessel to another;
together with lateral canals and channels constructed either to duplicate or to
improve naturally navigable sections of the specified river systems, or to
connect two naturally navigable sections of the same river.
The same shall apply to the Rhine-Danube navigable waterway, should such a
waterway be constructed under the conditions laid down in Article 353.
ARTICLE 332.
On the waterways declared to be international in the preceding Article, the
nationals, property and flags of all Powers shall be treated on a footing of
prefect equality, no distinction being made to the detriment of the nationals,
property or flag of any Power between them and the nationals, property or flag
of the riparian State itself or of the most favoured nation.
Nevertheless, German vessels shall not be entitled to carry passengers or
goods by regular services between the ports of any Allied or Associated Power,
without special authority from such Power.
ARTICLE 333.
Where such charges are not precluded by any existing conventions, charges
varying on different sections of a river may be levied on vessels using the
navigable channels or their approaches, provided that they are intended solely
to cover equitably the cost of maintaining in a navigable condition, or of
improving, the river and its approaches, or to meet expenditure incurred in the
interests of navigation. The schedule of such charges shall be calculated on the
basis of such expenditure and shall be posted up in the ports. These charges
shall be levied in such a manner as to render any detailed examination of
cargoes unnecessary, except in cases of suspected fraud or contravention.
ARTICLE 334.
The transit of vessels, passengers and goods on these waterways
shall be effected in accordance with the general conditions prescribed for
transit in Section I above.
When the two banks of an international river are within the same State goods
in transit may be placed under seal or in the custody of customs agents. When
the river forms a frontier goods and passengers in transit shall be exempt from
all customs formalities, the loading and unloading of goods, and the embarkation
and disembarkation of passengers, shall only take place in the ports specified
by the riparian State.
ARTICLE 335.
No dues of any kind other than those provided for in the present Part shall
be levied along the course or at the mouth of these rivers.
This provision shall not prevent the fixing by the riparian States of
customs, local octroi or consumption duties, or the creation of reasonable and
uniform charges levied in the ports, in accordance with public tariffs, for the
use of cranes, elevators, quays, warehouses, etc.
ARTICLE 336.
In default of any special organisation for carrying out the works connected
with the upkeep and improvement of the international portion of a navigable
system, each riparian State shall be bound to take suitable measures to remove
any obstacle or danger to navigation and to ensure the maintenance of good
conditions of navigation.
If a State neglects to comply with this obligation any riparian State, or any
State represented on the International Commission, if there is one, may appeal
to the tribunal instituted for this purpose by the League of Nations.
ARTICLE 337.
The same procedure shall be followed in the case of a riparian State
undertaking any works of a nature to impede navigation in the international
section. The tribunal mentioned in the preceding Article shall be entitled to
enforce the suspension or suppression of such works, making due allowance in its
decisions for all rights in connection with irrigation, water-power, fisheries,
and other national interests, which, with the consent of all the riparian States
or of all the States represented on the International Commission, if there is
one, shall be given priority over the requirements of navigation.
Appeal to the tribunal of the League of Nations does not require the
suspension of the works.
ARTICLE 338.
The regime set out in Articles 332 to 337 above shall be superseded by one to
be laid down in a General Convention drawn up by the Allied and Associated
Powers, and approved by the League of Nations, relating to the waterways
recognised in such Convention as having an international character. This
Convention shall apply in particular to the whole or part of the above-mentioned
river systems of the Elbe (Labe), the Oder (Odra), the Niemen (Russstrom-
Memel-Niemen), and the Danube, and such other parts of these river systems as
may be covered by a general definition.
Germany undertakes, in accordance with the provisions of Article 379, to
adhere to the said General Convention as well as to all projects prepared in
accordance with Article 343 below for the revision of existing international
agreements and regulations.
ARTICLE 339.
Germany shall cede to the Allied and Associated Powers concerned, within a
maximum period of three months from the date on which notification shall be
given her, a proportion of the tugs and vessels remaining registered in the
ports of the river systems referred to in Article 331 after the deduction of
those surrendered by way of restitution or reparation. Germany shall in the same
way cede material of all kinds necessary to the Allied and Associated Powers
concerned for the utilisation of those river systems.
The number of the tugs and boats, and the amount of the material so ceded,
and their distribution, shall be determined by an arbitrator or arbitrators
nominated by the United States of America, due regard being had to the
legitimate needs of the parties concerned, and particularly to the shipping
traffic during the five years preceding the war.
