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OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

CONTENTS OF VOLUME NINETEEN

NUMBER 1, January, 1925

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Declaration regarding apportionment of employees of Chinese Eastern Railway
Exchange of letters regarding discontinuance of certain Russians in Chinese
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OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS

Signed at Paris, April 4, 1924; ratifications exchanged at Paris, July 13, 1924 CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND FRANCE RESPECTING RIGHTS IN SYRIA AND THE LEBANON1

The President of the United States of America and the President of the French Republic,

Whereas by the Treaty of Peace concluded with the Allied Powers, Turkey renounces all her rights and titles over Syria and the Lebanon, and,

Whereas Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations in the Treaty of Versailles provides that in the case of certain territories which as a consequence of the late war ceased to be under the sovereignty of the states which formerly governed them, mandates should be issued and that the terms of the mandate should be explicitly defined in each case by the Council of the League, and,

Whereas the Principal Allied Powers have agreed to entrust the mandate for Syria and the Lebanon to France, and,

Whereas the terms of the said mandate have been defined by the Council of the League of Nations as follows:

ARTICLE 1.—The Mandatory shall frame, within a period of three years from the coming into force of this mandate, an organic law for Syria and the Lebanon.

This organic law shall be framed in agreement with the native authorities and shall take into account the rights, interests, and wishes of all the population inhabiting the said territory. The Mandatory shall further enact measures to facilitate the progressive development of Syria and the Lebanon as independent States. Pending the coming into effect of the organic law, the government of Syria and the Lebanon shall be conducted in accordance with the spirit of this mandate.

The Mandatory shall, as far as circumstances permit, encourage local autonomy.

ARTICLE 2.-The Mandatory may maintain its troops in the said territory for its defense. It shall further be empowered, until the entry into force of the organic law and the reestablishment of public security, to organize such local militia as may be necessary for the defense of the territory, and to employ this militia for defense and also for the maintenance of order. These local forces may only be recruited from the inhabitants of the said territory. The said militia shall thereafter be under the local authorities, subject to the authority and the control which the Mandatory shall retain over these forces. It shall not be used for purposes other than those above specified save with the consent of the Mandatory.

Nothing shall preclude Syria and the Lebanon from contributing to the cost of the maintenance of the forces of the Mandatory stationed in the territory.

The Mandatory shall at all times possess the right to make use of the ports, railways and means of communication of Syria and the Lebanon for the passage of its troops and of all materials, supplies, and fuel.

ARTICLE 3.-The Mandatory shall be entrusted with the exclusive control of the foreign

1 U. S. Treaty Series, No. 695.

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