By the mere fact of the expiration of this period, the changes of sovereignty resulting from the modifications of the boundary line defined by the present agreement shall be considered as having taken place. Done at Berlin, in duplicate, April 18, 1908.

(Signed)
(Signed)

V. SCHOEN.

JULES CAMBON.

THE KAMERUN LEASE-CONTRACT.1

[Translation.]

The following is the text of the lease by which Germany engages itself to cede to the French in the Congo the territories in which provisioning posts are to be established:

First. The German Imperial Government leases to the Government of the French Republic on the Bénoué and on the Mayo-Kébi, and beyond, in the direction of the Logone, territories, the exact number and boundaries of which will be specified hereinafter, but which on both sides of these rivers shall extend to a width of five hundred (500) meters and shall form at the most a lease-surface of fifty (50) hectares;

Second. The lease shall run for ninety-nine (99) consecutive years, from the date when the decision of the boundary commission determining the location of these territories shall have been ratified by the two governments in application of Articles 3 and 4 of the convention of November 4, 1911. But in case neither of the contracting parties, five (5) years before the expiration of the aforementioned period of ninety-nine (99) years shall have given notice of its intention to put an end to the present lease, said lease shall remain in force until the expiration of one (1) year beginning on the day when the one or the other of the two contracting parties shall have denounced the same;

Third. Said territory shall be subject to the laws in force during that period within the German possessions of the Kamerun.

Fourth. One part of the territory thus leased whose extent shall not exceed ten (10) hectares shall be utilized exclusively for the operations. of unloading, storing and of transshipping goods, and for all other purposes that may be considered as appertaining to these operations, and the permanent residents together with their families and other servants

1 Le Memorial Diplomatique, Nov. 19, 1911, p. 620.

shall be the only persons employed for the service and the security of said goods;

Fifth. The Government of the French Republic engages itself:

(a) To close part of said territory mentioned in Article 4 of the present lease (excepting on the side bordering on the Bénoué and the Mayo-Kébi), by means of a wall, or a palisade, or a ditch, or by any other kind of continuous enclosure:

(b) Not to permit, in said part of the territory, entrance or departure of any goods in violation of the German customs regulations. Every act committed in violation of this stipulation will be considered as a fraudulent infringement of the customs laws and punished in consequence:

(c) Not to sell nor to authorize the sale of goods at retail within said part of the territory. The quantitative sale in weight or in measure less than one thousand (1,000) kilograms, one thousand (1,000) liters, or one thousand (1,000) meters, shall be considered as retail sale. It is understood that this stipulation does not apply to goods in transit.

(d) The Government of the French Republic, or its sub-lessors or agents, shall have the right to construct on said portion of the territory store-houses, office buildings, and all other constructions necessary for the operations of unloading, storing and transshipping goods, and in addition to construct within the shore-approaches of the Bénoué and the Mayo-Kébi and beyond, in the direction of Logone, included in the lease, wharves, bridges, docks, and all other works necessary in view of said operations, provided that the plans of each work to be constructed along the shore-approaches of the rivers be communicated to the German authorities for their inspection, so that verification may be made of the fact that these works could in no way interfere with the navigation of the rivers, nor be against the rights of third parties or the customs service;

(e) It is understood that the loading, unloading and storing of goods within said parts of the territory shall be effected in all respects in conformity with the laws then in force in the German possessions of the Kamerun.

Sixth. The Government of the French Republic engages itself to pay annually to the German Imperial Government, on the first of January of each year a rent of one (1) franc;

Seventh. The Government of the French Republic shall have the right to sub-lease all or part of the territories which enter into the

present lease, provided that the sub-lessees make use of these territories for no other purpose than the one specified in the present lease, and that said government remain responsible toward the German Imperial Government for the observance of the stipulations of the present lease.

Eighth. The German Imperial Government engages itself toward the lessee to fulfill all the obligations that are incumbent upon it in its quality of proprietor of said territory;

Ninth. One (1) year before the expiration of the present lease, in case it were not to be continued, the two governments shall come to an understanding regarding the repurchase or the disposition of the constructions or diverse installations that may be found within the leased territories;

Tenth. The territories included in the lease shall be surveyed and delimited;

Eleventh. In case a difference of opinion should arise between the two governments regarding the interpretation of the lease or any other matter appertaining to this lease, the question shall be settled by the arbitration of a jurist of a third Power designated by mutual agreement between the two governments.