All craft so ceded shall be provided with their fittings and gear, shall be
in a good state of repair and in condition to carry goods and shall be selected
from among those most recently built.
The cessions provided for in the present Article shall entail a credit of
which the total amount, settled in a lump sum by the arbitrator or arbitrators,
shall not in any case exceed the value of the capital expended in the initial
establishment of the material ceded, and shall be set off against the total sums
due from Germany, in consequence, the indemnification of the proprietors shall
be a matter for Germany to deal with.
(2) Special Clauses relating to the Elbe, the Oder and the Niemen
(Russstrom-Memel-Niemen).
ARTICLE 340.
The Elbe (Labe) shall be placed under the administration of an International
Commission which shall comprise:
- 4 representatives of the German States bordering on the river:
- 2 representatives of the Czecho-Slovak State;
- 1 representative of Great Britain;
- 1 representative of France;
- 1 representative of Italy;
- 1 representative of Belgium.
Whatever be the number of members present, each delegation shall have the
right to record a number of votes equal to the number of representatives
allotted to it.
If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the
coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of the Commission shall
nevertheless be valid.
ARTICLE 341.
The Oder (Odra) shall be placed under the administration of an International
Commission, which shall comprise:
- 1 representative of Poland;
- 3 representatives of Prussia;
- 1 representative of the Czecho-Slovak State;
- 1 representative of Great Britain;
- 1 representative of France;
- 1 representative of Denmark;
- 1 representative of Sweden.
If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the
coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of the Commission shall
nevertheless be valid.
ARTICLE 342.
On a request being made to the League of Nations by any riparian State, the
Niemen (Russstrom-Memel-Niemen) shall be placed under the administration of an
International Commission which shall comprise one representative of each
riparian State and three representatives of other States specified by the League
of Nations.
ARTICLE 343.
The International Commissions referred to in Articles 340 and 342 shall meet
within three months of the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty.
The International Commission referred to in Article 342 shall meet within three
months from the date of the request made by a riparian State. Each of these
Commissions shall proceed immediately to prepare a project for the revision of
the existing international agreements and regulations drawn up in conformity
with the General Convention referred to in Article 338, should such Convention
have been already concluded. In the absence of such Convention, the project for
revision shall be in conformity with the principles of Articles 332 to 337
above.
ARTICLE 344.
The projects referred to in the preceding Article shall, inter alia:
(a) designate the headquarters of the International Commission, and prescribe
the manner in which its President is to be nominated;
(b) specify the extent of the Commission's powers, particularly in regard to
the execution of works of maintenance, control, and improvement on the river
system, the financial regime, the fixing and collection of charges, and
regulations for navigation-
(c) define the sections of the river or its tributaries to which the
international regime shall be applied.
ARTICLE 345.
The international agreements and regulations at present governing the
navigation of the Elbe (Labe), the Oder (Odra), and the Niemen
(Russstrom-Memel-Niemen) shall be provisionally maintained in force until the
ratification of the above-mentioned projects. Nevertheless, in all cases where
such agreements and regulations in force are in conflict with the provisions of
Articles 332 to 337 above, or of the General Convention to be concluded, the
latter provisions shall prevail.
(3) Special Clauses relating to the Danube.
ARTICLE 346.
The European Commission of the Danube reassumes the powers it possessed
before the war. Nevertheless, as a provisional measure, only representatives of
Great Britain, France, Italy and Roumania shall constitute this Commission.
ARTICLE 347
From the point where the competence of the European Commission ceases, the
Danube system referred to in Article 33l shall be placed under the
administration of an International Commission composed as follows:
2 representatives of German riparian States; 1 representative of each other
riparian State; 1 representative of each non-riparian State represented in the
future on the European Commission of the Danube.
If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the
coming into force of the present Treaty, the decisions of the Commission shall
nevertheless be valid.
ARTICLE 348.
The International Commission provided for in the preceding Article shall meet
as soon as possible after the coming into force of the present Treaty and shall
undertake provisionally the administration of the river in conformity with the
provisions of Articles 332 to 337, until such time as a definitive statute
regarding the Danube is concluded by the Powers dominated by the Allied and
Associated Powers.
ARTICLE 349.
