The committee found time to refer to the other commercial documents which serve as instruments of international trade, recommending that the various Governments study The Hague rules on checks formulated in 1912, with a view to making appropriate suggestions to the second conference of the commission. With reference to bills of lading and warehouse receipts, the committee examined the Spanish versions of the United States uniform laws.

The recommendations of the committee on negotiable instruments seem quite practicable. The passage by the Congress of the United States of the Federal bills of lading act has encouraged Latin America in the belief that our Government is sincerely endeavoring to make the instruments of commercial intercourse uniform and secure. Failure to pass this act would have made it difficult for this section to urge the enactment of similar legislation elsewhere.

The central executive council is now circulating the material requested on these subjects.

TOPIC XIII.

This committee dealt likewise with the thirteenth subject of the program which had been proposed by the Argentine delegation. The object of this topic was to secure adequate protection for the vendor of merchandise against the insolvency or bad faith of the purchaser. Dr. Ricardo C. Aldao, of the Argentine delegation, in presenting a memorandum on the subject, insisted that the vendor of chattels should have the same protection as that accorded to the vendor of realty, so long as the identification of the chattels be possible; that the mortgage of goods should likewise be illegal if the goods have not been paid for; and, finally, that the rights of the vendor are superior so far as merchandise sold by him is concerned to the rights of the lessee or pledgee. Dr. Aldao further urged the enactment of legislation compelling merchants to leave clear records in their books not only of purchases but also of all sales of merchandise of which they are not yet owners.

The committee unanimously resolved to recommend to the Governments of all the American countries the inclusion in their legislation of provisions "assuring the legal status of credits arising from the sale of merchandise." At this time the Conference of Commissioners of Uniform State Laws is engaged in preparing a second draft of its conditional sales act, and in view of generally similar conditions, the council no doubt can secure from the conference of commissioners valuable assistance in finding a remedy for this situation.

THIRD COMMITTEE.

Topic: III. Uniform classification of merchandise; uniform customs regulations; uniform consular certificates and invoices; port charges.

The subjects considered by the third committee have been a part of the program of every Pan American conference since 1889. The conference of 1889-90 strongly urged uniformity of customs and consular regulations and called for a preliminary survey of existing regulations. The second conference concluded that only a gathering of technical experts could solve these problems. In consequence

a customs congress was called, and met in New York in 1903. This body found that it had not enough material at hand for the formulation of detailed regulations, and was obliged to refer the matter to the Pan American Union for further research and comparison. Again, at Rio de Janeiro, in 1906, the Third Pan American Conference felt that the subject was too technical for action in a general assembly, and resolved to create a section of commerce, customs, and statistics in the Pan American Union. Practical difficulties arose, however, to delay the establishment of this section until after the fourth conference, at Buenos Aires, in 1910. This conference, besides urging the establishment of the section and defining its status and activities, reviewed the work of the earlier conferences and of the customs congress, prepared a uniform consular invoice, and agreed to abolish the certificate of origin and consular certification of bills of lading.

The United States section of the International High Commission, on the basis of the excellent reports prepared for its consideration,. aimed at accomplishing the following objects:

1. Adoption of the Brussels classification by all the American nations for statistical purposes.

2. Adoption of the uniform manifest approved by the Fourth International Conference of American States, at Buenos Aires, in 1910.

3. Abolition of consular certification of manifest.

4. Abolition of the certificate of origin.

5. Adoption of the invoice recommended by the conference of 1910, consolidating the material requirements of the various governments.

6. Use in the invoice form of the language of the country of exportation as well as that of the country of importation.

7. Limitation of government requirement of invoices to four copies.

8. Free supply of invoice blanks by consular officers.

9. Establishment wherever possible of a fixed fee for certification of invoices. 10. Adoption of a rule permitting one consular invoice to cover an entire shipment from one consignor to one consignee, regardless of the number of separate marks in the shipment.

