Nations, or by the Secretary-General of the League under instructions from the Assembly or the Council.

The request shall contain an exact statement of the question upon which an opinion is required, and shall be accompanied by all documents likely to throw light upon the question.

ARTICLE 73

The Registrar shall forthwith give notice of the request for an advisory opinion to the members of the Court, and to the members of the League of Nations, through the Secretary-General of the League, and to the States mentioned in the Annex to the Covenant.

Notice of such request shall also be given to any international organizations which are likely to be able to furnish information on the question.

ARTICLE 74

Any advisory opinion which may be given by the Court and the request in response to which it was given, shall be printed and published in a special collection for which the Registrar shall be responsible.

HEADING 3.-ERRORS

ARTICLE 75

The Court, or the President if the Court is not sitting, shall be entitled to correct an error in any order, judgment or opinion, arising from a slip or accidental omission.

Done at The Hague, the twenty-fourth day of March, one thousand nine hundred and twenty two.

Judges:

ANNEX TO ARTICLE 2

List of Judges and Deputy Judges in Order of Precedence

M. LODER, President.

M. WEISS, Vice-President.

LORD FINLAY.

M. BARBOSA.

M. NYHOLM.

M. HUBER.

MR. MOORE.

M. DE BUSTAMANTE.

M. ALTAMIRA.

M. ODA.

M. ANZILOTTI.

Deputy-Judges:

M. YOVANOVITCH.

M. BEICHMANN.

M. NEGULESCO.

M. WANG-CHUNG-HUI.

The judges and deputy-judges are elected for nine years. The period of office of the judges and deputy-judges, whose names appear above, commenced on January 1, 1922.

The President and Vice-President are elected for three years. The period of office of the President and Vice-President, whose names appear above, commenced on January 1, 1922.

The period of appointment of the members of the Chamber for Summary Procedure terminates on December 31, 1922.

The period of appointment of the members of the Chamber for Labor Cases terminates on December 31, 1924.

Chamber for Transit and Communication Cases:

The period of appointment of the members of the Chamber for Transit and Communication Cases terminates on December 31, 1924.

Registrar:

III

ANNEX TO ARTICLE 17

The Registrar of the Court

M. ÅKE HAMMARSKJÖLD.

The Registrar is elected for seven years.

The period of office of the Registrar, whose name appears above commenced on February 1, 1922.

IV

ANNEX TO ARTICLE 24

Interviews with the Registrar

The Registrar may be seen between the hours of 2 p. m. and 4 p. m. on all working days except Saturday, at the Peace Palace at the Hague.

MESSAGE OF PRESIDENT WILSON TO CONGRESS TRANSMITTING AN AGREEMENT RECOMMENDING THE ACCEPTANCE OF SPECIAL GERMAN REPARATION BONDS IN SATISFACTION OF BELGIAN OBLIGATIONS TO FRANCE, GREAT BRITAIN AND THE UNITED STATES.1

To the SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES:

I herewith call your attention to an agreement with Belgium made by the British and French Premiers and myself, which is embodied in the following letter:

M. HYMANS,

JUNE 16, 1919.

Ministre des Affaires Etrangeres, Hotel Lotti, Paris. SIR: The Reparation Clauses of the draft Treaty of Peace with Germany obligate Germany to make reimbursement of all sums which Belgium has

1 Sen. Doc. No. 413, 66th Cong. 3d sess.

borrowed from the Allied and Associated Governments up to November 11, 1918, on account of the violation by Germany of the Treaty of 1839. As evidence of such an obligation Germany is to make a special issue of bonds to be delivered to the Reparation Commission.

Each of the undersigned will recommend to the appropriate governmental agency of his Government that, upon the delivery to the Reparation Commission of such bonds, his Government accept an amount thereof corresponding to the sums which Belgium has borrowed from his Government since the war and up to November 11, 1918, together with interest at 5 per cent unless already included in such sums, in satisfaction of Belgium's obligation on account of such loans, which obligation of Belgium's shall thereupon be cancelled.

