discrimination in Palestine against goods originating in or destined for any of the said States, and there shall be freedom of transit under equitable conditions across the mandated area. "Subject as aforesaid and to the other provisions of this mandate, the Administration of Palestine may, on the advice of the Mandatory, impose such taxes and customs duties as it may consider necessary, and take such steps as it may think best to promote the development of the natural resources of the country and to safeguard the interests of the population. It may also, on the advice of the Mandatory, conclude a special customs agreement with any State the territory of which in 1914 was wholly included in Asiatic Turkey or Arabia. "ARTICLE 19 "The Mandatory shall adhere on behalf of the Administration of Palestine to any general international conventions already existing, or which may be concluded hereafter with the approval of the League of Nations, respecting the slave traffic, the traffic in arms and ammunition, or the traffic in drugs, or relating to commercial equality, freedom of transit and navigation, aerial navigation and postal, telegraphic and wireless communication or literary, artistic or industrial property. "ARTICLE 20 "The Mandatory shall co-operate on behalf of the Administration of Palestine, so far as religious, social and other conditions may permit, in the execution of any common policy adopted by the League of Nations for preventing and combating disease, including diseases of plants and animals. "ARTICLE 21 "The Mandatory shall secure the enactment within twelve months from this date, and shall ensure the execution of a Law of Antiquities based on the following rules. This law shall ensure equality of treatment in the matter of excavations and archæological research to the nationals of all States members of the League of Nations. "(1) "Antiquity' means any construction or any product of human activity earlier than the year A. D. 1700. "(2) "The law for the protection of antiquities shall proceed by encouragement rather than by threat. "Any person who, having discovered an antiquity without being furnished with the authorisation referred to in paragraph 5, reports the same to an official of the competent Department, shall be rewarded according to the value of the discovery. "(3) "No antiquity may be disposed of except to the competent Department, unless this Department renounces the acquisition of any such antiquity. "No antiquity may leave the country without an export licence from the said Department. "(4) "Any person who maliciously or negligently destroys or damages an antiquity shall be liable to a penalty to be fixed. "(5) "No clearing of ground or digging with the object of finding antiquities shall be permitted, under penalty of fine, except to persons authorised by the competent Department. “(6) "Equitable terms shall be fixed for expropriation, temporary or permanent, of lands which might be of historical or archæological interest. "(7) "Authorisation to excavate shall only be granted to persons who show sufficient guarantees of archæological experience. The Administration of Palestine shall not, in granting these authorisations, act in such a way as to exclude scholars of any nation without good grounds. "(8) "The proceeds of excavations may be divided between the excavator and the competent Department in a proportion fixed by that Department. If division seems impossible for scientific reasons, the excavator shall receive a fair indemnity in lieu of a part of the find. "ARTICLE 22 "English, Arabic and Hebrew shall be the official languages of Palestine. Any statement or inscription in Arabic on stamps or money in Palestine shall be repeated in Hebrew, and any statement or inscription in Hebrew shall be repeated in Arabic. "ARTICLE 23 "The Administration of Palestine shall recognise the holy days of the respective communities in Palestine as legal days of rest for the members of such communities. "ARTICLE 24 "The Mandatory shall make to the Council of the League of Nations an annual report to the satisfaction of the Council as to the measures taken during the year to carry out the provisions of the mandate. Copies of all laws and regulations promulgated or issued during the year shall be communicated with the report. "ARTICLE 25 "In the territories lying between the Jordan and the eastern boundary of Palestine as ultimately determined, the Mandatory shall be entitled, with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations, to postpone or withhold application of such provisions of this mandate as he may consider inapplicable to the existing local conditions, and to make such provision for the administration of the territories as he may consider suitable to those conditions, provided that no action shall be taken which is inconsistent with the provisions of articles 15, 16 and 18. "ARTICLE 26 "The Mandatory agrees that if any dispute whatever should arise between the Mandatory and another member of the League of Nations relating to the interpretation or the application of the provisions of the mandate, such dispute, if it cannot be settled by negotiation, shall be submitted to the Permanent Court of International Justice