convention, in its turn, was the outgrowth of conventions before it. This revised convention of 1906 must stand, therefore, as probably the best of all illustrations of the development of world law. After the opening in due form, it proceeds as follows:

ARTICLE 1. DEFINITION OF THE POSTAL UNION

The countries between which the present convention is concluded, as well as those which may adhere to it hereafter, form, under the title of Universal Postal Union, a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of correspondence between their post offices.

ARTICLE 2. ARTICLES TO WHICH THE CONVENTION APPLIES The stipulations of this convention extend to letters, post cards, both single and with reply paid, printed papers of every kind, commercial papers, and samples of merchandise originating in one of the countries of the union and intended for another of those countries. They also apply to the exchange by mail of the articles above mentioned between the countries of the union and countries foreign to the union, whenever the services of two of the contracting parties at least are used for that exchange.

ARTICLE 3. CONVEYANCE OF MAILS BETWEEN CONTIGUOUS COUNTRIES; THIRD SERVICES

(1) The postal administrations of contiguous countries, or countries able to correspond directly with each other without availing themselves of the services of a third administration, determine, by common consent, the conditions of the conveyance of the mails which they exchange across the frontier or from one frontier to the other.

(2) In the absence of any contrary arrangement, the direct sea conveyance between two countries by means of packets or vessels depending upon one of them is considered as a third service; and this conveyance, as well as any performed between two offices of the same country, by the medium of sea or territorial services maintained by another country, is regulated by the stipulations of the following article.

ARTICLE 4. TRANSIT RATES

(1) The right of transit is guaranteed throughout the entire territory of

the union.

(2) Consequently the several postal administrations of the union may send reciprocally, through the medium of one or of several of them, either closed mails or articles in open mail, according to the needs of the traffic and the convenience of the postal service.

(3) Articles exchanged in closed mails between two administrations of the union, by means of the services of one or of several other administrations of the union,

are subject to the following transit charges to be paid to each of the countries traversed or whose services participate in the conveyance, viz.:

Ist. For territorial transits:

a. I franc 50 centimes per kilogram of letters and post cards and 20 centimes per kilogram of other articles, if the distance traversed does not exceed 3000 kilometers;

b. 3 francs per kilogram of letters and post cards and 40 centimes per kilogram of other articles, if the distance traversed exceeds 3000 kilometers but does not exceed 6000 kilometers;

c. 4 francs 50 centimes per kilogram of letters and post cards and 60 centimes per kilogram of other articles, if the distance traversed exceeds 6000 kilometers but does not exceed 9000 kilometers;

d. 6 francs per kilogram of letters and post cards and 80 centimes per kilogram of other articles, if the distance traversed exceeds 9000 kilometers.

2d. For sea transits:

a. I franc 50 centimes per kilogram of letters and post cards and 20 centimes per kilogram of other articles, if the distance traversed does not exceed 300 nautical miles. Sea conveyance over a distance not exceeding 300 nautical miles is, however, gratuitous if the administration concerned already receives, on account of the mails conveyed, the remuneration applicable to territorial transit;

b. 4 francs per kilogram of letters and post cards and 50 centimes per kilogram of other articles, exchanged over a distance exceeding 300 nautical miles between European countries, between Europe and ports of Africa and Asia on the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, or between one of these ports and another, and between Europe and North America. The same rates are applicable to conveyance, by services open to the whole union, between two ports of a single state, as well as between the ports of two states served by the same line of packets when the sea transit involved does not exceed 1500 nautical miles;

c. 8 francs per kilogram of letters and post cards and 1 franc per kilogram of other articles, for all transits not included in the categories given above in paragraphs a and b.

In the case of sea conveyance effected by two or more administrations, the charges paid for the entire transit cannot exceed 8 francs per kilogram of letters and post cards and 1 franc per kilogram of other articles; these charges are, when occasion arises, shared between the administrations participating in the service, in proportion to the distances traversed, without prejudice to any other arrangement which may be made between the parties interested.

(4) Correspondence exchanged in open mail between two administrations of the union are subject to the following transit charges per article, and irrespective of weight or destination, namely: letters, 6 centimes each; post cards, 24 centimes each; other articles, 2 centimes each.

(5) The transit rates specified in the present article do not apply to conveyance within the union by means of extraordinary services specially established or maintained by one administration at the request of one or several other administrations. The conditions of this category of conveyance are regulated by mutual consent between the administrations concerned.

Moreover, in all cases where the transit, either by land or by sea, is at present gratuitous or subject to more advantageous conditions, such state of things is maintained.

Nevertheless, territorial transit services exceeding 3000 kilometers may profit by the provisions of paragraph (3) of the present article.

(6) The expenses of transit are borne by the administration of the country of origin.

(7) The general accounting for those expenses takes place on the basis of statements prepared once in every six years, during a period of twenty-eight days to be determined in the detailed regulations provided for in Article 20 hereafter.

For the period between the date on which the convention of Rome comes into force and the date on which the transit statistics mentioned in the detailed regulations provided for in Article 20 become operative, transit rates will be paid in accordance with the stipulations of the convention of Washington.

