III. The prepayment of the postage on postal parcels is com.

pulsory.

IV.-1. The postage upon parcels from the United Kingdom for Liberia, or vice versâ, is divided as follows:

(b.)—For parcels exceeding 3 lb. and not exceeding 7 lb.

(c.)-For parcels exceeding 7 lb. and not exceeding 11 lb.

2. On parcels from Liberia for the United Kingdom the Post Office of Liberia will credit the Post Office of the United Kingdom with the amount of the British territorial rate, the sea rate, and the rate for delivery and customs formalities; while on parcels from the United Kingdom for Liberia the Post Office of the United Kingdom will credit the Post Office of Liberia with the amount of the Liberian territorial rate and the rate for delivery and Customs formalities.

V.-1. Parcels originating in either of the contracting countries addressed to the other contracting country cannot be subjected to any postal charge other than those contemplated by the foregoing Article IV and by Article VI following.

2. The two Postal Administrations shall fix, by common consent, the conditions under which there may be exchanged between their respective offices of exchange postal parcels originating in or ad

dressed to foreign countries and sent in transit through one or the other country.

VI. The re-direction of postal parcels from one country to another, in consequence of the removal of the addressees, as well as the return of undelivered postal parcels, gives rise to a supplementary charge of the rates fixed by Article IV against the addressees or the senders, as the case may be, without prejudice to the claim for reimbursement of the Customs duties paid.

VII. 1. It is forbidden to send by post parcels containing letters, or notes having the character of private correspondence, or articles the admission of which is not authorized by the Customs or other laws or regulations of the countries concerned.

2. It is, however, permitted to enclose in a parcel an open invoice in its simplest form.

VIII. 1. Except in cases beyond control, when a postal parcel has been lost or damaged, the sender, or, in default or at the request of the sender, the addressee, is entitled to an indemnity corresponding with the actual amount of the loss or damage; provided always that this indemnity may not exceed 25 francs. The sender of a lost parcel has the right also to have the postage refunded to him.

2. The obligation of paying the indemnity rests with the Administration to which the despatching office is subordinate. That Administration has its remedy against the responsible Administration, that is to say, against the Administration on the territory or in the service of which the loss or the damage took place.

3. Until the contrary be proved, the responsibility rests with the Administration which, having received the parcel without making any observation, is unable to establish either the delivery to the addressee or the regular transfer to the following Administration, as the case may be.

4. The payment of the indemnity by the despatching office shall take place as soon as possible, and at the latest within a year of the date of the application. The responsible office is bound to refund to the despatching office, without delay, the amount of the indemnity paid by the latter.

5. It is understood that the application for an indemnity is only entertained if made within a year of the posting of the parcel; after this term the applicant has no right to any indemnity.

6. If a parcel is lost or damaged in course of transmission between the two countries without its being possible to prove in whose service the loss or damage took place, the two Administrations shall each pay half the indemnity.

7. The Administrations cease to be responsible for postal parcels of which the owners have accepted delivery.

IX. In the event of either office desiring to adopt a system of

insurance, both Post Offices engage to use their best endeavours to that end.

X. The internal legislation of each of the Contracting Countries remains applicable as regards everything not provided for by the stipulations contained in the present Agreement.

XI. The Administrations of the Contracting Countries indicate the offices or localities which they admit to the international exchange of postal parcels; they regulate the mode of transmission of those parcels, and fix all other measures of detail and order necessary for ensuring the performance of the present Agreement.

XII.-1. The present Agreement shall come into operation on a date to be subsequently fixed by the two Post Offices, and shall remain in force until one of the Contracting Parties shall have announced to the other, one year in advance, its intention to determine it.

In witness whereof the Undersigned, duly authorised for that purpose, have signed the present Agreement.

Done in duplicate at London, the 14th day of March, 1893.

(L.S.) ARNOLD MORLEY. (L.S.) HENRY HAYMAN.

Detailed Regulations for the Exchange of Postal Parcels, uninsured and without collection of value on delivery, between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the Republic of Liberia.-Signed at London, March 14, 1893.

I.-1. The direct exchange of postal parcels between Great Britain and Liberia is effected by the vessels of the African Steam Ship Company and the British and African Steam Navigation Company under contract with the Post Office of the United Kingdom.

2. After arrangement, if need be, with the other offices concerned, each Administration communicates to the other, as follows: (a.) A list of the countries with which postal parcels may be exchanged through its territory.