11. Abolition of consular certification of bills of lading.

In addition, the United States section desired to urge the adoption by the customs authorities of Central and South America of a more complete and adequate system of checking off goods and auditing the receipt and payment of customs dues. An investigation made under the direction of the Federal Trade Commission has shown how helpful would be the use of an audit system similar to that of the United States. This system would depend upon a central valuation bureau for each customs service. Samples would be sent from all customhouses to these bureaus to be passed upon with a view to establishing a uniform and consistent classification and rating.

Finally, the United States delegation prepared a plan for the sanitary certification of freight between American ports, which would assure the care and circumspection necessary for the several types of freight. This plan1 provides for an annual conference of quarantine officers to be held at convenient centers for the purpose of devising effective systems of inspection of quarantine facilities and methods. International sanitary regulations would be developed in the course of time. This plan was referred to the sixth sanitary conference, scheduled to meet at Montevideo after the war.

Carefully prepared memoranda1 were presented to the committee by the Argentine and Uruguayan delegations on the adoption of an international system of classification and the limitation of consular documents to manifest and invoice, and they pointed out how the procedure surrounding the issue and certification of these documents could be made simpler.

The committee compared the recommendations made by the various delegations and succeeded in constructing a definite series of proposals which will serve as an excellent starting point for the labors of the central executive council in this matter. It confined its recommendations to matters of practical character and made no attempt to deal with the question of fiscal policy or with tariff rates. The first section of the report deals with classification of merchandise, and here the committee unanimously recommended the scientific and flexible system adopted at Brussels in 1913. This system will be used for the present merely for statistical purposes; but the committee recommends that thought be given to the use of the Brussels schedule in the formulation of fiscal tariffs. The committee further advised the use of the Pan American money of account in the publication of statistics.

The advantage of uniformity in statistical methods is readily seen. As pointed out by Dr. Rutter in his report upon this subject to the United States section of the commission, statistical methods can be altered by administrative action without change of law, and a uniform classification may be adopted as a supplementary system without affecting the regular statistics published by each country. The Brussels classification is, of course, general in character, having only 186 items, as compared with 5,000 items in the tariff schedule of the United States. It is, however, clear that no prospect of uniform customs classification will exist unless the statistical tariffs can be made reasonably uniform.

The committee further accepted the suggestions made by Dr. Vazquez, the Uruguayan delegate, that a scientific nomenclature be constructed for the tariffs of all the American Republics, together with a statement of all duties and surcharges both by items and in the aggregate. The value of a reliable compilation of this material would be unquestionable. With regard to uniformity of customs regulations, the saving of time through the discontinuance of the less necessary formalities, and the reduction of charges imposed upon merchandise in transit were the chief objects of the report. The recommendations of the Fourth Pan American Conference in Buenos Aires in 1910 with reference to consular certificates and invoices were accepted practically without change. The obligation to secure action is consequently all the more heavily incumbent upon the central executive council. Similarly, with reference to port charges, it was felt that nothing more could be done than ask for the greatest exercise of moderation in imposing harbor dues; beyond such a recommendation the committee did not attempt to go, except to suggest that tonnage dues be computed on the basis of net registered tonnage. The program of the International High Commission in these mat+ers was thus clearly constructed. Regarding the recommendations, not so much from an international point of view as from that of

1 Both will be. found in part 2.

specific action on the part of the United States, this section ventures respectfully to suggest that the following action be taken:

1. The Department of Commerce to publish the export and import statistics of the United States in accordance with the Brussels classification expressing all values in United States currency and in the American franc.

2. Measures to be taken involving legislative action, if necessary, to secure the uniform adoption in this country of the standard manifest and invoice recommended by the conference.

As for international action, we believe that the central executive council may expect practical results through:

1. The construction by fiscal experts of a scientific schedule in as great detail as that of the United States as the basis of the nomenclature.

2. Practical representations to the respective sections as to adoption of uniform regulations and prescription of uniform documents.

FOURTH COMMITTEE.

Topics: IV. Uniform regulations for commercial travelers.

VII. Extension of the process of arbitration for the settlement of commercial disputes.

TOPIC IV.

