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Switzerland: His Excellency M. G. Carlin, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at London and The Hague, delegate. Uruguay: His Excellency M. Alberto Guani, envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary at Brussels and The Hague, delegate. The United States of Venezuela: Dr. Esteban Gil Borges, first secretary of legation at Paris, delegate.

At a series of meetings held from the 15th to the 25th June, 1914, the conference having examined the question submitted to it under the third resolution passed by the second conference

(A) has placed on record the following opinions:

1. That it is possible to bring into force the international opium convention of the 23d January, 1912, notwithstanding the fact that some of the powers invited, in pursuance of paragraph 1 of article 23, have not yet signed the convention.

2. That the convention shall come into force between all the signatory powers as soon as the powers which have already signed, and those which have expressed their intention to adhere to it, have ratified it. The date of the coming into force of the convention shall be that fixed by paragraph 1 of article 24.

3. That, if by a date to be determined by the conference all the signatory powers have not yet deposited their ratifications, it shall be permissible for the signatory powers whose ratifications have been deposited by that date, to bring the convention into force. The same power shall obtain for the signatory powers which may successively deposit their ratifications after that date.

4. That the date indicated in 3 shall be the 31st of December, 1914.1

5. That the power of acceding to the convention do remain open to the powers which have not yet signed.

(B) has decided:

That a protocol by which the signatory powers desirous of availing themselves of the power mentioned in 3 shall be able to declare their intention of putting the convention in force shall be opened at The Hague.

His Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, in accordance with the unanimous wish of the conference, has consented to draw up this protocol, which will remain open for signature.

(C) has unanimously carried the following resolution:

The conference invites his Excellency the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands to make, in the name of the conference, an urgent and respectful representation to the signatory powers which have not yet ratified the convention nor expressed their intention of doing so, with a view to induce them to declare their readiness shortly to deposit their ratifications, in order that the convention may come into force as soon as possible.

In witness whereof the delegates have attached their signatures to this protocol.

Done at The Hague the 25th June, 1914, in one instrument, which shall be deposited in the archives of the Government of the Nether

Compare note to convention of January 23, 1912.

lands, and copies of which duly certified shall be forwarded through diplomatic channels to all the signatory and the nonsignatory powers.

For Germany:

F. DE MÜLLER,

(With reference to his votes on June 18, 1914.)

For the United States of America:

For the Argentine Republic:

For Belgium:

For the United States of Brazil:

For Chile:1

For China:

For Denmark:

For the Dominican Republic: 1
For Ecuador:1
For Spain:

For France:

For Great Britain:

For Guatemala:

For Haiti:1

For Italy:

For Japan:

For Luxemburg:

For the United States of Mexico:

For Montenegro:

For the Netherlands:

HENRY VAN DYKE

CHAS. DENBY.

FRANC. DE Veyga.

BN. ALB. FALLON.

GRAÇA ARANHA.

W. W. YEN.
Ts. F. T'ANG.

W. GREVENKOP CASTENSKJOLD.

FERNANDO DE OSORIO.

MARCELLIN PELLET.

W. G. MAX MULLER.
WILLIAM JOB COLLINS.

José M. LARDIZABAL

S. DE LA TOUR CALVELLO.

AIMARO SATO.

BN. ALB. FALLON.

CARLOS PEREYRA.

H. M. MENDES DA COSTA.

For Persia:

J. T. CREMER.

C. TH. VAN DEVENTER.
A. A. DE JONGH.

MIRZA MAHMOUD KHAN.

1 Communications having been interrupted as the result of the war, it has no longer been possible to obtain this signature, which could not be affixed on the date of the closing of the conference.

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WHANGPU CONSERVANCY AGREEMENT (WITH SUPPLEMENTARY ARTICLE OF 1915, REGULATING THE REGISTRATION AND SALE OF CROWN OR SHENGKO LANDS ON THE WHANGPU RIVER).2

Signed at Peking April 9, 1912.

1. The Whangpu Conservancy Board of Administration, to be known shortly as the conservancy board, shall consist of the Shanghai taotai, the Shanghai customs commissioner, and the coast inspector.3

2. The authority with which the conservancy board is invested is delegated to it by the Chinese Government; and consequently the board is in no way subordinate to the provincial authorities. The several members of the board have, as such, equal authority, and the opinion of the majortity is to be determinative.

3. The board shall have entire charge of the finances connected with conservancy matters. In this connection:

1 Communications having been interrupted as the result of the war, it has no longer been possible to obtain this signature, which could not be affixed on the date of the closing of the conference.

2 Text as embodied in circular of the diplomatic body at Peking, No. 88, September 13. 1915; reprinted from John V. A. MacMurray's "Treaties and Agreements with and Concerning China, 1894-1919," p. 954. The text as printed in English and Chinese in "Treaties, Conventions, etc., between China and Foreign States," supplementary volume, p. 69, a work issued by the maritime customs of China, is described as a provisional agreement, further defined as a scheme "submitted by the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce, adopted by the ministers of the treaty powers at Peking, and agreed to with embodied amendments by the Chinese Government through the prime minister on the 4th April, 1912." The text of the latter date is referred to in the treaties of peace ending the World War as the effective one. Nevertheless, the fact seems to be that the document described as amended by the Chinese Government could not have become effective until those amendments were accepted by the party of the other part; that is. the diplomatic body. Its consent to the agreement was given at a meeting on April 9, 1912, which date is therefore that of the agreement as in force.

