Page images
PDF
EPUB

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BRITISH AND HUNGARIAN GOVERNMENTS RESPECT-
ING THE SETTLEMENT OF ENEMY DEBTS REFERRED TO IN SECTION III
OF PART X OF THE TREATY OF THE TRIANON OF JUNE 4, 1920.1
Signed at London, December 20, 1921; ratifications exchanged at London,
April 20, 1922.

His Britannic Majesty's Government having given notice that they adopt Section III and the Annex thereto of Part X of the Treaty of the Trianon as between Hungary on the one hand and the United Kingdom, India and the British Colonies and Protectorates, with the exception of Egypt, on the other hand, it is hereby agreed between His Britannic Majesty's Government and the Government of Hungary that the said Section and Annex shall be subject in their application to the provisions set out below:

1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 231 (a) of the Treaty of the Trianon, direct communication may be permitted with the consent of the two Clearing Offices between the interested parties with regard to the settlement of debts due to British nationals. Such settlements may be permitted with the sanction of the Clearing Offices in each case.

2. The British Clearing Office will be prepared to consider applications made before the 31st March, 1922, for the release of property, rights and interests chargeable under paragraph 4 of the Annex to Article 232 of the Treaty with a view to the settlement of debts by amicable arrangement, provided that the proportion of the assets so to be released to the amount of the debts removed by the arrangement from the operation of the Clearing Offices is not such as, in the opinion of the British Clearing Office, will have the effect of reducing the dividend payable from Hungarian property subject to the charge to British creditors generally. It is understood that the pecuniary obligations referred to in Section III of Part X of the Treaty of the Trianon and therein described as "enemy debts" do not fall within the class of property, rights and interests in respect of which an application for release may be made under this paragraph.

3. The proceeds of liquidation of Hungarian property, rights and interests and cash assets of Hungarians, within the territories of the British Empire in respect of which notice has been given of the adoption of the Clearing Office system, will be credited to the Hungarian Government in the account referred to in paragraph 11 of the Annex to Article 231.

4. Similarly, the proceeds of any liquidation of British property, rights and interests and cash assets of British nationals (other than property, rights, interests and cash assets of British nationals ordinarily resident, and British Companies incorporated, in a part of the British Empire to which this Agreement does not extend) for which the Hungarian Government is liable to account in accordance with the provisions of Section IV of Part

1 British Treaty Series, 1922, No. 4.

X of the Treaty of the Trianon shall be credited to the British Government in this account. Compensation awarded by the Mixed Arbitral Tribunal under paragraph (e) of Article 232 shall also be credited to the British Government in the same account.

5. To remove doubts the claims by British nationals with regard to their property, rights and interests with the payment of which all property, rights and interests of Hungarian nationals within British territory, and the net proceeds of the sale, liquidation or any other dealings therewith may under paragraph 4 of the Annex to Section IV of Part X of the Treaty be charged shall be deemed to include the classes of pecuniary obligations referred to in paragraphs (3) and (4) of Article 231 of the Treaty.

6. The account referred to above may, at the option of the British Clearing Office, be rendered separately in respect of India.

7. The Hungarian Government undertakes to use its best endeavor to collect the debts due through the Clearing Offices from its nationals to British nationals as promptly as possible.

8. Subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions, His Britannic Majesty's Government will not require payment of the balances referred to in paragraph 11 of the Annex to Article 231 within the periods therein prescribed. The Hungarian Clearing Office shall pay to the British Clearing Office not later than the 31st March and the 30th September each year, beginning with the 31st March, 1922, in respect of the debts of Hungarian nationals, including local authorities, the sterling value of the amounts collected from Hungarian nationals during the previous six months, the sum to be paid in each half-year, in respect of such debts and of obligations of the Hungarian State, being not less than 250,000 pounds sterling or the sterling equivalent of 225,000,000 kronen, whichever of the two is the greater. Nevertheless, the amount of each of the first two minimum payments shall be 150,000 pounds sterling, and of the next two payments 250,000 pounds sterling without regard to the exchange rate of the krone. Each of the first six minimum payments to be made may, however, be reduced to the extent of 100,000 pounds or, in the case of the fifth and sixth payments, the sterling equivalent of 90,000,000 kronen by the amounts previously paid in cash direct by Hungarian debtors to British creditors in accordance with arrangements sanctioned by the Clearing Offices, and provided out of funds which are not chargeable under the treaty.

9. In addition to the interest provided for in the case of enemy debts by paragraph 22 of the Annex to Section III of Part X of the Treaty, further interest at the rate of 5 per cent. per annum (simple interest) shall be payable upon all sums credited to British nationals in the said account or any balance of such sums remaining for the time being unpaid, from the date of such credit until the date of payment to the creditor or claimant. Such further interest shall be borne by the Hungarian Government and debited to it in the said account.

10. Payment of the above-mentioned instalments shall continue until the balance against Hungary in the account above referred to shall have been fully met.

11. So far as the assets and liabilities of the Austro-Hungarian Bank may be determined to be those of a Hungarian national, they shall be subject to the provisions of this Agreement.

