32. Private property shall be respected. Expropriation shall only take place for reasons of public utility and in return for the payment of equitable compensation in advance, in conformity with the laws, and provided that the provisions of the present Statute are not infringed.

The right of companies and associations, including religious and charitable organisations, to own property shall be recognised in principle.

33. The freedom of meeting and association, the freedom of conscience and the freedom of the press shall be guaranteed to all the inhabitants of the Memel Territory without distinction of nationality, language, race or religion, subject to the observance of the laws and regulations necessary for the maintenance of public order and the security of the State.

The same shall apply to freedom of teaching and the right of opening schools.

34. Passports shall be delivered to citizens of the Memel Territory by the Directorate of the territory on behalf of the Lithuanian Republic and in accordance with the regulations established by the Lithuanian Government.

In the passports shall be mentioned both the Lithuanian nationality of the bearer and his status as citizen of the Memel Territory.

35. Within a period of one month from the coming into force of the present Statute, negotiations shall be entered into between the Lithuanian Government and the local authorities of the Memel Territory for the purpose of determining the percentage of the net yield of the customs duties, excise duties and commodity taxes, including revenues from monopolies dealt with in Article 5, paragraph 12, which shall be assigned to the Memel Territory. In determining this percentage, account shall be taken: (1) of the average value of imports and exports per head of the population in the Memel Territory and in the other parts of Lithuania respectively during the years 1921 and 1922, special circumstances which may have influenced the returns for those years being allowed for; (2) of the additional revenue and expenditure which the transfer of sovereignty over the Memel Territory to Lithuania involves for the Lithuanian State.

The percentage thus determined may be revised from time to time by the Lithuanian Government in agreement with the local authorities of the Memel Territory.

36. The tariffs applied on railways and ships to passengers and goods, and the postal, telegraphic and telephonic charges, in the Memel Territory, shall not be higher than the tariffs applied and the charges made for the same purposes in the other parts of Lithuania.

The tariffs applied on the Lithuanian railways to passengers and goods coming from or destined for the Memel Territory shall in no case exceed those applied to passengers and goods in respect of any other journey of the same length in another part of the Lithuanian railway system.

37. The first elections to the Chamber of Representatives shall take place within six weeks from the date of the coming into force of the present Statute. The Chamber will meet fifteen days after the elections. Only inhabitants of the Memel Territory over 21 years of age may take part in these elections, provided

(1.) That, having acquired Lithuanian nationality on the conditions specified in Article 8, paragraph 1, of the Convention referred to in the preamble to this Statute, they do not opt for German nationality before the date of the elections.

(2.) That at least fifteen days before the elections they opt for Lithuanian nationality on the conditions specified in Article 8 (a) and (b) of the said Convention.

38. The provisions of the present Statute may be modified after three years from the ratification by Lithuania of the Convention of

which the said Statute forms part. The procedure of amendment shall be the following:

The Chamber of Representatives of the Memel Territory must pass the Bill modifying the Statute by a majority representing three-fifths of the votes of all the members.

The modification, after being adopted by the Chamber, must be submitted for the approval of the citizens of the Memel Territory by way of referendum, if not less than one-quarter of all the members of the Chamber or 5,000 citizens possessing the franchise for the Chamber so demand within the three months following the adoption of the modification by the Chamber.

If the modification is approved by two-thirds of the citizens participating in the referendum, it shall be submitted without delay for the approval of the Legislative Assembly of Lithuania. It shall not come into force unless it is approved by the said Assembly within one year from the date of its submission thereto.

ANNEX II.

Port of Memel.

ART. 1. The Lithuanian Government shall conform, in respect of the whole of the Lithuanian territory, including the Memel Territory, to the provisions of Articles 331 to 345 of the Treaty of Versailles of the 28th June, 1919, concerning the Niemen.

2. The port of Memel shall be considered as a port of international concern. The recommendations adopted by the Barcelona Conference concerning ports subject to an international régime shall be applied thereto, unless otherwise herein provided.

3. The port of Memel shall include both sides of the "Kurisches Haff" section of the Niemen from the sea and may extend, as required by the development and needs of the port, to the line across the Haff, forming the frontier between Lithuania and Germany.

4. The expenses in connection with the upkeep and the development of the port of Memel and the public waterways shall be provided for by the Lithuanian Government. The Lithuanian Government may from time to time consider with the authorities of the Memel Territory what contributions the latter can make towards such expenses.

5. There shall be a Harbour Board, which shall consist of three members appointed for three years and eligible for reappointment, as follows:

(1.) One representing Lithuanian economic interests, to be appointed by the Lithuanian Government.

(2.) One representing the economic interests of the Memel Territory, to be appointed by the Directorate of the territory.

(3.) One to be appointed by the chairman of the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit of the League of Nations. This member shall not be a citizen of a Niemen riparian State. He shall give special attention to international economic interests served by the port and particularly to those of the districts for which the port of Memel is the natural outlet.

6. The Republic of Lithuania shall entrust to the Harbour Board, created under Article 5 above, the administration, operation, upkeep and development of the port of Memel.

The Board will give special attention to the execution of the relevant clauses of the present Convention regarding the handling and development of traffic and transit.

7. The Harbour Board shall draw up and submit annually its budget for approval by the Lithuanian Government.

The Board shali also report annually to the Lithuanian Government. A copy of the report of the Harbour Board shall be sent to the Directorate and to the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit of the League of Nations.

8. All decisions of the Harbour Board shall be by majority.

The Board shall draw up its own regulations, including provisions as to appointment by each member of a substitute to replace him in case of absence.

