article to the service of the bonds. The committee shall be entitled to take such measures as it may deem necessary for the proper discharge of its duties. The Committee of Guarantees is not authorized to interfere in German administration. 8. Germany shall on demand, subject to the prior approval of the commission, provide such material and labor as any of the Allied Powers may require towards the restoration of the devastated areas of that Power, or to enable any Allied Power to proceed with the restoration or development of its industrial or economic life. The value of such material and labor shall be determined by a valuer appointed by Germany and a valuer appointed by the Power concerned, and, in default of agreement, by a referee nominated by the commission. This provision as to valuation does not apply to deliveries under Annexes III, IV, V, and VI, to Part VIII of the treaty. 9. Germany shall take every necessary measure of legislative and administrative action to facilitate the operation of the German Reparation (Recovery) Act, 1921, in force in the United Kingdom,2 and of any similar legislation enacted by any Allied Power, so long as such legislation remains in force. Payments effected by the operation of such legislation shall be credited to Germany on account of the payment to be made by her under Article 4 (2). The equivalent in German currency shall be paid by the German Government to the exporter. 10. Payment for all services rendered, all deliveries in kind, and all receipts under Article 9 shall be made to the Reparation Commission by the Allied Power receiving the same in cash or current coupons within one month of the receipt thereof, and shall be credited to Germany on account of the payments to be made by her under Article 4. 11. The sum payable under Article 4 (3) and the surplus receipts by the Commission under Article 4 (1) and (2) in each year, not required for the payment of interest and sinking fund on bonds outstanding in that year, shall be accumulated and applied so far as they will extend, at such times as the commission may think fit, by the commission in paying simple interest not exceeding 2 per cent. per annum from May 1, 1921, to May 1, 1926, and thereafter at a rate not exceeding 5 per cent. on the balance of the debt not covered by the bonds then issued. No interest thereon shall be payable otherwise. 12. The present schedule does not modify the provisions securing the execution of the Treaty of Versailles, which are applicable to the stipulations of the present schedule. 2 Printed herein, page 210. AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE FRENCH AND GERMAN GOVERNMENTS CONCERNING Wiesbaden, Oct. 6, 1921 PROTOCOL With a view to facilitating the reconstruction of the devastated regions, the French and German Governments have agreed to approve and carry out the provisions of the enclosed memorandum and of its annex. It is understood that in the event of any discrepancy between the French and German texts of the protocol, the memorandum and its annex, the French text will be authentic. In witness whereof, the undersigned, duly authorized by their respective governments, have signed the present protocol and initialled the abovementioned memorandum and its annex. Given in two copies at Wiesbaden, This sixth day of October, one thousand nine hundred and twenty-one. The German Government has expressed its earnest desire to participate in the reconstruction of the devastated regions by delivering the greatest possible amount of plant and materials. The French Government took note of this offer, but replied that the law of 17th April 1919, relating to the reparation of war damages, did not allow it to impose upon the French "sinistrés" any definite utilization of their funds, and that in consequence the present memorandum could in no way supersede this law. The following has therefore been agreed: I There shall be formed in Germany an organisme de droit privé for the delivery of plant and materials that may be required by the French sinistrés grouped in a manner to be determined later by the French Government. The enclosed annex fixes the rules which shall be followed by these organizations in regard to the fixing of prices and the methods of settling for such goods. II The German Government declares that if, contrary to the argument that it advanced before the Committee of Guarantees, the Reparation Commis1 British Parliamentary Papers, 1921, (Cmd. 1547.) sion should decide that the deliveries made in execution of the obligations under Part VIII of the Treaty of Versailles are to be included in the exports referred to in Articles 4 and 7 of the schedule of payments, it will be unable to execute the provisions of the present memorandum and its annex unless the provisions of Articles 6 and 7 of the schedule of payments are applied to the deliveries referred to in the present memorandum with the following modifications: The levy of 26 per cent. mentioned in Article 4 and that of 25 per cent. mentioned in Article 7 shall be made in the course of any year whatsoever during the period of the application of the present memorandum and its annex, on that part only of the value of the deliveries credited to Germany and debited to France during the same year. The balance of the levy shall be paid by Germany each year as from 1st May 1926, at the rate of 26 per cent. and 25 per cent. respectively on the sums credited to her during the said year in connection with these deliveries. In other words, the deliveries effected in application of the provisions of the present memorandum shall only be included each year in the total German exports, for the execution of Articles 4 and 7 of the schedule of payments, pari passu with their payment. As this question is exclusively within the competence of the Reparation Commission and the Committee of Guarantees, it shall be submitted to them by the German Government. The French Government will support the German request before these two organizations. III