(b.) The routes of conveyance available for such postal parcels. (c.) The sum total of the payments for which the Administration from which the parcels are received is responsible on account of each country.

3. In conformity with this information each Administration fixes the routes to be employed for the transmission of its postal parcels, and determines the payments to be collected from the senders according to the regulations governing the transit correspondence.

II.-1. The collection of rates is based upon the unit of 50 [1892-93. LXXXV.]

E

centimes, the equivalent of 5 pence in the United Kingdom and 10 cents in Liberia.

2. The postage to be collected, including the rate for delivery to destination, is therefore as follows:

(a.) From the United Kingdom :

For parcels not exceeding 3 lb. avoirdupois, 18. 10d.

For parcels exceeding 3 lb. and not exceeding 7 lb. avoirdupois, 3s. 6d.

For parcels exceeding 7 lb. and not exceeding 11 lb. avoirdupois, 58. 2d.

For parcels not exceeding 3 lb. avoirdupois, 44 cents.

For parcels exceeding 3 lb. and not exceeding 7 lb. avoirdupois, 84 cents.

For parcels exceeding 7 lb. and not exceeding 11 lb. avoirdupois, 1 dollar 24 cents.

3. When prepayment has not been effected by postage stamps affixed to the despatch-note, the amount of the sum received must be inscribed on the despatch-note.

III.-1. The dimensions of parcels exchanged between the United Kingdom and Liberia may not exceed 2 ft. in any direction.

2. The dimensions of transit parcels, that is, those sent from one contracting country to another country through the territory of the other contracting country, will be regulated by the dimensions allowed, in each case, by the rule in force in the country to which the parcel is addressed.

IV.-1. In order to be accepted for transmission, each parcel must bear the full address of the addressee, must be packed with due regard to the length of the journey and the nature of the contents, and must be sealed. The packing must be such that it is impossible to get at the contents without leaving an evident trace of violation.

2. Parcels containing live animals, explosive or combustible matter, and, in general, articles the transmission of which is attended with danger, are excluded from transmission.

3. No parcel may consist of or contain two or more parcels or other postal packets addressed to different persons at different addresses. If such a parcel be discovered, the contents will be sent forward charged with postage at the rates applicable to such contents respectively.

V.-1. Each parcel must be accompanied by a dispatch-note and by Customs declarations, in conformity with or analogous to specimens (B) and (C) hereto appended. The Administrations inform each other of the number of Customs declarations to be furnished for each destination.

2. One dispatch-note and one set of Customs declarations will suffice for two or three parcels from the same sender to the same addressee.

3. The Administrations decline all responsibility as to the correctness of the Customs declarations.

VI.-1. Each parcel, as well as the dispatch-note relating to it, must bear a label in conformity with, or analogous to, specimen (D) hereto annexed, indicating the registered number and the name of the office of posting.

2. The dispatch-note of parcels is moreover impressed by the Office of origin, on the address side, with a stamp indicating the place and date of posting.

VII-1. The Offices of Exchange are in the United Kingdom, Liverpool, and in Liberia, Monrovia.

2. The transmission of parcels between the English and Liberian Offices of Exchange takes place by means of closed bags, boxes, or baskets, which must be returned to the dispatching Office by the next mail after their receipt.

3. The postal parcels are entered by the dispatching Office of Exchange on a parcel-bill, in conformity with specimen (E) annexed to the present Regulations, with all the details required by that form. The dispatch-notes and the Customs declarations must be securely attached to the parcel bill.

4. The two Administrations may, however, agree to make arrangements other than those formulated in the present Article.

VIII.-1. On the receipt of a parcel-bill, the receiving Office of Excl ange proceeds to verify the postal parcels and the various documents entered on it, and, if needful, to record missing articles or other irregularities, by means of a verification certificate in conformity with specimen (A) annexed, acting in accordance with the rules laid down for registered articles.

2. The bags, boxes, or baskets used for the mails are secured with the seals of the dispatching Office of Exchange, and such seals must only be removed by the Office of Exchange of destination.

3. The persons through whose hands the parcel mails pass during transmission between the Offices of Exchange do no more than assure then.selves that the seals attached to the bags, boxes, or baskets when received by them are intact.

4. Responsibility for damaged or missing articles discovered by the arrival Office of Exchange at the time of opening the bags, boxes, or baskets, falls upon the Administration to which the dispatching Office of Exchange is subordinate, unless it be proved that the articles were damaged or lost while in the custody of the other Administration.

IX.-1. Mis-sent parcels are forwarded to their destination by