Where the text of April 4, 1912, differs from that of April 9 the discrepancies have been recorded in a series of footnotes.

In connection with the agreement, see the arrangement for the Whangpu Conservancy, September 27, 1905, Vol. II, p. 2013.

Text of April 4 reads: "The commissioner for trade and foreign affairs, the Shanghai commissioner of customs, and the harbor master."

(a) The original annual government grant of 460,000 taels shall periodically, on fixed dates, be paid to the board's account's, in whatever bank or banks such accounts may be kept, and the board will take charge of the existing conservancy loan account and will provide for the payment of the principal and interest as they fall due.

(b) All conservancy funds, in whosoever's hands, shall, within 30 days of the promulgation of this agreement, be paid to the conservancy board's account.

(c) Any new annual government grant that may be made shall periodically, on fixed dates, be paid in full on the conservancy board's account.

(d) The conservancy tax on imports and exports, referred to in article 4, shall be collected by the commissioner of customs and shall periodically, on fixed dates, be paid to the conservancy board's

account.

(e) The conservancy board will disburse conservancy funds for the execution of the necessary works and for the maintenance of staff and offices at its discretion. Checks will be cashed on the signature of any two members.

4. The several chambers of commerce and associations representing the commercial interests of Shanghai, having agreed to the raising of a tax for conservancy purposes, consisting of 3 per cent of the customs duties, and in the case of duty-free goods, of 1 per mille of value, the tax shall be dealt with as provided in article 3 (d), as soon as such formalities as are necessary to regularize it have been completed and notified to the conservancy board by the ministers.

NOTE. This tax is based generally on the figures given in Mr. Commissioner Merrill's memorandum of the 15th of April, 1910, in order to provide the 300,000 Haikwan taels which is Mr. Merrill's estimate of the sum necessary for the modest program set forth therein.

5. For all contracts in connection with the works, and for the purchase of material or machinery, etc., public tenders will be invited, and the tender offering the most advantageous conditions accepted.

6. The conservancy board shall appoint, at its discretion, and shall control the staff necessary for the work to be affected, including the secretary and engineer in charge.

7. The general jurisdiction of the conservancy board extends over the Whangpu from the Yangtse to its tidal limit; that is to say, within those limits-between the high-water lines-no operation which may possibly affect the regimen of the river shall be undertaken without the board's consent, nor without such consent shall pontoons or hulks connected to the shore be established.

All applications for the board's consent for such works, etc., on the Whangpu below the upper harbor limit shall be made to the harbor master and be replied to by him as heretofore.

The control of the river police, of sanitary arrangements, of aids to navigation and pilotage, remain as heretofore in the hands of the maritime customs.

1 Text of April 4 reads: "In whose ever."

2 Omitted in text of April 4.

8. Under the conservancy agreement of 1905,1 provision that the conservancy funds benefit by the sale of crown lands, in so far as such sales were rendered justifiable by the conservancy scheme, was left undefined. During the operation of that agreement large quantities of crown land with the conservancy normal line as a boundary, have been sold by the Shengko office, by which the conservancy funds should have, but have not, benefited.

This matter needs settlement, but is too involved to be dealt with herein. It is therefore decided that, subsequent to the promulgation of this agreement, this matter be jointly investigated by the Taotai and the consular body, as the preliminary to the addition of a supplementary article to this agreement.2

9. The duties of the conservancy board are:

(1) At an early date to come to a conclusion in consultation with the engineer in charge concerning:

(a) What should be the ultimate aim of conservancy works. (b) What measures are necessary to secure that end.3

(c) What is the estimated cost of such measures.

(2) To maintain existing conservancy works in effective condition, including the construction of such new works as are necessary for that purpose.

(3) To provide and maintain a channel from the Yangtse to Shanghai, having, as far as circumstances and funds permit, a least depth of 20 feet at mean low water of spring tides over a least width of 900 feet.

(4) To undertake such additional new works as may from time to time be advisable for the maintenance of improvement of the regimen of the river, when funds are available.

(5) To cooperate with the riparian owners in respect to dredging operations to secure improved wharfage facilities. Such cooperation to take the form of dredging at reasonable rates.

10. (1) The Whangpu Conservancy Consultative Board, to be known shortly as the consultative board, shall consist of:

(a) Five members appointed as follows: The several ministers at Peking of the five nations having the largest tonnage entering and clearing at Shanghai, shall each determine at his discretion the means by which one member of his nationality shall be selected, and the consuls general at Shanghai concerned shall notify the conservancy board of the selection made and of any subsequent changes.

(b) One member appointed by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. The secretary will serve both boards.

(2) The primary functions of the consultative board will be to watch conservancy proceedings on behalf of the commercial interests of Shanghai and to make such representations to the conservancy board as it thinks proper. To this end the consultative board shall be supplied with full information concerning all projected works, concerning progress of current works and concerning finance. It will also be consulted in regard to the appointment of the engineer in chief.

1 For text see Vol. II, p. 2013.

2 See supplementary article (No. 12) below, p. 3046. Par. b does not appear in text of April 4.

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