of crimes, or of offences punishable according to law by removal from office. Regulations for the punishment of judges shall be determined by law. CHAPTER VII. Supplementary Articles Article 53. Within ten months after the promulgation of this Provisional Constitution, the Provisional President shall convene a national assembly, the organization of which and the laws for the election of whose members shall be decided by the Advisory Council. Article 54. The Constitution of the Republic of China shall be adopted by the National Assembly, but before the promulgation of the Constitution, the provisional constitution shall be as effective as the Constitution itself. Article 55. The provisional constitution may be amended by the assent of two-thirds of the members of the Advisory Council or upon the application of the Provisional President, and being passed by over three-fourths of the quorum of the Council consisting of over four-fifths of the total number of its members. Article 56. The present provisional constitution shall take effect on the date of its promulgation and the fundamental articles for the organization of the Provisional Government shall cease to be effective on the same date. March 10, 1st year of the Republic of China. Sealed by THE ADVISORY COUNCIL. AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND FRANCE REGULATING THE TELEPHONE SERVICE BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES Signed at Paris, February 5, 1912 1 The Government of His Britannic Majesty and the Government of the French Republic, being desirous of abrogating the convention regulating the telephone service between Great Britain and France, signed at Paris on July 29th, 1902, and of concluding a fresh agreement on the subject: 1 Great Britain, Treaty Series, 1912, No. 8. The undersigned, duly authorized by their respective governments, have agreed upon the following articles: — ARTICLE I Telephonic correspondence between Great Britain and France shall be maintained by means of submarine cables and land wires, whose diameter, conductivity and insulation shall be adapted to the conditions under which the service has to be carried on. The number of wires shall be increased, by mutual agreement between the two administrations, according to the requirements of the service. The wires shall be protected, as far as possible, against disturbing influences, and especially against those which might result from the proximity of circuits carrying electrical power currents. Each administration shall carry out at its own cost the erection and maintenance of the telephone lines on its own territory. Telephonic communications can originate at, or be destined to, public call-offices and subscribers' offices. ARTICLE II The circuits specially allocated to the telephone service shall be exclusively reserved for that service, unless a contrary course shall be agreed upon by the respective administrations. ARTICLE III The unit adopted, both for the collection of charges and for the duration of communications, is a conversation of three minutes. ARTICLE IV Communications of state shall enjoy the priority accorded to state telegrams by Article 5 of the International Convention of St. Petersburg of the 10th (22nd) July, 1875. The duration of state communications shall not be limited. ARTICLE V The charge shall be paid by the person who asks for the communication. It shall be made up of the total of the elementary charges, which shall be fixed as follows for a conversation of three minutes: In Great Britain: At two francs fifty centimes (2 fr. 50) for conversations originating in, or destined to, the telephonic centres situated in the following counties: Bedford, Berkshire, Buckingham, Cambridge, Dorset, Essex, Gloucester, Hampshire, Hertford, Huntingdon, Kent, Leicester, Lincoln, London, Middlesex, Norfolk, Northampton, Nottingham, Oxford, Rutland, Somerset, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, Wiltshire, Worcester (first zone). At five francs (5 fr.) for conversations originating in, or destined to, the telephonic centres situated in the following counties: Anglesey, Brecknock, Carnarvon, Cardigan, Carmarthen, Chester, Cornwall, Cumberland, Denbigh, Derby, Devon, Durham, Flint, Glamorgan, Hereford, Lancaster, Merioneth, Montgomery, Monmouth, Northumberland, Pembroke, Radnor, Salop, Stafford, Westmoreland, York (second zone). At seven francs fifty centimes (7 fr. 50) for conversations originating in, or destined to, the telephonic centres situated in Scotland and in Ireland (third zone). In France: At two francs fifty centimes (2 fr. 50) for conversations originating in, or