Vol. LXXXII, page 91.

CONVENTION between Great Britain and Persia, extending the System of Telegraphic Communication between Europe and India through Persia.-Signed at Tehran, August 16,

1901.*

[Ratifications exchanged at Tehran, January 13, 1902.]

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India, and His Majesty the King of all the Kingdoms of Persia, being desirous to extend the system of telegraphic communication between Europe and India through Persia, already established in virtue of previous Treaties, have resolved that a Convention for that purpose shall be concluded; wherefore their Majesties have named as their Plenipotentiaries:

His Majesty the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Emperor of India, Sir Arthur Henry Hardinge, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George, Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of Persia ;

And His Majesty the King of all the Kingdoms of Persia, his Excellency Mirza Nasrullah Khan Mushir-ed-Dowleh, his Minister for Foreign Affairs, Bearer of the Order of the Lion and the Sun of the first class with green riband, Possessor of the Order of the Royal Portrait of His late Majesty Naser-ed-din Shah, Possessor of the. Order of the Portrait of His present Majesty Muzaffered-din Shah, of the first class, and of the Blue Cordon, Barer of the Order of the White Eagle, and of the first class of the Osmanieh adorned with Diamonds, and of the First Order of Leopold (of Austria), and of the First Order of Leopold (of Belgium), and of the Order of St. Alexander adorned with Diamonds, &c.;

And the aforesaid distinguished Representatives, after meeting at Tajrisch in the neighbourhood of the capital of Tebran and perusing and exchanging their full powers, which were found in good and due form, have agreed upon and concluded the following Articles :

ART. I. With the view of securing uninterrupted communication between Europe and Iudia, it is agreed that, in addition to the present line of telegraph from Tehran to Bushire and submarine cable thence to India, already established in virtue of previous

* Signed also in Persian text.

Treaties, a three-wire line of telegraph shall be constructed by the Persian Government from Kashau to the Baluchistan frontier, viâ Yezd and Kerman, traversing wherever possible inhabited districts.

11. In order that the line of telegraph may be constructed in a complete and effective manner, the Persian Government agrees that it shall be built under the direction and supervision of the British Telegraph Staff now controlling the international line in Persia, the British Government advancing to the Persian Government the salaries and allowances of the men actually employed on the work.

III. The British Goverment agrees to procure for the Persian Government at a reasonable price all the posts, wire, insulators, &c., that may be requisite for this work, and to arrange for the carriage of the stores to the sites required, receiving payment for the same without interest as hereinafter provided. An account of the expenses incurred for this purpose, and certified, in so far as they have been incurred in Persia, by the Persian Telegraph Department, and in so far as they have been incurred outside Persia, by the British Government, shall be submitted as early as possible to the Persian Government.

IV. The Persian Government agrees to lease the use and the transit revenue of the line, which is its property, when complete to the Indo-European Telegraph Department at a rental of 4 per cent. on the capital expended on its construction, including cost of material-three quarters of such rental to be retained by the British Government to recoup them for the advances made, and one quarter, subject to a minimum of 25,000 fr., to be paid annually to the Persian Government in two half-yearly instalments. It is understood that should the Persian Government's quarter share of the rental exceed 25,000 fr., such excess shall belong to the Persian Treasury.

V. The maintenance of the line, including repairs and the appointment, control, and payment of the line guards, who must be Persian subjects, shall remain in the hands of the British Director and staff, the cost being defrayed by the British Government. The duties of the telegraph inspectors and line guards are strictly confined to repairing and maintaining the line.

VI. The principal offices constituting the permanent residences of the British electricians and inspectors shall be situated in towns or large villages, but pending further arrangements to be agreed upon between the two Governments, there shall only be one such office between Kerman and the Indian frontier.

The protection of the line and of the officials, whether Persian or British employed on it, shall be the special duty of the Persian Government, and should the English officials wish to proceed on

inspections in districts proclaimed as dangerous by the Persian Government, they shall inform the nearest local authority, in order that they may be provided with an escort. The telegraph stations shall be built according to plans approved by the Persian Government, and in towns the houses to be used as such stations shall, wherever possible, be rented.

VII. The line will be of three wires. One wire will be used by the Persian Telegraph Administration for its local work, and the remaining two wires be for international traffic as provided in Articles IV, V, and VI of the 1872 Convention.*

VIII. The revenue derived from the local traffic on the Persian wire shall belong entirely to the Persian Government. By local traffic is meant messages originating at one Persian station and terminating at another Persian station.

IX. As regards international messages originating or terminating in Persia, the Persian Government shall receive two-thirds of the receipts of all bona fide terminal messages.

And as regards transit messages, as this line is merely an alternative one to that now existing between Tehran and Bushire, the arrangement already made, as detailed in Article VIII of the 1872 Convention, will remain as at present. 索 State telegrams

passing between the Government of India and the British Minister at Tehran shall be sent at half rates.

X. In view of the erection of the new line and of the increase of telegraph stations in Eastern Persia, and in order to facilitate intercourse with them, the Iudo-European Telegraph Department shall place an additional wire along the existing line between Tehran and Kashau, and the expenses of procuring, transporting, and putting up this wire will be borne by the Persian Government in the manner provided by Articles II and IV of this Convention.

XI. The following Articles of the Telegraph Convention of 1872* shall apply to this line, viz. :-Articles VI, VIII, IX, XI, XIII, XV, and XVII.

XII. This Convention shall remain in force until the 1st January, 1925, or for such longer period as the debt due by Persia for the construction of the line remains unpaid, and at such date it may if necessary be renewed or revised; but it shall be competent for the British Government at any time before the expiry of this Convention, on giving six months' notice, to hand over the line in its existing condition to the Persian Government, and to withdraw its officers and employés from the country, ceasing from that date to have any further connection with this Persian Telegraph. But in this case the Persian Government shall be free from any further payment on account of the construction of the line.

* Vol. LXII, page 262.

The ratifications of the present Convention shall be exchanged at Tehran within five months, or sooner if practicable.

Done at Tajrisch, in quadruplicate, this 16th day of the month of August, in the year of our Lord 1901.

(L.S.) ARTHUR H. HARDINGE.

(L.S.) Signature of Persian Plenipotentiary.

TREATY between Great Britain and the United States, relative to the Establishment of a Communication by Ship Canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.-Signed at Washington, November 18, 1901.

[Ratifications exchanged at Washington, February 21, 1902.]

His Majesty Edward VII, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Emperor of India, and the United States of America, being desirous to facilitate the construction of a ship-canal to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, by whatever route may be considered expedient, and to that end to remove any objection which may arise out of the Convention of the 19th April, 1850,* commonly called the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, to the construction of such canal under the auspices of the Government of the United States, without impairing the "general principle" of neutralization established in Article VIII of that Convention, have for that purpose appointed as their Plenipotentiaries:

His Majesty Edward VII, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, and Emperor of India, the Right Honourable Lord Pauncefote, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., His Majesty's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States; and

The President of the United States, John Hay, Secretary of State of the United States of America;

Who, baving communicated to each other their full powers, which were found to be in due and proper form, have agreed upon the following Articles :—

ART. I. The High Contracting Parties agree that the present Treaty shall supersede the afore-mentioned Convention of the 19th April, 1850.*

* Vol. XXXVIII, page 4.