Germany agrees to accept the regime which shall be laid down for the Danube
by a Conference of the Powers nominated by the Allied and Associated Powers,
which shall meet within one year after the coming into force of the present
Treaty, and at which German representatives may be present.
ARTICLE 350.
The mandate given by Article 57 of the Treaty of Berlin of July 13, 1878, to
Austria-Hungary, and transferred by her to Hungary to carry out works at the
Iron Gates, is abrogated. The Commission entrusted with the administration of
this part of the river shall lay down provisions for the settlement of accounts
subject to . the financial provisions of the present Treaty. Charges which may
be necessary shall in no case be levied by Hungary.
ARTICLE 351.
Should the Czecho-Slovak State, the Serb-Croat-Slovene State or Roumania,
with the authorisation of or under mandate from the International Commission,
undertake maintenance, improvement, weir, or other works on a part of the river
system which forms a frontier, these States shall enjoy on the opposite bank,
and also on the part of the bed which is outside their territory, all necessary
facilities for the survey, execution and maintenance of such works.
ARTICLE 352.
Germany shall be obliged to make to the European Commission of the Danube all
restitutions, reparations and indemnities for damages inflicted on the
Commission during the war.
ARTICLE 353.
Should a deep-draught Rhine-Danube navigable waterway be constructed, Germany
undertakes to apply thereto the regime prescribed in Articles 332 to 338.
CHAPTER IV.
CLAUSES RELATING TO THE RHINE AND THE MOSELLE.
ARTICLE 354.
As from the coming into force of the present Treaty, the Convention of
Mannheim of October 17, 1868, together with the Final Protocol thereof, shall
continue to govern navigation on the Rhine, subject to the conditions
hereinafter laid down.
In the event of any provision of the said Convention being in conflict with
those laid down by the General Convention referred to in Article 338 (which
shall apply to the Rhine) the provisions of the General Convention shall
prevail.
Within a maximum period of six months from the coming into force of the
present Treaty, the Central Commission referred to in Article 355 shall meet to
draw up a project of revision of the Convention of Mannheim. This project shall
be drawn up in harmony with the provisions of the General Convention referred to
above, should this have been concluded by that time, and shall be submitted to
the Powers represented on the Central Commission Germany hereby agrees to adhere
to the project so drawn up.
Further, the modifications set out in the following Articles shall
immediately be made in the Convention of Mannheim.
The Allied and Associated Powers reserve to themselves the right to arrive at
an understanding in this connection with Holland, and Germany hereby agrees to
accede if required to any such understanding.
ARTICLE 355.
The Central Commission provided for in the Convention of Mannheim shall
consist of nineteen members, viz.:
2 representatives of the Netherlands; 2 representatives of Switzerland; 4
representatives of German riparian States; 4 representatives of France, which in
addition shall appoint the President of the Commission; 2 representatives of
Great Britain; 2 representatives of Italy; 2 representatives of Belgium.
The headquarters of the Central Commission shall be at Strasburg.
Whatever be the number of members present, each Delegation shall have the
right to record a number of votes equal to the number of representatives
allotted to it.
If certain of these representatives cannot be appointed at the time of the
coming into force of the present Treaty, the decision of the Commission shall
nevertheless be valid.
ARTICLE 356.
Vessels of all nations, and their cargoes, shall have the same rights and
privileges as those which are granted to vessels belonging to the Rhine
navigation, and to their cargoes.
None of the provisions contained in Articles 15 to 20 and 26 of the
above-mentioned Convention of Mannheim, in Article 4 of the Final Protocol
thereof, or in later Conventions, shall impede the free navigation of vessels
and crews of all nations on the Rhine and on waterways to which such Conventions
apply, subject to compliance with the regulations concerning pilotage and other
police measures drawn up by the Central Commission.
The provisions of Article 22 of the Convention of Mannheim and of Article 5
of the Final Protocol thereof shall be applied only to vessels registered on the
Rhine. The Central Commission shall decide on the steps to be taken to ensure
that other vessels satisfy the conditions of the general regulations applying to
navigation on the Rhine.
ARTICLE 357.
Within a maximum period of three months from the date on which notification
shall be given Germany shall cede to France tugs and vessels, from among those
remaining registered in German Rhine ports after the deduction of those
surrendered by way of restitution or reparation, or shares in German Rhine
navigation companies.
