Regulations on the importation of spirituous liquors into certain regions of Africa:

Have resolved to assemble a Conference for the purpose at Brussels, and have named as their Plenipotentiaries that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, Sir Francis Plunkett, her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians; and Mr. H. Farnall, of the Foreign Office;

His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, in the name of the German Empire, M. Frederic-Jean, Count of Alvensleben, his Chamberlain and Privy Councillor, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians; and M. Guillaume Göhring, his Councillor of Legation;

His Majesty the King of the Belgians, M. Auguste, Baron Lambermont, his Minister of State, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; and M. Auguste van Maldeghem, Councillor of the Court of Cassation of Belgium;

His Majesty the King of Spain, and in his name Her Majesty the Queen-Regent of the Kingdom, M. W. Ramirez de VillaUrrutia, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the King-Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, M. Paul de Smet de Naeyer, his Minister of State, Member of the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium; and M. Hubert Droogmans, Secretary-General of the Finance Department of the Independent State of the Congo;

The President of the French Republic, M. A. Gérard, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the French Republic to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the King of Italy, M. R. Cantagalli, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, Jonkheer Rudulphe de Pestel, her Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves, M. Antoine-Marie, Count of Tovar, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, M. N. de Giers, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, M. AugusteL.-Fersen, Count Gyldenstolpe, his Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, Etienne Carathéodory Effendi, High Dignitary of his Empire, his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary to His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

Who, furnished with powers in good and due form, have adopted the following provisions:

ART. I. From the coming into force of the present Conven-tion, the import duty on spirituous liquors, as that duty is regulated by the General Act of Brussels, shall be raised throughout the zone where there does not exist the system of total prohibition provided by Article XCI of the said General Act, to the rate of 70 fr. the hectolitre at 50 degrees centigrade, for a period of six years.

It may, exceptionally, be at the rate of 60 fr. only the hectolitre at 50 degrees centigrade in the colony of Togo and in that of Dahomey.

The import duty shall be augmented proportionally for each degree above 50 degrees centigrade; it may be diminished proportionally for each degree below 50 degrees centigrade.

At the end of the above-mentioned period of six years, the import duty shall be submitted to revision, taking as a basis the results produced by the preceding rate.

The Powers retain the right of maintaining and increasing the duty beyond the minimum fixed by the present Article in the regions where they now possess that right.

II. In accordance with Article XCIII of the General Act of Brussels, distilled drinks made in the regions mentioned in Article XCII of the said General Act, and intended for consumption, shall pay an excise duty.

This excise duty, the collection of which the Powers undertake to insure as far as possible, shall not be lower than the minimum import duty fixed by Article I of the present Convention.

III. It is understood that the Powers who signed the General Act of Brussels, or who have acceded to it, and who are not represented at the present Conference, preserve the right of acceding to the present Convention.

IV. Tho present Convention shall be ratified within the shortest possible period, and such period shall not in any case exceed one year.

Each Power shall address its ratification to the Government of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, which shall give notice thereof to all the other Powers signatory of the present Convention. The ratifications of all the Powers shall be deposited in the archives of the Kingdom of Belgium.

As soon as all the ratifications have been produced, or at latest one year after the signature of the present Convention, eir deposit shall be recorded in a Protocol which shall be

signed by the Representatives of all the Powers who shall have ratified.

A certified copy of this Protocol shall be addressed to all the Powers interested.

V. The present Convention shall come into force in all the possessions of the Contracting Powers situated in the zone defined by Article XC of the General Act of Brussels on the thirtieth day after the date of the preparation of the Protocol of Deposit mentioned in the preceding Article.

In faith whereof, the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present Convention, and have affixed their seals thereto.

Done at Brussels, the 8th day of the month of June, 1899.

(L.S.) F. L. Plunkett.
(L.S.) H. FARNALL.

(L.S.) ALVENSLEBEN.

(L.S.) GÖHRING.

(L.S.) Baron LAMBERMONT.

(L.S.) A. VAN MALDEGHEM.

(L.S.) W. R. DE VILLA-URRUTIA.

(L.S.) P. DE SMET DE NAEYER.

(L.S.) II. DROOGMANS.

(L.S.) A. GERARD.

(L.S.) CANTAGALLI.

(L.S.) K. DE PESTEL.

(L.S.) Comte DE TOVAR.

