in the present circumstances there would appear to be no chance of its passage into law.

ARRANGEMENT FOR THE RECIPROCAL RECOGNITION OF LOAD LINE CER

TIFICATES BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND JAPAN

Under the authority of an act of Congress to establish load lines for American vessels, which was approved March 2, 1929, and became effective September 2, 1930, the Government of the United States entered into an agreement respecting load lines with the Government of Japan by an exchange of notes. The arrangement will remain effective pending the coming into force of the international load line convention.15 The Government of the United States agrees to recognize as valid load line certificates duly issued by the competent Japanese authorities or by officially designated shipping associations and their corresponding marks, and the Japanese Government agrees to recognize the markings of load lines and the issuance of certificates therefor, on American vessels by the American Bureau of Shipping and in particular cases the marking by the American Committee of Lloyd's Register of Shipping and by the American representatives of the Bureau Veritas, only in so far as they are issued under authority of the United States Government. This arrangement, which continues and enlarges the scope of the unilateral agreement with Japan made in 1922, will shortly be published in the Executive Agreement Series.

AGREEMENT CONCERNING MARITIME SIGNALS

French Morocco

According to a communication from the League of Nations dated September 12, 1931, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of France forwarded to the League the instrument of ratification of French Morocco of the agreement concerning maritime signals, signed at Lisbon October 23, 1930.

The ratification was deposited on September 3, 1931.

POSTAL

UNIVERSAL POSTAL CONVENTION AND SUBSIDIARY AGREEMENTS 16

By a note dated October 9, 1931, the British Embassy at Washington forwarded to the Secretary of State a schedule containing a complete list of the countries which, as of September 25, 1931, had ratified or acceded to the universal postal convention and subsidiary

agreements signed at London June 28, 1929. The list sets forth the following information not heretofore reported in the Bulletin:

Brazil deposited on July 21, 1931, its ratification of the convention and protocol and of the arrangement and protocol concerning letters and parcels of declared value, and the arrangement and protocol concerning parcels post.

Czechoslovakia deposited on June 25, 1931, its ratification of the convention and protocol and the six subsidiary arrangements.

El Salvador deposited on July 8, 1931, its ratification of the convention and protocol and of the arrangement and protocol concerning parcels post.

Latvia deposited on August 11, 1931, its ratification of the convention and protocol and the six subsidiary arrangements.

Portugal, including the Portuguese colonies in Africa and the Portuguese colonies in Asia and Oceania, deposited on July 17, 1931, its ratification of the convention and protocol and of the six subsidiary arrangements.

By a communication dated October 22, 1931, the British Ambassador at Washington informed the Secretary of State that the signature and ratification by the British Government of the agreement concerning letters and parcels of declared value, signed at London June 28, 1929, which was notified to this Government by a communication dated May 14, 1931,17 should be regarded as including the mandated territory of Tanganyika as from September 16, 1931.

CONVENTION FOR THE EXCHANGE OF MONEY ORDERS BETWEEN FRANCE AND THE UNITED STATES 18

On August 19, 1931, a convention for the exchange of money orders between the United States and France was signed in Washington by the Ambassador of France and the Acting Postmaster General. Article 19 provides that it shall replace the conventions of December 29, 1879, and August 28, 1888, as well as the additional act of September 3, 1921; also that it shall take effect on a day to be agreed upon by the Postal Administrations of the two countries. The convention is not yet in force because, although signature on the part of the Postal Administration of the United States is all the authority needed in the United States,19 there is a requirement of the French Government that such agreements be approved by the French Parliament. The Department of State has not been informed that the French Parliament has taken action with reference to the convention.

Brazil

RADIO

INTERNATIONAL RADIO CONVENTION

By a communication dated October 27, 1931, the Ambassador of Brazil transmitted to the Secretary of State, for deposit in the archives of the Department of State, the instrument of ratification by Brazil of the international radio convention signed at Washington November 25, 1927, and the general and supplementary regulations pertaining thereto, signed on the same day.

