9. The Exchange Commission shall be empowered to withhold the issue of the certificate until they have received advice of the payment of the bill, or until a satisfactory bond has been given.

10. The exporters may give bills to the Exchange Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of this Regulation, without previous assay of the gold they export; but in such case they shall furnish a bond covering any difference which may occur in the final liquidation when the result of the assay becomes known. The exportation shall be carried out by the Customs, taking samples and following the usual course, subject to the provisions of Chapter III of the Regulation of the 30th March, 1905.

11. The Exchange Commission, in the case referred to in the previous Article, shall conduct their liquidation on the basis of the degree of purity assigned by the interested parties to their products; but this liquidation shall be of a provisional character, subject to rectification on receipt of the certificate of assay from the assay office. The definite liquidation must be performed within ninety days after the provisional liquidation, for which purpose the Federal offices concerned must devote special diligence to the work.

12. The assay offices or the directorate of the mint, as the case may be, shall transmit direct to the Exchange Commission a duplicate of the certificate of assay, in case of exportation without previous assay having been made; and that certificate shall serve as the basis for the definitive liquidation, it being understood that the provisional will be taken as the definitive liquidation when the difference between the two does not amount to more than 50 dollars in the legal value.

13. The Commission shall transmit a monthly statement to the General Administration of Customs of all the gold which they have exported directly during the previous month, and of that which has been exported free of duty against delivery of

bills.

Mexico, May 1, 1913.

ESQUIVEL OBREGÓN.

PROCLAMATION by the King of Montenegro relative to the Annexation to the Kingdom of the Conquered Territories.— Cettinjé, November 8 (21), 1913.

To My dear People,

THANKS to God and to the energy of the Allied Armies, a better and happier state of affairs in the Balkans has been created. The Balkan peoples have been freed from slavery ;

race.

they find themselves united with their brethren of the same The armies of the two kingdoms, Servia and Montenegro. have torn aside all the barriers which for so long have separated us, and have shown-at Plevlje, Sjenica, and Djakova-that Servians in the south-east of the Balkans have been freed. Thus united, the Servian armies were able to defend, and protect against the disloyal ambition of our fourth ally, Bulgaria, that which we had won in Macedonia, and also to preserve from the attacks of the ill-advised Albanians the monuments of our past in Old Servia.

After a whole year of many battles we approached the question of the frontier between the two kingdoms, and, as this has now been settled, I proclaim to you the annexation to Montenegro of all the conquered territories-that is to say, according to the boundaries which were settled:

With Servia, by the Frontier Convention concluded in Belgrade; with Albania, by the decisions of the Ambassadors' Conference in London, pending the definitive delimitation by the Special Commission; and with Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to the previous boundary.

In making this joyful Proclamation it is our first duty to remember gratefully our fallen heroes who gave their lives for their brethren; also to give thanks and praise for those who have survived.

We are convinced that we shall preserve all our acquisitions, which, though not large enough to correspond to our sacrifices, and although we had to abandon, in the interest of the general peace and under the pressure of Europe, Scutari and the coastland, are yet extensive enough to allow us to look forward confidently to a better future. Our future depends upon ourselves. We need to work together-to establish order together. I am convinced that my new subjects will be an element of peace and work, and that we, leaving aside all the differences and misunderstandings which a foreign rule has brought about, shall, in common with our brothers from Old Montenegro, be led by one idea alone-that of the greatness and prosperity of our Fatherland.

I and my Government will strive to insure a complete liberty of person and of property, to establish good justice and a system of modern education, and to assure a better future in all economic matters. Liberty of religion and of conscience will be assured: this is guaranteed to you by the traditional motto of my House "Dear is the brother whatever his religion." To my Catholic subjects full freedom of faith is insured by the Concordat. Together with their Orthodox and Mohammedan brothers they will form a pillar of the State. Those who belong to Islam will find in me and in my authorities a constant protection, and they will be as true sons of the Fatherland as supporters of their own religion.

Until the administration of the new territories is regulated on a legal basis, these will be administered according to my

Decrees, and to the decisions of my Government as to the application of the various laws.

November 8 (21), 1913.

(Signatures of all the Ministers.)

NICOLAS.

LAW of the Netherlands to Fix the Sum destined to Defray the Costs of the Regency.-Dated The Loo, May 23, 1910.*

(Translation.)

We, Wilhelmina, &c.

WHEREAS we have taken into consideration that by the Law of the 2nd April, 1909,† provision was made in the Regency for the event of the minority, at the time of his accession, of our successor to the throne, sprung from our marriage with His Royal Highness Hendrik Wladimir Albrecht Ernst, Prince of the Netherlands, Duke of Mecklenburg, Sovereign of Wenden. Schwerin, and Ratzeburg, Count of Schwerin, Lord of the Lands of Rostock and Stargard, &c.; and that in pursuance of Article 46 of the Constitution the sum should be fixed which shall be taken from the annual income of the Crown for the costs of the Regency;

Our

Now, therefore, &c.