When vessels and tugs are ceded, such vessels and tugs, together with their
fittings and gear, shall be in good state of repair, shall be in condition to
carry on commercial traffic on the Rhine, and shall be selected from among those
most recently built.
The same procedure shall be followed in the matter of the cession by Germany
to France of:
(1) the installations, berthing and anchorage accommodation, platforms,
docks, warehouses, plant, etc., which German subjects or German companies owned
on August 1, 1914, in the port of Rotterdam, and
(2) the shares or interests which Germany or German nationals possessed in
such installations at the same date.
The amount and specifications of such cessions shall be determined within one
year of the coming into force of the present Treaty by an arbitrator or
arbitrators appointed by the United States of America, due regard being had to
the legitimate needs of the parties concerned.
The cessions provided for in the present Article shall entail a credit of
which the total amount, settled in a lump sum by the arbitrator or arbitrators
mentioned above shall not in any case exceed the value of the capital expended
in the initial establishment of the ceded material and installations, and shall
be set off against the total sums due from Germany; in consequence, the
indemnification of the proprietors shall be a matter for Germany to deal with.
ARTICLE 358.
Subject to the obligation to comply with the provisions of the Convention of
Mannheim or of the Convention which may be substituted therefor, and to the
stipulations of the present Treaty, France shall have on the whole course of the
Rhine included between the two extreme points of the French frontiers:
(a) the right to take water from the Rhine to feed navigation and irrigation
canals (constructed or to be constructed) or for any other purpose, and to
execute on the German bank all works necessary for the exercise of this right;
(b) the exclusive right to the power derived from works of regulation on the
river, subject to the payment to Germany of the value of half the power actually
produced, this payment, which will take into account the cost of the works
necessary for producing the power, being made either in money or in power and in
default of agreement being determined by arbitration. For this purpose France
alone shall have the right to carry out in this part of the river all works of
regulation (weirs or other works) which she may consider necessary for the
production of power. Similarly, the right of taking water from the Rhine is
accorded to Belgium to feed the Rhine-Meuse navigable waterway provided for
below.
The exercise of the rights mentioned under (a) and (b) of the present Article
shall not interfere with navigability nor reduce the facilities for navigation,
either in the bed of the Rhine or in, the derivations which may be substituted
therefor, nor shall it . involve any increase in the tolls formerly levied under
the Convention in force. All proposed schemes shall be laid before the Central
Commission in order that that Commission may assure itself that these conditions
are complied with.
To ensure the proper and faithful execution of the provisions contained in
(a) and (b) above, Germany:
(1) binds herself not to undertake or to allow the construction of any
lateral canal or any derivation on the right bank of the river opposite the
French frontiers;
(2) recognises the possession by France of the right of support on and the
right of way over all lands situated on the right bank which may be required in
order to survey, to build, and to operate weirs which France, with the consent
of the Central Commission, may subsequently decide to establish. In accordance
with such consent, France shall be entitled to decide upon and fix the limits of
the necessary sites, and she shall be permitted to occupy such lands after a
period of two months after simple notification, subject to the payment by her to
Germany of indemnities of which the total amount shall be fixed by the Central
Commission. Germany shall make it her business to indemnify the proprietors
whose property will be burdened with such servitudes or permanently occupied by
the works.
Should Switzerland so demand, and if the Central Commission approves, the
same rights shall be accorded to Switzerland for the part of the river forming
her frontier with other riparian States;
(3) shall hand over to the French Government, during the month following the
coming into force of the present Treaty, all projects, designs, drafts of
concessions and of specifications concerning the regulation of the Rhine for any
purpose whatever which have been drawn up or received by the Governments of
Alsace- Lorraine or of the Grand Duchy of Baden.
ARTICLE 359.
Subject to the preceding provisions, no works shall be carried out in the bed
or on either bank of the Rhine where it forms the boundary of France and Germany
without the previous approval of the Central Commission or of its agents.
ARTICLE 360.
France reserves the option of substituting herself as regards the rights and
obligations resulting from agreements arrived at between the Government of
Alsace-Lorraine and the Grand Duchy of Baden concerning the works to be carried
out on the Rhine; she may also denounce such agreements within a term of five
years dating from the coming into force of the present Treaty.
France shall also have the option of causing works to be carried out which
may be recognised as necessary by the Central Commission for the upkeep or
improvement of the navigability of the Rhine above Mannheim.
