railway lines to Tucson and the well-grounded hope of the conclusion and connection with them of the railroad from Guaymas to Hermosillo.

With the efficacy and care demanded by a work of such importance, the Executive has endeavoured to fulfil the obligation imposed by the Law of Estimates of consolidating into a single body the Laws in force regarding the stamp tax and maritime custom-houses, and he has the satisfaction to state that the Stamp Law has been published and the consolidation of the Customhouse Law is being industriously proceeded with, and is very well advanced, it being hoped that even before the expiration of the time fixed by law for carrying out the work it will be published, when commerce will commence to feel the beneficent results of the precision and clearness of the Law on the important subject of

commerce.

The Executive being desirous to procure a proper solution of the difficult question of the Public Debt in order to give a solid basis to the national credit, by liquidating the many values of which the debt is composed, and making the regular payments, has submitted the question to the study of a Special Committee, and he hopes that, after examining the project which it shall formulate, he will be able again to present this important question for the country to the enlightened consideration of Congress before the termination of its present period of Sessions.

In order to properly facilitate the works of the military section of the Geographical Exploring Commission, it was directed that it should be joined by officers of the Staff, and in its greater part it is composed of persons from this body, who are rendering their service in the State of Puebla, and they will contribute with their labour to accumulate valuable data which at a later period will serve in the study of our budding national history and in the formation of geological maps.

In the Military College the corps of professors of the marine section has been filled, and there the students who devote their time to this study can follow their career upon a good basis of instruction.

One of the most notable events for the future welfare of Vera Cruz has been the demolition of the wall and forts surrounding that place on the land side. The Government, in view of the uselessness of those old works, which do not satisfy the military requirements of the present day, ordered their demolition in part, there remaining nothing standing at present but the walls and bulwarks which defend the port.

Work on the national powder factory in Santa Fé is continued. with activity, and can very soon be put in movement, thus [1879-80. LXXI.] 2 A

economizing much of the money which at present it is necessary and indispensable to spend in the manufacture of powder and munitions of war.

Instruction in target-shooting having been neglected up to the present, a provisional school for that purpose has been organized, which has given the most satisfactory results. The Executive, in order that our soldiers may know and appreciate the advantages of the present system of breech-loading arms, and that their effect may be in keeping with the advancement and precepts of modern tactics, recently put in practice, has ordered the construction of a national building for a shooting-gallery. This improvement will in a short time assist in the reduction of the army which the Government has projected, and for its complete reorganization the respective Departments will ask the Congress of the Union for the indispensable faculties.

Two nautical schools have been created, one in Campeche and one in Mazatlan, both for commercial pilots. These schools are provided with a director and two professors, who have been selected by competitive examination, and they will enter upon their duties next October.

In the artillery service it has been endeavoured to give an impulse to everything having relation to military establishments of construction.

A hydraulic press of great power has been purchased in the United States, and is now being put up for the manufacture of steel and bronze cannon.

Both the national arms factory and the Ordnance Department have been supplied with machinery and apparatus, for increasing their production and hastening the completion of their different works.

For the purpose of facilitating communication between the War Department and the corps of the garrison and the other military offices and buildings, direct telephone lines have been established to each one of those establishments, the central register being in the Department itself.

A practical medical military school has been established in the hospital of instruction, and, professors having been appointed, there are now remaining only a few small necessities to be attended to, in conformity with the Regulations which have just been issued.

The Executive appointed a Special Committee to study reforms of the general ordnance of the army. This Committee, fulfilling the trust placed in it, has terminated its interesting work, which will be submitted to the deliberation of Congress.

As a rule, peace has been preserved throughout the Republic. The events which took place in Lower California, Sonora, and

Sinaloa have not been of serious consequences. The revolutionists, having been pursued and defeated with promptness, have lost all their munitions of war, and it will be impossible for them to reorganize to commence the revolution anew.

Much less importance should be given to other movements which have taken place in different parts of the country. These movements having a local character, they have been opportunely and energetically repressed by the respective authorities. It can be stated that there does not exist at present a single group of rebels.

During June and July last a considerable number of savage Indians from the United States invaded the national territory. In consequence, orders were given to Colonel Valle to open, in conjunction with the American forces, a formal campaign against the Indians, with the understanding that neither the Mexicans nor the American forces should cross their respective lines in making the pursuit. He was also authorized to organize the auxiliary forces strictly necessary. The Indians being besieged by our forces, they were compelled to abandon the country, crossing the Rio Grande at Ojo Caliente and entering the American territory.

The Executive has resolved to establish military colonies at the watering places frequented by the Indians, and in this manner he hopes those invasions which have caused so many calamities on the frontier will be prevented.

Affairs of the gravest importance and most serious consequences in matters of politics and administration will engage the attention of both Chambers from the very commencement of their regular Session.

The Executive, confiding, as he has always done, in the enlightenment and zeal of the Representatives of the people and the States, trusts that they will determine those questions with a view to the well-being of the Republic.

