concluded under the auspices of the League of Nations, the SerbCroat-Slovene State shall be at liberty at any time thereafter to give twelve months' notice to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations to terminate the obligations of this Article.

ARTICLE 16.

All rights and privileges accorded by the foregoing Articles to the Allied and Associated Powers shall be accorded equally to all States Members of the League of Nations.

The present Treaty, in French, in English and in Italian, of which in case of divergence the French text shall prevail, shall be ratified. It shall come into force at the same time as the Treaty of Peace with Austria.

The deposit of ratifications shall be made at Paris.

Powers of which the seat of the Government is outside Europe will be entitled merely to inform the Government of the French Republic through their diplomatic representative at Paris that their ratification has been given; in that case they must transmit the instrument of ratification as soon as possible.

A procès-verbal of the deposit of ratifications will be drawn up. The French Government will transmit to all the signatory Powers a certified copy of the procès-verbal of the deposit of ratifications. In faith whereof the above-named Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Treaty.

Done at Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the tenth day of September one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, in a single copy which will remain deposited in the archives of the French Republic, and of which authenticated copies will be transmitted to each of the Signatory Powers.

INTERNATIONAL.

1919.

CONVENTION REVISING THE GENERAL ACT OF BERLIN, FEBRUARY 26, 1885, AND THE GENERAL ACT AND DECLARATION OF BRUSSELS, JULY 2, 1890.

Signed at Saint-Germain-en-Laye September 10, 1919.1

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, BELGIUM, THE BRITISH EMPIRE, FRANCE, ITALY, JAPAN AND PORTUGAL;

Whereas the General Act of the African Conference, signed at Berlin on February 26, 1885, was primarily intended to demonstrate the agreement of the Powers with regard to the general principles which should guide their commercial and civilising action in the little known or inadequately organised regions of a continent where slavery and the slave trade still flourished; and

Whereas by the Brussels Declaration of July 2, 1890,2 it was found necessary to modify for a provisional period of fifteen years the system of free imports established for twenty years by Article 4 of the said Act, and since that date no agreement has been entered into, notwithstanding the provisions of the said Act and Declaration; and

Whereas the territories in question are now under the control of recognised authorities, are provided with administrative institutions suitable to the local conditions, and the evolution of the native populations continues to make progress;

1 Ratifications have been deposited by the British Empire, Belgium, and France. For text see Vol. II, p. 1964.

Wishing to ensure by arrangements suitable to modern requirements the application of the general principles of civilisation established by the Acts of Berlin and Brussels,

Have appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:

THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMER-
ICA:

The Honourable Frank Lyon Polk, Under-Secretary of State;
The Honourable Henry White, formerly Ambassador Extraordi-
nary and Plenipotentiary of the United States at Rome and
Paris;

General Tasker H. Bliss, Military Representative of the United
States on the Supreme War Council;

IANS

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS:
M. Paul Hymans, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister of
State;

M. Jules van den Heuvel, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister
Plenipotentiary of His Majesty the King of the Belgians,
Minister of State;

M. Émile Vandervelde, Minister of Justice, Minister of State; HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AND OF THE BRITISH DOMINIONS BEYOND THE SEAS, EMPEROR OF INDIA:

The Right Honourable Arthur James Balfour, O.M., M.P., His
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs;

The Right Honourable Andrew Bonar Law, M.P., His Lord
Privy Seal;

The Right Honourable Viscount Milner, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., His
Secretary of State for the Colonies;

The Right Honourable George Nicoll Barnes, M.P., Minister
without Portfolio;

And:

for the DOMINION of CANADA:

The Honourable Sir Albert Edward Kemp, K.C.M.G., Minister of the Overseas Forces:

for the COMMONWEALTH of AUSTRALIA:

The Honourable George Foster Pearce, Minister of Defence; for the UNION of SOUTH AFRICA:

The Right Honourable Viscount Milner, G.C.B., G.C.M.G.; for the DOMINION of NEW ZEALAND:

The Honourable Sir Thomas Mackenzie, K.C.M.G., High Commissioner for New Zealand in the United Kingdom;

for INDIA:

The Right Honourable Baron Sinha, K.C., Under-Secretary of
State for India;

THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC:

M. Georges Clemenceau, President of the Council, Minister of
War;

M. Stephen Pichon, Minister for Foreign Affairs;

M. Louis-Lucien Klotz, Minister of Finance;

M. André Tardieu, Commissary-General for Franco-American
Military Affairs;

M. Jules Cambon, Ambassador of France;