Done at Berlin, November 4, 1911, in duplicate form.

LETTERS FROM THE GERMAN SECRETARY OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS TO THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR AT BERLIN EXPLANATORY OF THE AGREEMENTS BETWEEN GERMANY AND FRANCE RELATING TO MOROCCO AND THE CONGO,1

Letter relating to the Moroccan Agreement.

BERLIN, November 4, 1911.

In order to accentuate more precisely the agreement of November 4, 1911, relative to Morocco, and to define its exact signification, I have the honor to inform Your Excellency that if the French Government should consider it its duty to assume the protectorate over Morocco, the Imperial Government would place no obstacle in the way.

1 Le Memorial Diplomatique, Nov. 19, 1911.

The adhesion of the German Government granted in a general way to the French Government by Article 1 of said convention applies of course to all questions subject to regulation and referred to in the Act of Algeciras.

The German Government by renouncing to ask for the preliminary determination of the share to be accorded German industry in the construction of the railways expects that the French Government will ever be glad to have associations of interest take place between the citizens of the two countries in regard to affairs for which they may respectively obtain the enterprise.

It expects also that the letting for the construction of the railway from Tangiers to Fez which interests all the nations shall not be anticipated by the letting of the construction of works for any other Moroccan railway and that the French Government will propose to the Moroccan Government the opening of the port of Agadir to international commerce. Lastly, when the railway network of general interest shall be studied and laid out the German Government will request the French Government to see to it that the Moroccan administration will exercise real care in regard to the economic interests of Morocco and especially that the determination of the location of lines of general interest may facilitate, as far as possible, the junction of mineral regions with the lines of general interest or with the harbors intended to serve their trade.

Your Excellency has been kind enough to assure me that on the day when the judiciary régime stipulated in Article 9 of the aforementioned convention shall have been organized and when the consular tribunals shall have been replaced, the French Government will take care that the German citizens be placed under the new jurisdiction exactly on the same conditions as French citizens. I am happy to make note of this and to inform Your Excellency at the same time that on the day when this judiciary régime shall go into force after agreement with the Powers, the German Government will consent to the suppression at the same time as the other Powers of its consular tribunals. I will add that to my mind the expression "changes of the régime of protégés " found in Article 12 of the convention of November 4, 1911, relating to Morocco, implies the abrogation, if this is deemed necessary, of that part of the Madrid convention relating to protégés and agricultural associates. Finally, desiring to give to said convention the character of an act destined not only to remove every cause for conflict between our two countries, but also to be an aid to our good relations, we are agreed in

declaring that the differences which might arise between the contracting parties with regard to the interpretation and the application of the dispositions of the convention of November 4 and which might not be settled through diplomatic channels, shall be submitted to an arbitral tribunal organized after the terms of The Hague Convention of October 18, 1907. An agreement shall have to be drawn up, and for that purpose the regulations of the same convention shall be followed, provided no derogation should be made thereto by special agreement at the time of the dispute.

Kindly accept, etc.

KIDERLEN.

Letter relating to the Congo agreement.

My dear Ambassador:

BERLIN, November 4, 1911.

In order to accentuate the spirit in which shall be applied the convention that we have just signed relating to territorial exchanges in equatorial Africa, it is agreed between the two governments that the differences which might arise between the contracting parties regarding the interpretation and the application of the dispositions of this convention shall be submitted to an arbitral tribunal constituted after the terms of the convention of The Hague of October 18, 1907. An agreement will have to be drawn up and for this purpose the regulations of the same convention shall be followed provided no derogation should be made thereto by special agreement at the time of the dispute.

However, if misunderstanding should arise between the members of the technical commission entrusted with the fixing of the delimitation of the frontier line, the number of these agents would be realigned by the appointment of an arbiter designated by mutual agreement of the two governments and belonging to a third Power.

The German Government will always look with favor upon associations of interest between the citizens of the two countries with regard to affairs that they might undertake in the French and German possessions which are the object of the convention of this date.

It is agreed that the application of said convention shall be made according to the rules stipulated in the regulations of the Franco-German Convention of April 18, 1908, regarding the Congo-Kamerun frontier by the protocols which are annexed thereto.