CONVENTION between Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Italy, Luxemburg, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Roumania, Servia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey, for the Exchange of Postal Parcels without declaration of value.-Signed at Paris, November 3, 1880.*

LES Gouvernements d'Allemagne, d'Autriche-Hongrie, de Belgique, de Bulgarie, de Danemark, d'Égypte, d'Espagne, de France, de Grande-Bretagne et d'Irlande, de l'Inde Britannique, d'Italie, de Luxembourg, de Monténégro, des Pays-Bas, de Perse, de Portugal, de Roumanie, de Serbie, de Suède et Norvège, de Suisse, et de Turquie, désirant faciliter les relations commerciales entre leurs pays respectifs au moyen de l'échange, par l'intermédiaire de la poste, des colis sans déclaration de valeur, les Soussignés, munis à cet effet de pleins pouvoirs trouvés en bonne et due forme, sontconvenus des dispositions suivantes :

ART. I.-1. Il peut être expédié, sous la dénomination de, "colis postaux," de l'un des pays mentionnés ci-dessus pour un autre de ces pays, des colis sans déclaration de valeur, jusqu'à concurrence de 3 kilog.

2. Le Règlement d'Exécution détermine les autres conditions auxquelles les colis sont admis au transport.

II.1. La liberté du transit est garantie sur le territoire de chacun des pays adhérents, et la responsabilité des Offices qui participent au transport est engagée dans les limites déterminées par l'Article XI ci-après.

2. A moins d'arrangement contraire entre les Offices intéressés, la transmission des colis postaux échangés entre pays non limitrophes s'opère à découvert.

III.

1. L'Administration du pays d'origine est redevable, envers chacune des Administrations participant au transit territorial, d'un droit de 50 centimes par colis.

2. En outre, s'il y a un ou plusieurs transports maritimes, l'Administration du pays d'origine doit, à chacun des Offices dont les services participent au transport maritime, un droit dont le taux est fixé, par colis, savoir :--

A 25 centimes pour tout parcours n'excédant pas 500 milles marins;

* Revised by Additional Acts between the above countries, with the addition of the Argentine Republic, Brazil, Chile, the Danish West Indies, the Dominican Republic, the French Colonies, Greece, Paraguay, Persia, the Portuguese Colonies, Uruguay, and Venezuela, signed at Lisbon, March 21, 1885.

A 50 centimes pour tout parcours supérieur à 500 milles marins, mais n'excédant pas 1,000 milles marins;

A 1 fr. pour tout parcours supérieur à 1,000 milles marins, mais n'excédant pas 3,000 milles marins;

A 2 fr. pour tout parcours supérieur à 3,000 milles marins, mais n'excédant pas 6,000 milles marins;

A 3 fr. pour tout parcours supérieur à 6,000 milles marins.

Ces parcours sont calculés, le cas échéant, d'après la distance moyenne entre les ports respectifs des deux pays correspondants IV. L'affranchissement des colis postaux est obligatoire.

V.-1. La taxe des colis postaux se compose d'un droit comprenant, pour chaque colis, autant de fois 50 centimes, ou l'équivalent dans la monnaie respective de chaque pays, qu'il y a d'Offices participant au transport territorial, avec addition, s'il y a lieu, du droit maritime prévu par le paragraphe 2 de l'Article III précédent. Les équivalents sont fixés par le Règlement d'Exécution.

2. Comme mesure de transition, chacun des pays contractants a la faculté d'appliquer aux colis postaux provenant ou à destination de ses bureaux une surtaxe de 25 centimes par colis.

Exceptionnellement, cette surtaxe est élevée à 50 centimes pour la Grande-Bretagne et l'Irlande, à 75 centimes pour l'Inde Britannique et pour la Perse, et à 1 fr. pour la Suède.

3. Le transport entre la France continentale d'une part, l'Algérie et la Corse de l'autre, entre l'Italie continentale et les Iles de Sicile et de Sardaigne, donne également lieu à une surtaxe de 25 centimes par colis.

VI. L'Office expéditeur bonifie pour chaque colis :

(a.) A l'Office destinataire 50 centimes, avec addition, s'il y a lieu, des surtaxes prévues aux paragraphes 2 et 3 de l'Article V ;

(b.) Éventuellement, à chaque Office intermédiaire, les droits fixés par l'Article III.

VII. Il est loisible au pays de destination de percevoir du destinataire, pour le factage et pour l'accomplissement des formalités en Douane, un droit dont le montant total ne peut pas excéder 25 centimes par colis.

VIII. Les colis auxquels s'applique la présente Convention ne peuvent être frappés d'aucun droit postal autre que ceux prévus pas les Articles III, V, et VIII précédents, et par l'Article IX ci-après.

IX.* La réexpédition d'un pays sur un autre des colis postaux par suite de changement de résidence des destinataires, ainsi que le renvoi des colis postaux tombés en rebut, donne lieu à la perceptiou supplémentaire des taxes fixées par l'Article V, à la charge des

* See Note. Page 356.