12. In the event of the claims of British creditors in respect of interest coupons in arrear on Hungarian State loans or loans of the city of Budapest being satisfied by the funding of the amounts so due, His Britannic Majesty's Government will be prepared in principle to consider the modification of the amounts of the minimum instalments payable under paragraph 8, having regard to the liability outside the scope of the Clearing Office accruing upon the Hungarian Government by such funding.

13. Subject to the right of the British authorities to refuse permission in any particular case, and to the laws for the time being in force, Hungarian nationals will be permitted, upon request notified to the proper British authority, to bid at any sale by auction of their property in the United Kingdom.

14. Pending the ratification of this Agreement, direct communication will be permitted between the interested parties with the consent of the two Clearing Offices with a view to the negotiation only of the settlements referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 of this Agreement.

Done in English and Hungarian, of which the English text shall prevail in case of divergence, at London, the 20th day of December, 1921.

(L.S.) CURZON OF KEDLESTON. (L.S.) ETIENNE DE HEDRY.

FRANCO-TURKISH AGREEMENT SIGNED AT ANGORA ON OCTOBER 20, 1921 1 Agreement between M. Franklin-Bouillon, former Minister, and Yussuf Kemal Bey, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Grand National Assembly of Angora.

ARTICLE 1

The high contracting parties declare that from the date of the signature of the present agreement the state of war between them shall cease; the armies, the civil authorities and the people shall be immediately informed thereof.

ARTICLE 2

As soon as the present agreement has been signed, the respective prisoners of war and also all French and Turkish persons detained or imprisoned shall be set at liberty and conducted, at the cost of the party which detained them,

1 British Parliamentary Command Paper, No. 1556.

to the nearest town which shall be designated for this purpose. The benefit of this article extends to all detained persons and prisoners of both parties, irrespective of the date and place of detention, of imprisonment or of capture.

ARTICLE 3

Within a maximum period of two months from the date of the signature of the present agreement, the Turkish troops shall withdraw to the north and the French troops to the south of the line specified in Article 8.

ARTICLE 4

The evacuation and the occupation which shall take place within the period provided in Article 3 shall be carried out according to a form to be decided upon by mutual agreement by a mixed commission appointed by the military commanders of the two parties.

ARTICLE 5

A complete amnesty shall be granted by the two contracting parties in the regions evacuated as soon as they are reoccupied.

ARTICLE 6

The Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey declares that the rights of minorities solemnly recognized in the National Covenant will be confirmed by it on the same basis as that established by the conversations on this subject between the Entente Powers, their enemies and certain of their Allies.

ARTICLE 7

A special administrative régime shall be established for the district of Alexandretta. The Turkish inhabitants of this district shall enjoy every facility for their cultural development. The Turkish language shall have official recognition.

ARTICLE 8

The line mentioned in Article 3 is fixed and determined as follows:The frontier line shall start at a point to be selected on the Gulf of Alexandretta immediately to the south of the locality of Payas and will proceed generally towards Meidan-Ekbez (leaving the railway station and the locality to Syria); thence it will bend towards the south-east so as to leave the locality of Marsova to Syria and that of Karnaba as well as the town of Killis to Turkey; thence it will join the railway at the station of Chobanbey. Then it will follow the Bagdad Railway, of which the track as far as Nisibin will remain on Turkish territory; thence it will follow the old road between Nisibin and Jeziret-ibn-Omar where it will join the Tigris. The localities of Nisibin and Jeziret-ibn-Omar as well as the road will remain Turkish; but the two countries shall have the same rights to the use of this road.

The stations and sidings of the section between Choban-bey and Nisibin shall belong to Turkey as forming parts of the track of the railway.

A commission comprising delegates of the two parties will be constituted, within a period of one month from the signature of the present agreement, to determine the above-mentioned line. This commission shall begin its labors within the same period.

ARTICLE 9

The tomb of Suleiman Shah, the grandfather of the Sultan Osman, founder of the Ottoman dynasty (the tomb known under the name of Turk Mezari), situated at Jaber-Kalesi shall remain, with its appurtenances, the property of Turkey, who may appoint guardians for it and may hoist the Turkish flag there.

ARTICLE 10

The Government of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey agrees to the transfer of the concession of the section of the Bagdad Railway between Bozanti and Nisibin as well as of the several branches constructed in the vilayet of Adana to a French group nominated by the French Government, with all the rights, privileges and advantages attached to the concessions, particularly as regards working and traffic.

Turkey shall have the right to transport troops by railway from MeidanEkbez to Choban-bey in Syrian territory and Syria shall have the right to transport troops by railway from Choban-bey to Nisibin in Turkish territory.

In principle no differential tariff shall be levied over this section and these branches. However, should a case arise, the two governments reserve the right to examine by mutual agreement any departure from this rule which may become necessary.

Failing agreement, each party will resume its liberty of action.

ARTICLE 11

A mixed commission shall be constituted after the ratification of the present agreement with a view to the conclusion of a customs convention between Turkey and Syria. The terms and also the duration of this convention shall be fixed by this commission. Until the conclusion of the above-mentioned convention the two countries will preserve their liberty of action.

ARTICLE 12

The waters of Kuweik shall be shared between the city of Aleppo and the district to the north remaining Turkish in such a way as to give equitable satisfaction to the two parties.

The city of Aleppo may also organize, at its own expense, a water-supply from the Euphrates in Turkish territory in order to meet the requirements of the district.

« PreviousContinue »