We are, dear Mr. Minister,
Very truly yours,

G. CLEMENCEAU.
WOODROW WILSON.
D. LLOYD GEORGE.

In recommending to you that Congress take appropriate action with regard to this agreement, certain facts should be brought to your attention. The neutrality of Belgium was guaranteed by the Treaty of London of 1839. In considering the reparation to be made by Germany it was agreed that the action of Germany, in grossly violating this treaty by an attack on Belgium, obligated the German Government under international law to repay to Belgium the costs of war. On this principle the Treaty of Versailles (Art. 232) provided that in accordance with Germany's pledges already given as to the complete restoration for Belgium, Germany should undertake, in addition to the compensation for material damage, to make reimbursement of all sums which Belgium had borrowed from the Allied and Associated Governments up to November 11, 1918, together with interest at 5 per cent per annum on such sums. This obligation was to be discharged by a special issue of bearer bonds to an equivalent amount payable in gold marks on May 1, 1926, or at the option of the German Government on the 1st of May in any year up to 1926.

For various reasons the undertaking defined in the above letter was not embodied in the treaty. Belgiuin's obligations to the United States for advances made up to the date of the armistice amounted to approximately $171,000,000, and to England and France they amounted, I am informed, to about £164,700,000. In view of the special circumstances in which Belgium became involved in the war and the attitude of this country toward Belgium, it was felt that the United States might well agree to make the same agreement respecting pre-armistice loans to Belgium as England and France offered to do.

Advances made by the Treasury to the Belgian Government from the beginning of the war to the Armistice amounted to $171,780,000. This principal sum, however, includes advances of $499,400 made to enable the Belgians to pay the interest due November 15, 1917, and $1,571,468.42 to

enable the payment of the interest due May 15, 1918. The interest on the advances has been paid up to April 15, 1919, the interest due from May 15, 1918, to that date having been paid out of Treasury loans for which the United States holds Belgian obligations, which, however, were made after November 11, 1918, the date of the armistice. This latter advance would not come within the terms of the agreement above mentioned. If, therefore, the United States accepts payment of Belgian obligations given before the armistice by receiving a corresponding amount of German obligations, it would seem that it should receive German obligations amounting to $171,780,000 with interest from April 15, 1919.

Although it is understood that England and France will take their share of the German bonds when received by Belgium, I am informed that the Reparation Commission has not as yet finally determined the details of the issuance of the necessary bonds by the German Government. A recommendation at this time that suitable legislative action should be taken may appear somewhat premature, but in view of the approaching termination of my Administration I have brought this matter to your attention, hoping that suitable action may be taken at the appropriate time.

WOODROW WILSON.

THE WHITE HOUSE, February 22, 1921.

PROTOCOL SIGNED ON BEHALF OF GERMANY UPON THE DEPOSIT OF RATIFI1 CATIONS OF THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES

Paris, January 10, 1920
(Translation)

At the moment of proceeding to the first deposit of ratifications of the Treaty of Peace, it is placed on record that the following obligations, which Germany had undertaken to execute by the armistice conventions and supplementary agreements, had not been executed or have not been completely fulfilled:

1. Armistice Convention of the 11th November, 1918,2 clause VII; obligation to deliver 5,000 locomotives and 150,000 waggons. Forty-two locomotives and 4,460 waggons are still to be delivered.

2. Armistice Convention of the 11th November, 1918, clause XII; obligation to withdraw the German troops in Russian territory within the frontiers of Germany as soon as the Allies shall think

1 British Parliamentary Papers, 1921 (Cmd. 1325), p. 6.

* The Armistice Convention of Nov. 11, 1918 was printed in SUPPLEMENT to this JOURNAL for April, 1919 (Vol. 13), p. 97; the conventions prolonging the Armistice, dated Dec. 13, 1918, Jan. 16, 1919, and Feb. 16, 1919, were printed in the SUPPLEMENT for October, 1919, pp. 387, 388 and 392.