(L.S.) N. DE GIERS.

(L.S.) AUG. F. GYLDENSTOLPE. (L.S.) ET. CARATHEODORY.

PROTOCOL of the Sitting held at Brussels, at the Department of Foreign Affairs, on the 8th June, 1900, in accordance with Article IV of the Convention of the 8th June, 1899,* for the Revision of the Regulations governing the Liquor Traffic in Africa. (Translation.)

PRESENT:

For Germany: His Excellency Count Alvensleben, German Minister at Brussels.

For Belgium: Baron Lambermont, Minister of State; M. van Maldeghem, Councillor at the Court of Cassation. For Spain: His Excellency M. de Villa-Urrutia, Spanish Minister at Brussels.

See Page 4.

For the Independent State of the Congo: Count de Smet de Naeyer, Minister of State; M. Droogmans, SecretaryGeneral of the Department of Finance of the Independent State of the Congo.

For France: His Excellency M. Gérard, French Minister at
Brussels.

For Great Britain: His Excellency the Honourable Sir F.
R. Plunkett, British Minister at Brussels.

For Italy: His Excellency M. Cantagalli, Italian Minister at
Brussels.

For the Netherlands: His Excellency M. le Jonkheer de
Pestel, Netherland Minister at Brussels.

For Portugal: His Excellency the Count de Tovar, Portu-
guese Minister at Brussels.

For Russia: His Excellency M. de Giers, Russian Minister
at Brussels.

For Sweden and Norway: Baron Beck Früs, Swedish and
Norwegian Chargé d'Affaires at Brussels.

For Turkey: His Excellency Carathéodory Effendi, Turkish
Minister at Brussels.

The undersigned assembled at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, at Brussels, in order to proceed to the execution of Article IV of the Convention of the 8th June, 1899, for the revision of the Regulations governing the liquor traffic in Africa:

Baron Lambermont, one of the Belgian Representatives, reads the above-mentioned Article. He informe the Assembly that the Government of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, has received the instruments of ratification of His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, of His Majesty the King of Spain and in his name, of Her Majesty the Queen-Regent, of His Majesty the King-Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, of the President of the French Republic, of Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, of His Majesty the King of Italy, of Her Majesty the Queen of the Netherlands, of His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias, of His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway.

The said ratifications are produced, and, after examination, are found in good and due form. These documents, in conformity with the provisions of Article IV, will remain deposited in the archives of the Kingdom of Belgium.

The Representatives of the above-mentioned Powers notify this deposit to Baron Lambermont.

His Excellency the Count de Tovar states that, the Portuguese Chambers having only passed the Convention a

few days since, the dispatch of the ratifications of his Government has undergone some delay. He consequently requests that the Protocol may remain open for the deposit of the ratifications of His Most Faithful Majesty.*

His Excellency Carathéodory Effendi states that the ratifications of His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans, would, upon their arrival, be deposited at the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs. It is equally understood that the Protocol shall remain open to him.

The Assembly, following the precedents established at the time of the ratifications of the General Act of the 2nd July, 1890, assents to the delay demanded by the Portuguese and Turkish Ministers.

Baron Lambermont then points out that, by the terms of Article III of the Convention, the Powers who have signed the Brussels General Act, or who have acceded thereto, and who have not taken part in the Conference of last year, have preserved the right of acceding to the said Convention. He informs the Assembly that, availing themselves of the right accorded to them by that Article, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, the United States of America, subject to the approval of the Senate, the Republic of Liberia, and Persia, have notified their accession to the Government of the King.

In faith of which the present Protocol has been drawn up, a certified copy of which shall be transmitted by the Government of His Majesty the King of the Belgians to each of the other Powers signatory of the Convention of the 8th June, 1899.

Done at Brussels, the 8th June, 1900.

ALVENSLEBEN.

Baron LAMBERMONT.
A. VAN MALDEGHEM.

W. R. DE VILLA-URRUTIA.
Comte DE SMET DE NAEYER.
H. DROOGMANS.

A. GÉRARD.

F. R. PLUNKETT.
R. CANTAGALLI.
R. DE PESTEL.
Comte DE TOVAR.
N. DE GIERS.

JOACHIM BECK FRÜS.
ÉT. CARATHÉODORY.

* See Protocol of June 19, 1900. Page 8.