provided for by article 14 of the Covenant of the League of Nations. "ARTICLE 27 "The consent of the Council of the League of Nations is required for any modification of the terms of this mandate. "ARTICLE 28 "In the event of the termination of the mandate hereby conferred upon the Mandatory, the Council of the League of Nations shall make such arrangements as may be deemed necessary for safeguarding in perpetuity, under guarantee of the League, the rights secured by articles 13 and 14, and shall use its influence for securing, under the guarantee of the League, that the Government of Palestine will fully honour the financial obligations legitimately incurred by the Administration of Palestine during the period of the mandate, including the rights of public servants to pensions or gratuities. "The present instrument shall be deposited in original in the archives of the League of Nations, and certified copies shall be forwarded by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations to all members of the League. "Done at London, the 24th day of July, 1922;" and Whereas the mandate in the above terms came into force on the 29th September, 1923; and Whereas the United States of America, by participating in the war against Germany, contributed to her defeat and the defeat of her Allies, and to the renunciation of the rights and titles of her Allies in the territory transferred by them but has not ratified the Covenant of the League of Nations embodied in the Treaty of Versailles; and Whereas the Government of the United States and the Government of His Britannic Majesty desire to reach a definite understanding with respect to the rights of the two Governments and their respective nationals in Palestine; The President of the United States of America and His Britannic Majesty have decided to conclude a convention to this effect, and have named as their plenipotentaries: The President of the United States of America: His Excellency the Honourable Frank B. Kellogg, Ambassador His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emperor of India: The Right Honourable Joseph Austen Chamberlain, M.P., His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs: who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed as follows: ARTICLE 1 Subject to the provisions of the present convention the United States consents to the administration of Palestine by His Britannic Majesty, pursuant to the mandate recited above. ARTICLE 2 The United States and its nationals shall have and enjoy all the rights and benefits secured under the terms of the mandate to members of the League of Nations and their nationals, notwithstanding the fact that the United States is not a member of the League of Nations. ARTICLE 3 Vested American property rights in the mandated territory shall be respected and in no way impaired. ARTICLE 4 A duplicate of the annual report to be made by the Mandatory under article 24 of the mandate shall be furnished to the United States. ARTICLE 5 Subject to the provisions of any local laws for the maintenance of public order and public morals, the nationals of the United States will be permitted freely to establish and maintain educational, philanthropic and religious institutions in the mandated territory, to receive voluntary applicants and to teach in the English language. ARTICLE 6 The extradition treaties and conventions which are, or may be, in force between the United States and Great Britain, and the pro visions of any treaties which are, or may be, in force between the two countries which relate to extradition or consular rights shall apply to the mandated territory. ARTICLE 7 Nothing contained in the present convention shall be affected by any modification which may be made in the terms of the mandate, as recited above, unless such modification shall have been assented to by the United States. ARTICLE 8 The present convention shall be ratified in accordance with the respective constitutional methods of the High Contracting Parties. The ratifications shall be exchanged in London as soon as practicable. The present convention shall take effect on the date of the exchange of ratifications. In witness whereof, the undersigned have signed the present convention, and have thereunto affixed their seals. Done in duplicate at London, this 3rd day of December, 1924. [SEAL] [SEAL] FRANK B. KELLOGG AND WHEREAS the said Convention has been duly ratified on both parts, and the ratifications of the two Governments were exchanged in the city of London on the third day of December, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five; NOW, THEREFORE, be it known that I, Calvin Coolidge, President of the United States of America, have caused the said Convention to be made public, to the end that the same and every article and clause thereof may be observed and fulfilled with good faith by the United States and the citizens thereof. IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal.of the United States to be affixed. DONE at the city of Washington, this fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and [SEAL] twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fiftieth. By the President: FRANK B. KELLOGG Secretary of State CALVIN COOLIDGE |