ARTICLE 361.
Should Belgium within a period of 25 years from the coming into force of the
present Treaty decide to create a deep-draught Rhine- Meuse navigable waterway,
in the region of Ruhrort, Germany shall be bound to construct, in accordance
with plans to be communicated to her by the Belgian Government, after agreement
with the Central Commission, the portion of this navigable waterway situated
within her territory.
The Belgian Government shall, for this purpose, have the right to carry out
on the ground all necessary surveys.
Should Germany fail to carry out all or part of these works, the Central
Commission shall be entitled to carry them out instead; and, for this purpose,
the Commission may decide upon and fix the limits of the necessary sites and
occupy the ground after a period of two months after simple notification,
subject to the payment of indemnities to be fixed by it and paid by Germany.
This navigable waterway shall be placed under the same administrative regime
as the Rhine itself, and the division of the cost of initial construction,
including the above indemnities, among the States crossed thereby shall be made
by the Central Commission.
ARTICLE 362.
Germany hereby agrees to offer no objection to any proposals of the Central
Rhine Commission for extending its jurisdiction:
(1) to the Moselle below the Franco-Luxemburg frontier down to the Rhine,
subject to the consent of Luxemburg;
(2) to the Rhine above Basle up to the Lake of Constance, subject to the
consent of Switzerland;
(3) to the lateral canals and channels which may be established either to
duplicate or to improve naturally navigable sections of the Rhine or the
Moselle, or to connect two naturally navigable sections of these rivers, and
also any other parts of the Rhine river system which may be covered by the
General Convention provided for in Article 338 above.
CHAPTER V.
CLAUSES GIVING TO THE CZECHO-SLOVAK STATE THE USE OF NORTHERN PORTS.
ARTICLE 363.
In the ports of Hamburg and Stettin Germany shall lease to the Czecho-Slovak
State, for a period of 99 years, areas which shall be placed under the general
regime of free zones and shall be used for the direct transit of goods coming
from or going to that State.
ARTICLE 364.
The delimitation of these areas, and their equipment, their exploitation, and
in general all conditions for their utilisation, including the amount of the
rental, shall be decided by a Commission consisting of one delegate of Germany,
one delegate of the Czecho-Slovak State and one delegate of Great Britain. These
conditions shall be susceptible of revision every ten years in the same manner.
Germany declares in advance that she will adhere to the decisions so taken.
SECTION III.
RAILWAYS.
CHAPTER I.
CLAUSES RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL TRANSPORT.
ARTICLE 365.
Goods coming from the territories of the Allied and Associated Powers, and
going to Germany, or in transit through Germany from or to the territories of
the Allied and Associated Powers, shall enjoy on the German railways as regards
charges to be collected (rebates and drawbacks being taken into account),
facilities, and all other matters, the most favourable treatment applied to
goods of the same kind carried on any German lines, either in internal traffic,
or for export, import or in transit, under similar conditions of transport, for
example as regards length of route. The same rule shall be applied, on the
request of one or more of the Allied and Associated Powers, to goods specially
designated by such Power or Powers coming from Germany and going to their
territories.
International tariffs established in accordance with the rates referred to in
the preceding paragraph and involving through waybills shall be established when
one of the Allied and Associated Powers shall require it from Germany.
ARTICLE 366.
From the coming into force of the present Treaty the High Contracting Parties
shall renew, in so far as concerns them and under the reserves indicated in the
second paragraph of the present Article, the conventions and arrangements signed
at Berne on October 14, 1890, September 20, 1893, July 16, 1895, June 16, 1898,
and September 19, 1906, regarding the transportation of goods by rail.
If within five years from the date of the coming into force of the present
Treaty a new convention for the transportation of passengers, luggage, and goods
by rail shall have been concluded to replace the Berne Convention of October 14,
1 890, and the subsequent additions referred to above, this new convention and
the supplementary provisions for international transport by rail which may be
based on it shall bind Germany, even if she shall have refused to take part in
the preparation of the convention or to subscribe to it. Until a new convention
shall have been concluded, Germany shall conform to the provisions of the Berne
Convention and the subsequent additions referred to above, and to the current
supplementary provisions.
ARTICLE 367.