It shall elect one of its members as chairman.

9. The remuneration of the three members of the Harbour Boará shall be borne on the yearly budget of the port.

The remuneration of the first two members named in Article 5 above shall be fixed by agreement between the Lithuanian Government and the Directorate of the Memel Territory; the remuneration of the third member shall be fixed within reasonable limits by the chairman of the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit of the League of Nations after consultation with the Lithuanian Government.

10. The Harbour Board shall enter upon its duties within two months from the date of the ratification by Lithuania of the Convention of which this annex forms part.

11. No member of the Harbour Board may be interfered with or molested on account of his actions in the discharge of his duties.

The member appointed by the chairman of the Advisory and Technical Committee for Communications and Transit of the League of Nations shall personally enjoy diplomatic immunities, including freedom from Government and local taxes.

The archives of the Harbour Board shall be inviolable.

12. The Harbour Board shall appoint a harbour master and the other personnel of the port.

13. The Harbour Board shall maintain the existing free zone and provide such extensions as the transit traffic may warrant, either by extending the present zone or by the creation of a new one. In the latter event, the existing zone may be abolished if in such new free zone the traffic can be adequately dealt with.

14. The composition or powers of the Harbour Board and the administration of the port of Memel as provided for by the preceding dispositions may be modified after five years from the date of ratification by Lithuania of the Convention of which this Annex forms part, provided the Lithuanian Government, after consulting the Directorate and the Harbour Board, submits a revised scheme, based upon experience and the circumstances then prevailing, which is approved by a majority of the Council of the League of Nations, including the representatives of the four Powers which are parties with Lithuania to the said Convention. The modifications shall enter into effect on being so approved.

ANNEX III.
Transit Traffic.

ART. 1. The Lithuanian Government undertakes to consider the advisability of abolishing, before the 1st May, 1925, all duties on the import and the export of timber and all export duties on articles in the manufacture of which at least 75 per cent. of the value of the raw materials used is wood. If such duties are not discontinued by the above date, or should they be imposed thereafter, the Lithuanian Government undertakes to establish in the port of Memel, under the direction of the Harbour Board, a free zone specially suitable for the storage, handling and working up of timber of non-Lithuanian origin, in order to protect such operations from any financial charges, delays or encumbrances resulting from such duties.

2. In case and as long as import duties are imposed on timber, an effective system of mixed transit yards, at least as advantageous for the users as that which was in existence under the German régime, will be introduced. The saw-mills and other works, in which timber will be worked up, as well as the yards where timber is stored, will be considered as transit-yards.

The usual percentages of the raw material introduced into these yards will be allowed for calculating the restitution of the import duties.

3. The Lithuanian Government shall ensure the freedom of transit by sea, by water and by rail, of traffic coming from or destined for the Memel Territory or in transit through the said territory and shall conform in this respect with the rules laid down by the Statute and Convention on the Freedom of Transit adopted by the Barcelona Conference on the 14th and 20th April, 1921.(3) respectively, and, in particular, with the provisions of Article 13 of the said Statute, indicating the summary procedure to be followed in the event of interruption of transit.

The same freedom of transit shall also be ensured in respect of postal consignments and postal and telegraphic communications.

Recognising the international character of the River Niemen and traffic thereon, and the general economic benefits to be derived from the exploitation of the forests in the Lithuanian and other districts in the basin of the Niemen, for which Memel is the natural outlet, the Lithuanian Government undertakes forthwith to permit and to grant all facilities for the traffic on the river to or from, or in the port of Memel and not to apply, in respect of such traffic on the ground of the present political relations between Lithuania and Poland, the stipulations of Articles 7 and 8 of the Barcelona Statute on the Freedom of Transit and Article 13 of the Barcelona recommendations relative to ports placed under an international régime.

4. The provisions of the present Annex may be modified on a proposal by the Lithuanian Government based on experience and the circumstances then prevailing. The proposal must be approved by the majority of the Council of the League of Nations, including the representatives of the four Powers parties with Lithuania to the Convention of which this Annex forms part. The modifications shall enter into effect on being so approved.

Transitory Provision.

Lithuania, immediately on ratifying the Convention concluded this day with the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan, and pending its ratification by the other parties thereto, shall, without delay, commence and continue to give effect to all the provisions of the Convention and its Annexes.

The British Empire, France, Italy and Japan declare that, on the ratification of the said Convention by Lithuania, they will recognise as lawful such acts of sovereignty on the part of the Lithuanian Government in the Memel Territory as are necessary to put into effect the engagements of the said Convention and to preserve public order.

In faith whereof, the undersigned have signed the present transitory provision.

(3) Vol. CXVI, page 517.

Done at Paris on the 8th May, 1924, in a single copy, which will remain deposited in the archives of the French Republic, and of which authenticated copies will be transmitted to each of the Signatory Powers and to the SecretaryGeneral of the League of Nations.

CREWE.

R. POINCARE.
ROMANO AVEZZANA.
K. ISHII.

GALVANAUSKAS.

RATIFICATION of the Treaty between the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan (the Principal Allied Powers) and Roumania relative to Bessarabia.-Paris, October 28, 1920.(1)

RATIFICATIONS of the Treaty of Peace between the British Empire, &c., and Turkey.-Lausanne, July 24, 1923.(1)

RATIFICATIONS of the Convention between the British Empire, &c., and Turkey relative to the Régime of the Straits between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.Lausanne, July 24, 1923.(1)