destined to, the telephonic centres of the following departments: Aisne, Ardennes, Aube, Calvados, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Loiret, Marne, Meuse, Nord, Oise, Orne, Pas-de-Calais, Seine, Seine-Inférieure, Seineet-Marne, Seine-et-Oise, Somme, Yonne (first zone). At five francs (5 fr.) for conversations originating in, or destined to, the telephonic centres of the following departments: Ain, Allier, Charente, Charente-Inférieure, Cher, Côte-d'Or, Côtes-duNord, Creuse, Doubs, Finistére, Ille-et-Vilaine, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Isére, Jura, Loire, Loire-Inférieure, Loir-et-Cher, Maine-et-Loire, Manche, Marne (Haute-), Mayenne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Morbihan, Niévre, Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône, Saône (Haute-) and the Territory of Belfort, Saône-et-Loire, Sarthe, Savoie, Savoie (Haute-), Sévres (Deux-), Vendée, Vienne, Vienne (Haute-), Vosges (second zone). At seven francs fifty centimes (7 fr. 50) for conversations originating in, or destined to, the telephonic centres of the following departments: Alpes (Basses-), Alpes (Hautes-), Alpes-Maritimes, Ardèche, Ariège, Aude, Aveyron, Bouches-du-Rhône, Cantal, Corrèze, Dordogne, Drôme, Gard, Garonne (Haute-), Gers, Gironde, Herault, Landes, Loire (Haute-), Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Lozère, Pyrénées (Basses-), Pyrénées (Hautes-), Pyrénées-Orientales, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Var, Vaucluse (third zone). These rates include the share of each administration in respect of the transit of the submarine cables. The administrations shall have the power by mutual agreement to alter the elementary charges or reduce them for conversations during the night. They shall also have the power by mutual consent to make any alterations of the zones which shall be rendered necessary by the development of the telephone system of either country. ARTICLE VI The two administrations shall determine, by mutual agreement, the allocation of each of the circuits through which international communications shall be established, the towns admitted to the service, and the hours during which the service shall be authorized. ARTICLE VII After agreement between the administrations a system of subscription for calls at fixed times during the night may be afforded between the two countries. ARTICLE VIII After agreement between the administrations a telephonic advice service may be organized between Great Britain and France. The administrations shall fix, by mutual agreement, the charges to be applied to telephonic advices. ARTICLE IX Each administration shall receive as its share in respect of the transit over its territory, and also in respect of the transit through the submarine cables, the appropriate elementary charges set forth in Article 5. The receipts from the telephonic service shall form the subject, on the part of each administration, of a special account, distinct from that for telegraph receipts. ARTICLE X After agreement, each of the two administrations shall be at liberty to establish telephonic relations with another country through the telephonic system of the other administration. ARTICLE XI In virtue of Article 8 of the International Convention of St. Petersburg, each of the contracting parties reserves to itself the right to suspend totally or partially the telephone service, without being liable to any indemnity. ARTICLE XII The two administrations shall not be subject to any responsibility on account of private communications by telephone. ARTICLE XIII The provisions of the present agreement shall be completed by service regulations, which shall be settled by mutual agreement between the two administrations. ARTICLE XIV The present agreement cancels the convention concluded at Paris on the 29th July, 1902. It shall take effect on a date to be fixed by the contracting administrations after it has become operative according to the particular law of each of the two countries. It shall remain in force for one year after its denunciation by one or other of the two administrations. Done, in duplicate, at Paris on the 5th of February, 1912. (L. S.) FRANCIS BERTIE. (L. S.) R. POINCARÉ. AN ACT TO AMEND THE LAW RELATING TO MERCHANT SHIPPING WITH A VIEW TO ENABLING CERTAIN CONVENTIONS TO BE CARRIED INTO EFFECT.1 [16th December 1911.] (1 & 2 George 5, Ch. 57) Whereas at the conference held at Brussels in the year nineteen hundred and ten two conventions, dealing respectively with collisions between vessels and with salvage, were signed on behalf of His Majesty, 1 Law Reports, 1911, Part III, p. 453. |