Germany shall be bound to co-operate in the establishment of through ticket
services (for passengers and their luggage) which shall be required by any of
the Allied and Associated Powers to ensure their communication by rail with each
other and with all other countries by transit across the territories of Germany;
in particular Germany shall, for this purpose, accept trains and carriages
coming from the territories of the Allied and Associated Powers and shall
forward them with a speed at least equal to that of her best long-distance
trains on the same lines. The rates applicable to such through services shall
not in any case be higher than the rates collected on German internal services
for the same distance, under the same conditions of speed and comfort.
The tariffs applicable under the same conditions of speed and comfort to the
transportation of emigrants going to or coming from ports of the Allied and
Associated Powers and using the German railways shall not be at a higher
kilometric rate than the most favourable tariffs (drawbacks and rebates being
taken into account) enjoyed on the said railways by emigrants going to or coming
from any other ports
ARTICLE 368.
Germany shall not apply specially to such through services, or to the
transportation of emigrants going to or coming from the ports of the Allied and
Associated Powers, any technical, fiscal or administrative measures, such as
measures of customs examination, general police, sanitary police, and control,
the result of which would be to impede or delay such services.
ARTICLE 369.
In case of transport partly by rail and partly by internal navigation, with
or without through way-bill, the preceding Articles shall apply to the part of
the journey performed by rail.
CHAPTER II.
ROLLING-STOCK.
ARTICLE 370.
Germany undertakes that German wagons shall be fitted with apparatus
allowing:
(1) of their inclusion in goods trains on the lines of such of the Allied and
Associated Powers as are parties to the Berne Convention of May 15, 1886, as
modified on May 18, 1907, without hampering the action of the continuous brake
which may be adopted in such countries within ten years of the coming into force
of the present Treaty, and
(2) Of the acceptance of wagons of such countries in all goods trains on the
German lines.
The rolling-stock of the Allied and Associated Powers shall enjoy on the
German lines the same treatment as German rollingstock as regards movement,
upkeep, and repairs.
CHAPTER III.
CESSIONS OF RAILWAY LINES.
ARTICLE 371.
Subject to any special provisions concerning the cession of ports, waterways
and railways situated in the territories over which Germany abandons her
sovereignty, and to the financial conditions relating to the concessionnaires
and the pensioning of the personnel, the cession of railways will take place
under the following conditions:
(1) The works and installations of all the railroads shall be handed over
complete and in good condition.
(2) When a railway system possessing its own rolling-stock is handed over in
its entirety by Germany to one of the Allied and Associated Powers, such stock
shall be handed over complete, in accordance with the last inventory before
November 11, 1918, and in a normal state of upkeep.
(3) As regards lines without any special rolling-stock, Commissions of
experts designated by the Allied and Associated Powers, on which Germany shall
be represented, shall fix the proportion of the stock existing on the system to
which those lines belong to be handed over. These Commissions shall have regard
to the amount of the material registered on these lines in the last inventory
before November 11, 1918, the length of track (sidings included), and the nature
and amount of the traffic. These Commissions shall also specify the locomotives,
carriages and wagons to be handed over in each case; they shall decide upon the
conditions of their acceptance, and shall make the provisional arrangements
necessary to ensure their repair in German workshops.
(4) Stocks of stores, fittings and plant shall be handed over under the same
conditions as the rolling-stock.
The provisions of paragraphs 3 and 4 above shall be applied to the lines of
former Russian Poland converted by Germany to the German gauge, such lines being
regarded as detached from the
Prussian State System.
CHAPTER IV.
PROVISIONS RELATING TO CERTAIN RAILWAY LINES.
ARTICLE 372.
When as a result of the fixing of new frontiers a railway connection between
two parts of the same country crosses another country, or a branch line from one
country has its terminus in another, the conditions of working, if not
specifically provided for in the present Treaty, shall be laid down in a
convention between the railway administrations concerned. If the administrations
cannot come to an agreement as to the terms of such convention, the points of
difference shall be decided by commissions of experts composed as provided in
the preceding Article.
ARTICLE 373.
Within a period of five years from the coming into force of the present
Treaty the Czecho-Slovak State may require the construction of a railway line in
German territory between the stations of Schlauney and Nachod. The cost of
construction shall be borne by the Czecho-Slovak State.
ARTICLE 374.
Germany undertakes to accept, within ten years of the coming into force of
the present Treaty, on request being made by the Swiss Government after
agreement with the Italian Government, the denunciation of the International
Convention of October l3, 1909, relative to the St. Gothard railway. In the
absence of agreement as to the conditions of such denunciation, Germany hereby
agrees to accept the decision of an arbitrator designated by the United States
of America.
