the General Postal Union, and that the conditions of the Union would affect prejudicially the special relations at present existing between Spain and Gibraltar, and desiring, on the contrary, to facilitate those relations in accordance with the rights of each country, have determined to exercise the before-named power, and have agreed upon the following Articles :

ART. I. There shall be a periodical and regular exchange between Spain and Gibraltar of

1. Ordinary letters.

2. Registered letters and other registered articles; 3. Post cards;

4. Newspapers, books, periodicals, and printed papers; 5. Patterns of merchandize;

6. Commercial and legal documents, and proofs of printing with manuscript corrections.

II. The exchange of correspondence mentioned in the preceding Article shall take place daily, and shall be made between the Post Offices of Algeciras and Gibraltar.

III. The cost of conveying the mails between Gibraltar and the Spanish Office of Exchange, whether at Algeciras or any other town which circumstances may hereafter make a more convenient point of exchange, shall be defrayed wholly by the British Post Office.

IV. Prepayment of postage on every description of article exchanged between Spain and Gibraltar shall be obligatory, and effected by Spanish postage stamps on correspondence posted in Spain, and by British postage stamps on that posted in Gibraltar.

But notwithstanding the stipulation of the preceding paragraph, letters insufficiently paid shall be forwarded to destination, taxed on delivery with a postage of 25 centimos of a peseta for each single rate in Spain, and 24. in Gibraltar, the insufficient stamps counting for nothing.

V. The postage of ordinary letters exchanged between Spain and Gibraltar shall be as follows:—

1. In Spain, for every 15 grammes or fraction of 15 grammes, 10 centimos of a peseta ;

2. In Gibraltar, for every half ounce, or fraction of half an ounce, ld.

VI. Post cards shall be chargeable with half the rate of a single letter.

VII. The Spanish Post Office and the British Post Office shall have the right to fix, in Spain and Gibraltar respectively, the postage on patterns of merchandize, newspapers, stitched or bound books, pamphlets, catalogues, prospectuses, music, visiting cards, announcements and notices of various kinds, whether printed, engraved, or lithographed; as well as on maps, drawings, lithographs, photo

graphs, commercial and legal documents, and proofs of printing with manuscript corrections.

The maximum weight of packets containing articles mentioned in the preceding paragraph is fixed at 250 grammes, or half a pound, for patterns of merchandize; and at 1,000 grammes, or two pounds, for all the other articles.

There is reserved to the British and Spanish Post Offices the right to refuse to convey or to deliver articles specified in the present Article, with regard to which the laws, orders, and decrees which regulate the conditions of their publication and circulation have not been observed.

VIII. Letters and the articles specified in Article VII may be registered.

Registered articles shall be charged, in addition to the ordinary postage, with a fixed and uniform registration fee to be established by the British and Spanish Post Offices respectively.

This fee, as well as that for the acknowledgment of receipt of registered articles, shall not exceed those charged in the inland service of the country from which the registered articles proceed.

IX. The articles specified in Article VII, in order to be entitled to the reduced rate of postage therein stipulated, must be inclosed in envelopes easily removable and admitting of an examination of their contents, and must contain no figures, marks, or writing other than the name and address of the person for whom they are intended. Patterns of merchandize, besides observing the above-named conditions, must not possess any intrinsic value, but they may contain, in addition to the name and address of the person for whom they are intended, a manufacturer's or trade mark, numbers, and prices.

The articles specified in Article VII shall not be forwarded unless they have complied with the before-named conditions and been fully prepaid to destination.

X. There shall not be admitted for exchange by post between Spain and Gibraltar any letter or other packet which may contain either gold or silver money, jewellery, or precious articles, or any other article whatever liable to Customs duties.

XI. Official correspondence relative to the Postal Service is exempt from postage. With this exception no franking or reduction of postage is allowed.

XII. Each office shall keep the whole of the sums it collects by virtue of the foregoing Articles, IV, V, VI, VI, and VIII. Consequently, on this head there will be no necessity for any accounts between Spain and Gibraltar.

Neither the senders nor the addressees of letters and other postal packets shall be called upon to pay any tax or duty other than those prescribed by the before-mentioned Articles.

XIII. The Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, the Spanish Possessions on the Northern coast of Africa, and the Postal Establishments of Spain upon the Western coast of Morocco, shall be considered, for the purposes of this Convention, as forming part of Spain.

XIV. The Post Office of Gibraltar shall deliver to and receive from the Spanish Office of Exchange, without any charge, the correspondence or closed mails conveyed to or from Gibraltar by vessels belonging to mercantile companies with which Spain may have made special agreements for the conveyance of correspondence to or from Transatlantic ports.

XV. Every mail exchanged between the offices of Algeciras and Gibraltar shall be accompanied by a letter bill, in conformity with the specimen annexed to the present Convention.

No mention shall be made in the letter bill of ordinary correspondence, paid or unpaid, exchanged between Spain or any of the countries of the General Postal Union, sent by way of Spain and Gibraltar.

As regards other correspondence there shall be entered:

1. Under Table I, the total amount of the foreign postage due on the unpaid correspondence and the amount of the claim on the correspondence re-transmitted, for which credit will have to be given to the despatching office.

2. Under Table II, the total amount of postage to be credited to the British Office for correspondence sent à découvert by British mail-packets between Spain and the ports of British India, China, Japan, or Australia.

The postage or claim to be entered in Table I shall be indicated upon each article in blue ink or pencil, at the lower left-hand corner of the address.

The postage to be brought to account in Table II shall be entered on each article in red ink or pencil, on the lower left-hand corner of the address.

In Table III shall be entered, with such details as the Table requires, the closed mails in transit between Spain and the Philippines.

The registered correspondence shall be entered in Table No. IV of the letter bill, with the following details:-The name of the Office of origin; the name of the addressee, and the place of destination; the amount of the foreign registration fees to be credited to the Office of destination.

XVI. The Spanish Post Office shall pay to the British Post Office for the sea conveyance by British mail-packets between Gibraltar and Singapore of closed mails between Spain and the Philippines, the following sums :

1 franc 26 centimes per 30 grammes for letters ;

1. franc per kilogramme for printed papers.

XVII. The transit rates to which Spain is entitled for the correspondence exchanged by way of Spain between Gibraltar and other countries, whether in closed mails or à découvert, shall be those stipulated in the General Postal Union Treaty of Berne of the 9th October, 1874.*

XVIII. The transmission of registered articles, as well as the conditions of their admission into the Post Offices, the making up of mails, and the verification of their contents, and, in short, all the details and operations relating to the exchange of mails between Spain and Gibraltar, shall be in entire conformity with the detailed Regulation for the execution of the General Postal Union Treaty of Berne of 9th October, 1874.†

XIX. The present Convention shall be considered additional to that concluded between Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on the 21st May, 1858, and shall come into full and complete operation on the 1st January, 1876.

Done in duplicate and signed in Madrid on the 25th day of November, 1875.

EDMUND CRESWELL, the Special Delegate of the
Postmaster-General of Great Britain and

Ireland.

G. CRUZADA, the Director-General of Posts and
Telegraphs of Spain.

*Vol. LXV. Page 13.

+ Vol. LXV. Page 23.