ART. 1. The sum to be taken for the costs of the Regency from the annual income of the Crown during the minority of successor to the throne, sprung from our marriage with His Royal Highness Hendrik Wladimir Albrecht Ernst, Prince of the Netherlands, Duke of Mecklenburg, &c., is hereby fixed at 175,000 florins.

2. This sum shall be paid direct from the State Treasury to the Regent in diminution of the annual income of the Crown, which income is to be regulated by law in pursuance of Article 24 of the Constitution.§

Charge and command, &c.

Given at The Loo Palace, 23rd May, 1910.

LAW of the Netherlands to modify the Netherland East Indian Mining Law.--Dated September 26, 1910.*

(Translation.)

We, Wilhelmina, &c.

(Preamble.)

THE following modifications shall be made in the East Indian Mining Law ("Staatsblad," 1899, No. 124):

ART. 1. A new section shall be added between sections 5 and 6, running as follows:

Section 5 A.-(1.) The Government shall be competent to cause prospecting and mining operations to be undertaken where such operations do not interfere with rights granted to prospectors or concessionnaires.

(2.) To this end the Government may either themselves undertake prospecting and mining operations, or conclude agreements with persons or companies who fulfil the requirements of sub-section 1 of section 4 of this Law, by which agreements such persons or companies bind themselves to undertake mining operations or prospecting and mining opera

tions.

(3.) Such agreements shall not be concluded until authority to do so shall in each case have been granted by law.

2. Sub-section 1 of section 6 shall be modified and run as follows:

(1.) Saving stipulations to the contrary, the provisions of this Law, without prejudice to sub-sections 1 and 2 of section 1, and with the exception of that part of the Law which regulates the relation between the parties who hold rights to the ground, and interested third parties on the one part and the parties who undertake prospecting and mining operations on the other part, as well as with the exception of section 25, shall not apply to the prospecting and mining operations referred to in the preceding section.

3. Sub-section 1 (a) of section 8 shall be modified and run as follows:

(1.) Prospecting shall not be permitted (a) in areas or regions which are reserved either for prospecting and mining operations such as are referred to in section 5A, or for the issue of a concession after public competition, in accordance with sections 31 and 32.

4. The following words shall be added to sub-section 1 of section 31: "or to conclude, on the basis of section 5a, agreements with persons or companies whereby such persons or companies bind themselves to undertake mining operations."

5. Sub-section 1 of section 34 shall run as follows:
(1.) In the third year before a concession terminates through
* "Staatsblad," No. 293 of 1910.

the lapse of time, the conditions upon which a new concession for the continuation of mining operations shall be obtainable by the concessionnaire shall be fixed by Royal Decree in as far as there are reasons for such action and the Government do not wish to undertake the mining operations themselves, or to conclude, on the basis of section 5A, agreements with persons or companies whereby such persons or companies bind themselves to undertake the mining operations.

6. A new sub-section shall be added to section 43, running as follows:

(8.) That which is stipulated in, or by virtue of, this section in respect of Government supervision shall also apply to the mining operations or prospecting and mining operations undertaken by persons or companies, in pursuance of an agreement concluded with the Government on the basis of section 5a. Charge and command, &c.

NETHERLAND LAW for assuring the Observance of the Geneva Convention of July 6, 1906, for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field.- The Hague, January 7, 1911.

(Traduction.)

Nous Wilhelmine, par la grâce de Dieu, Reine des Pays-Bas, Princesse d'Orange-Nassau, &c.,

A tous présents et à venir, salut! faisons savoir:

Comme nous avons pris en considération que des prescriptions légales sont nécessaires pour assurer l'observance de la Convention, signée à Genève le 6 juillet, 1906,† pour l'amélioration du sort des blessés et malades dans les armées en campagne;

Après avoir consulté le Conseil d'État et en délibération commune des États-Généraux, nous avons arrêté et décrété, comme nous arrêtons et décrétons par les présentes:

ART. 1. Un nouvel article est inséré au Code pénal après l'article 435, savoir:

"Article 435 bis. Quiconque fait usage, sans y être autorisé, même avec une différence légère, d'un nom ou d'un signe distinctif, dont l'usage est, par prescription légale, attribué exclusivement à quelque société, au personnel de quelque société ou au personnel du service médical de l'armée, sera puni d'une détention pouvant aller jusqu'à un mois ou d'une amende n'excédant pas 300 florins.'

2. Après le No. 3 de l'article 18 de la loi sur les marques, un nouveau numéro est inséré :

· 4. Le 31 décembre, 1913, pour toutes les marques déposées

* The meaning is probably: In the year preceding the penultimate year to that in which the concession expires.

+ Vol. XCIX, page 968.