CHAPTER V.
TRANSITORY PROVISIONS.
ARTICLE 375.
Germany shall carry out the instructions given her, in regard to transport,
by an authorised body acting on behalf of the Allied and Associated Powers:
(1) For the carriage of troops under the provisions of the present Treaty,
and of material, ammunition and supplies for army use;
(2) As a temporary measure, for the transportation of supplies for certain
regions, as well as for the restoration, as rapidly as possible, of the normal
conditions of transport, and for the organisation of postal and telegraphic
services.
SECTION IV.
DISPUTES AND REVISION OF PERMANENT CLAUSES.
ARTICLE 376.
Disputes which may arise between interested Powers with regard to the
interpretation and application of the preceding Article shall be settled as
provided by the League of Nations.
ARTICLE 377.
At any time the League of Nations may recommend the revision of such of these
Articles as relate to a permanent administrative regime.
ARTICLE 378.
The stipulations in Articles 321 to 330, 332, 365, and 367 to 369 shall be
subject to revision by the Council of the League of Nations at any time after
five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty.
Failing such revision, no Allied or Associated Power can claim after the
expiration of the above period of five years the benefit of any of the
stipulations in the Articles enumerated above on behalf of any portion of its
territories in which reciprocity is not accorded in respect of such
stipulations. The period of five years during which reciprocity cannot be
demanded may be prolonged by the Council of the League of Nations.
SECTION V.
SPECIAL PROVISION.
ARTICLE 379.
Without prejudice to the special obligations imposed on her by the present
Treaty for the benefit of the Allied and Associated Powers, Germany undertakes
to adhere to any General Conventions regarding the international regime of
transit, waterways, ports or railways which may be concluded by the Allied and
Associated Powers, with the approval of the League of Nations, within five years
of the coming into force of the present Treaty.
SECTION VI.
CLAUSES RELATING TO THE KIEL CANAL.
ARTICLE 380.
The Kiel Canal and its approaches shall be maintained free and open to the
vessels of commerce and of war of all nations at peace with Germany on terms of
entire equality.
ARTICLE 381.
The nationals, property and vessels of all Powers shall, in respect of
charges, facilities, and in all other respects, be treated on a footing of
perfect equality in the use of the Canal, no distinction being made to the
detriment of nationals, property and vessels of any Power between them and the
nationals, property and vessels of Germany or of the most favoured nation.
No impediment shall be placed on the movement of persons or vessels other
than those arising out of police, customs, sanitary, emigration or immigration
regulations and those relating to the import or export of prohibited goods. Such
regulations must be reasonable and uniform and must not unnecessarily impede
traffic
ARTICLE 382.
Only such charges may be levied on vessels using the Canal or its approaches
as are intended to cover in an equitable manner the cost of maintaining in a
navigable condition, or of improving, the Canal or its approaches, or to meet
expenses incurred in the interests of navigation. The schedule of such charges
shall be calculated on the basis of such expenses, and shall be posted up in the
ports.
These charges shall be levied in such a manner as to render any detailed
examination of cargoes unnecessary, except in the case of suspected fraud or
contravention.
ARTICLE 383.
Goods in transit may be placed under seal or in the custody of customs
agents; the loading and unloading of goods, and the embarkation and
disembarkation of passengers, shall only take place in the ports specified by
Germany.
ARTICLE 384.
No charges of any kind other than those provided for in the present Treaty
shall be levied along the course or at the approaches of the Kiel Canal.
ARTICLE 385.
Germany shall be bound to take suitable measures to remove any obstacle or
danger to navigation, and to ensure the maintenance of good conditions of
navigation. She shall not undertake any works of a nature to impede navigation
on the Canal or its approaches.
ARTICLE 386.
In the event of violation of any of the conditions of Articles 380 to 386, or
of disputes as to the interpretation of these Articles, any interested Power can
appeal to the jurisdiction instituted for the purpose by the League of Nations.
In order to avoid a reference of small questions to the League of Nations,
Germany will establish a local authority at Kiel qualified to deal with disputes
in the first instance and to give satisfaction so far as possible to complaints
which may be presented through the consular representatives of the interested
Powers.
Click for the last part of the Versailles Treaty.