The ratification became effective as of October 27, 1931, the day on which the instrument of ratification was received at the Department of State.

Iraq

With a note dated October 8, 1931, the British Embassy at Washington forwarded to the Secretary of State a letter from the Iraqi Minister for Foreign Affairs formally notifying this Government of the accession of Iraq to the international radio convention signed at Washington November 25, 1927.

The accession will be effective as from the date of the receipt of the notification, namely, October 10, 1931.

MISCELLANEOUS

CLAIMS

GENERAL CLAIMS CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND ΡΑΝΑΜΑ 1

The President proclaimed on October 6, 1931, the general claims convention between the United States and Panama, signed at Washington July 28, 1926, the ratifications of which were exchanged on October 3, 1931. The convention will shortly be printed as Treaty Series No. 842.

CLAIMS AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND GERMANY

Pursuant to the request contained in Senate Resolution No. 267, 71st Congress, 2d Session, the matter of extending the jurisdiction of the Mixed Claims Commission established under the agreement between the United States and Germany signed on August 10, 1922, has been the subject of discussion between the two Governments.

The agreement of August 10, 1922, limited the time for filing claims with the Commission to April 9, 1923. By an exchange of notes signed on December 31, 1928, the jurisdiction of the Commission was extended to the consideration of claims which were not filed in time to be submitted to the commission under the terms of the first agreement but which had been filed with the Department of State prior to July 1, 1928.

By a communication dated September 24, 1931, the German Government set forth its position in regard to the suggestion of extending the jurisdiction of the commission and declined to extend further the time as contemplated by the Senate Resolution.

EXPOSITIONS

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION RELATING TO INTERNATIONAL

EXHIBITIONS

On November 22, 1928, a convention relating to international ex

hibitions was signed at Paris by the representatives of 30 countries.

The United States was represented by an observer at the conference which drew up the convention but is not a signatory. Under the terms of article 36, the convention entered into force on January 17, 1931, among the countries which had deposited their ratifications. Article 10 of the convention provides for an International Bureau of Exhibitions to supervise the execution of the convention which shall consist of an Administrative Council assisted by a Classification Committee and a Director. At a conference held in Paris from January 19 to 22, 1931, the International Bureau of Exhibitions was organized. Among the subjects considered by the Administrative Council at this meeting was the status under the convention of the Chicago Centennial Exposition. Section 2 of the convention, comprising articles 4 to 9, deals with the frequency of exhibitions and outlines the categories into which general exhibitions fall and the principles by which they shall be governed. The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the Council:

The Administrative Council of the International Bureau for Exhibitions called-by virtue of Article 7 of the Convention relative to the International Exhibitions of Paris, November 22, 1928-to examine the application of the said Convention to the International Exhibition proposed at Chicago for the year 1933, declares:

1) That the regulations of the Convention apply, in so far as the contracting countries are concerned, to the Chicago Exhibition, that the period of six years, which Article 4 stipulates should elapse between two general exhibitions of the 1st category, is an obstacle to the organization of the Chicago Exhibition in 1933 by reason of the fact that the International Bureau has granted the Belgian Government the faculty of organizing a universal exhibition at Brussels in 1935.

2) Nevertheless, taking into account the fact invitations to participate were addressed by the Government of the United States to foreign countries before the Convention came into force, the International Bureau considers that the exceptional circumstances, as provided by the last paragraph of Article 7, may be invoked and justify an exception to the rule concerning periods of frequency.

This exception is of a purely transitory character and may not be invoked as a precedent.

3) As the guarantees offered by the Chicago Exhibition are not the same as those exacted by the Convention, the International Bureau for Exhibitions is not able to express a favorable opinion. However, in order to allow the contracting countries eventually to recover their liberty in respect to participation, the International Bureau for Exhibitions considers that it should be left to each country to judge if sufficient guarantees are offered.

See British Treaty Series, No. 9 (1931), Cmd. 3776. * Translated by the American Embassy at Paris.