The French Government will submit to the approval of the Reparation Commission any other provisions of the present memorandum and of its annex that may concern the Commission. IV The deliveries prescribed in Annexes III, V and VI to Part VIII of the Treaty of Versailles will be continued in accordance with the procedure laid down in the treaty. The French Government declares that, in so far as it is concerned, it is prepared to accept the application of the procedure laid down in the present memorandum and annex, by analogy with the provisions of Article 8 of the schedule of payments, in so far as it will ensure the satisfactory delivery of plant and materials required in the reconstruction of the devastated regions and subject to the definite orders placed under Annex IV prior to the signing of the present document; these orders shall continue to be executed in conformity with the procedure of Annex IV. The French Government however reserves the right to revert wholly or partially to this procedure, if it think fit, by giving notice one year in advance; also, by giving notice to the French Government one year in advance, not before 1st May 1923, the German Government may denounce the arrangements concluded by virtue of the present memorandum, with a view to reverting to the procedure of Annex IV and Article 8 of the schedule of payments. If, on the initiative of either government, the procedure of Annex IV and Article 8 of the schedule of payments be reverted to, the German Government waives the right to claim any prescription whatsoever, in so far as the execution of Annex IV is concerned, in regard to the time limits on account of the periods that have run during the application of the present memorandum. The provisions of Article 8 of the schedule of payments which do not concern the restoration of the devastated regions are not affected by the present memorandum and its Annex. V The French and German Governments agree to take the measures necessary to exempt the organizations whose creation is provided for in paragraph 1 of the present memorandum from stamp duties, registration fees and similar taxes that might be due in connection with the deeds which they will have to draw up between them in execution of the enclosed annex. VI The French Government undertakes to adopt the necessary measures to ensure that the deliveries of plant and materials made in application of the present memorandum and its annex are applied only to the reconstitution of the devastated regions. VII The application if necessary of paragraph 18 of Annex II to Part VIII of the Treaty of Versailles, shall not constitute an obstacle to the crediting of Germany, in the form prescribed in Article VI of the annex to the present memorandum, of the sums due from F. to A. In the same way, the stocks of goods which the private organization mentioned in Article 1 may have accumulated in France with a view to possible deliveries, and the funds which this organization may have constituted in France in view of the execution of the provisions of the annex to the present memorandum cannot be seized by virtue of the said paragraph 18. Annex to Memorandum Agreement between F,2 of the one part, and A of the second part It has been agreed as follows: 2 F represents the French sinistrés in general and A the German company referred to in paragraph 1 of the memorandum. ARTICLE I A undertakes to deliver to F at the request of the latter all plant and materials compatible with the productive capacity of Germany, her supply of raw materials and her domestic requirements, in so far as essential to the maintenance of her social and economic life, such deliveries to begin with the signing of the protocol to which the present contract is annexed. The present contract shall not, however, include the products prescribed in Annexes III, V, and VI to Part VIII of the Treaty of Versailles. The aggregate value of the deliveries to be made by Germany to France in execution of Annexes III, V and VI, and of the deliveries to be made by A to F in execution of the present contract, shall not exceed seven milliard gold marks during the period 1st October 1921 to 1st May 1926. ARTICLE II Upon the signing of the present contract a commission shall be created consisting of three members, one French and one German, to be nominated at the request of F and A by their respective governments, and a third member to be selected by common agreement between the two governments, whose mandate shall be limited to one year. Failing an agreement in regard to the choice of this third member, he shall be nominated by the President of the Swiss Confederation for the time being. The commission may secure the services, in a consultative capacity, of such experts as it may deem necessary. The cost of this commission and of its services shall be paid by A but debited to F to the extent of 50 per cent. The commission shall arbitrate all disputes that may arise between the two parties in connection with reasonable capacity of A to satisfy the requirements of F, special account being taken of the provisions of Article I. It shall settle all questions of prices in accordance with the conditions laid down by Article IV and V of the present contract. It shall settle all differences between F and A, particularly in regard to transportation, delivery, reception, etc., and, in a general way, to the interpretation of the present contract. The decisions of the commission shall be final. ARTICLE III All goods shall be of good and marketable quality, in accordance with the specifications upon which the orders are based, these orders being placed under the conditions and subject to the reservations laid down in Articles I and II. In the absence of any special agreements, transportation shall be effected by the method of transport and in conformity with the itinerary that would normally be adopted as being the most advantageous by the consignor if he were bearing the cost of transport for the entire journey.. |