The unrestrained local regulation of commercial travelers and imposition of taxes upon their operations has long formed an obstacle to the expansion of trade in Latin America, but until recently no definite action had been taken in the matter. The First and Second Congresses on Customs Regulations, held in Paris in July, 1900, and in November, 1913, elaborated a "customs card," which was to be issued by customs authorities of the salesman's country and was to contain detailed information as to his business and the character and quantity of his samples. Supplementary coupons attached to the certificate were to provide for his entrance into the countries specified or his departure therefrom. Both congresses acknowledged the necessity of completing the customs examination of samples within 24 hours after arrival and the desirability of suppressing,, or at least consolidating and rendering uniform, all taxes and local fees.

As was pointed out during the First Pan American Financial Conference, the fees imposed upon the operations of commercial travelers differ throughout the Central and South American Republics. The fees themselves are occasionally large, the periods of time for which licenses are valid are never very great, and the restrictions upon the activities of travelers are sometimes severe. This delegation advised that such regulations as were necessary be made as liberal as possible. It was urged that while cases may have occurred in which commercial travelers sought to circumvent the customs laws, in these days commercial houses select their traveling men with great care. The section, convinced that the facilitation of the activities of the salesmen would be beneficial for all parties concerned, ventured to suggest the serious consideration of the certificate devised by the Second Congress on Customs Regulations, to which reference has been made. Dr. Luis Zuberbühler, of the Argentine section, presented to the commission an illuminating and compact report upon this subject, in which he analyzed the laws of all the commercial peoples of the world, and submitted a series of recommendations which met with the approval of the commission. He declared that arrangements might be

made by treaty to federalize, consolidate, and reduce the license fees imposed upon commercial travelers, as well as to provide for the temporary admission of samples of commercial value subject to bond.

The United States section notes with satisfaction that the practical recommendations of this commission in this regard have already served as the basis for legislative projects in Argentina. The preparation of a standard form of treaty to secure similar legislation elsewhere will entail no difficulty and is under way.

TOPIC VII.

The other matter with which this committee dealt was also new to the program of Pan American conferences. Arbitration of commercial disputes is a subject to which attention has been drawn in recent years through the activities of the international congresses of chambers of commerce. The fifth of these congresses, held in Boston in 1912, recommended that the United States call an international congress to organize an international court for the settlement of disputes between Governments and aliens. Excellent machinery for the settlement of such cases has, however, already been provided through the action of the Fourth International American Conference, held at Buenos Aires in 1910, in indefinitely extending the availability of the convention on pecuniary claims adopted by the second conference in 1901-2, and temporarily renewed by the third in 1906. It is hoped that steps may be taken to secure the ratification of this convention.

The Sixth International Congress of Chambers of Commerce, which met at Paris in the early summer of 1914, resolved that an international technical conference should be convened for the purpose of working out an international agreement on the arbitration of commercial disputes. For some years the Cotton Manufacturers' Association of Italy and France had a practical arrangement of this sort, and in 1910 the Congress of the International Association of Publishers at Amsterdam agreed on rules for that trade. Consequently, the idea was reasonably familiar, and the sixth international conference formulated it to the extent of calling for international rules. The suggestion was even made that there be established, presumably at The Hague, a permanent bureau to digest and publish the decisions of the chambers of commerce and to revise their arbitral procedure.

On the basis of the work of the international congresses of chambers of commerce, in 1915, and at the suggestion of the Argentine delegation to the Pan American financial conference, negotiations were begun between the Chamber of Commerce of Buenos Aires and that of the United States. The agreement between these bodies, in effect from April, 1916, establishes the method of selecting arbitrators and the procedure of the arbitral boards, and is supplemented with rules for the disposition of merchandise during proceedings.

The commission recommended the adoption of this agreement between all American commercial organizations. It also urged measures for the settlement of commercial controversies of an international nature, thus instructing the central executive council to effect more general ratification of the convention of 1910 on pecuniary claims.