(8) The articles mentioned in paragraphs (3) and (4) of Article 11 hereafter, the reply halves of double post cards returned to the country of origin, articles redirected or missent, undelivered articles, advices of delivery, post-office money orders, and all other documents relative to the postal service are exempt from all charges for territorial or sea transit.

(9) When the annual balance of the transit accounts between two administrations does not exceed 1000 francs, the debtor administration is relieved of all payment on that account.

ARTICLE 5. RATES OF POSTAGE AND GENERAL CONDITIONS

(1) The rates of postage for the conveyance of postal articles throughout the entire extent of the union, including their delivery at the residence of the addressees in the countries of the union where a delivery is or shall be organized, are fixed as follows:

Ist. For letters, 25 centimes in case of prepayment, and double that amount in the contrary case, for each letter not exceeding 20 grams in weight; and 15 centimes in case of prepayment, and double that amount in the contrary case, for every weight of 20 grams or fraction of 20 grams above the initial weight of 20 grams;

2d. For post cards, in case of prepayment, 10 centimes for single cards or for each of the two halves of reply post cards, and double that amount in the contrary case;

3d. For printed papers of every kind, commercial papers, and samples of merchandise, 5 centimes for each article or packet bearing a particular address and for every weight of 50 grams or fraction of 50 grams, provided that such article or packet does not contain any letter or manuscript note having the character of actual and personal correspondence, and that it be made up in such a manner as to admit of its being easily examined.

The charge on commercial papers cannot be less than 25 centimes per packet, and the charge on samples cannot be less than 10 centimes per packet.'

(2) In addition to the rates fixed by the preceding paragraph there may be levied :

1st. For every article subject to the sea-transit charges prescribed in paragraph (3), 2d, c, of Article 4, and in all the relations to which these transit rates are applicable, a uniform surtax which may not exceed 25 centimes per single rate for letters, 5 centimes per post card, and 5 centimes per 50 grams or fraction of 50 grams for other articles;

2d. For every article conveyed by means of services maintained by administrations foreign to the union, or of extraordinary services in the union giving rise to special expenses, a surcharge in proportion to those expenses.

When the rate of prepayment for the single post card comprises one or other of the surcharges authorized in the two preceding paragraphs, the same rate is applicable to each half of the reply-paid post card.

(3) In case of insufficient prepayment, correspondence of every kind is liable to a charge equal to double the amount of the deficiency, to be paid by the addressees; but that charge may not exceed that which is levied in the country of destination on unpaid correspondence of the same nature, weight, and origin. (4) Articles other than letters and post cards must be prepaid at least partly. (5) Packets of samples of merchandise may not contain any article having a salable value; they must not exceed 350 grams in weight, or measure more than 30 centimeters in length, 20 centimeters in breadth, and 10 centimeters in depth, or, if they are in the form of a roll, 30 centimeters in length and 15 centimeters in diameter.

(6) Packets of commercial papers and printed papers may not exceed 2 kilograms in weight, or measure more than 45 centimeters in any direction. Packets in the form of a roll may, however, be allowed to pass through the post so long as they do not exceed 10 centimeters in diameter and 75 centimeters in length.

(7) Stamps or forms of prepayment obliterated or not, as well as all printed papers constituting the sign of a monetary value, save the exceptions authorized by the detailed regulations provided for in Article 20 of the present convention, are excluded from transmission at the reduced rate.

ARTICLE 6. REGISTERED ARTICLES; RETURN RECEIPTS;
REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

(1) The articles specified in Article 5 may be registered.

The reply halves of reply-paid post cards cannot, however, be registered by the original senders of such cards.

(2) Every registered article is liable, at the charge of the sender:

Ist. To the ordinary prepaid rate of postage on the article, according to its

nature.

2d. To a fixed registration fee of 25 centimes at most, including a receipt given to the sender.

(3) The sender of a registered article may obtain an advice of the delivery of such article, by paying, at the time when he asks for such an advice, a fixed fee

of 25 centimes at most. The same fee may be charged for inquiries concerning registered articles, if the sender has not already paid the special fee for an advice of delivery.

ARTICLE 7. ARTICLES MARKED WITH TRADE CHARGES

(1) Registered articles may be sent marked with trade charges to be collected on delivery between countries of which the administrations agree to provide this service. These articles are subject to the same regulations and rates as registered articles. The maximum trade charge which may be collected on any one registered article is fixed at 1000 francs or at the equivalent of that sum.

(2) In the absence of any contrary arrangement between the administrations of the countries concerned, the amount collected from the addressee is to be transmitted to the sender by means of a money order, after deducting a commission of 10 centimes for the service of collection, and the ordinary rate chargeable for money orders calculated on the amount of the balance.

The amount of an undeliverable money order of this kind remains at the disposal of the administration of the country in which the article marked with a trade charge originated.

(3) For the loss of a registered article marked with a trade charge the responsibility of the postal service is fixed under the conditions laid down in Article 8 hereafter for registered articles not marked with trade charges.

After the delivery of the article the administration of the country of destination is responsible for the amount of the trade charge, unless it can prove that the conditions prescribed for such articles by the detailed regulations contemplated in Article 20 of the present convention have not been fulfilled. Nevertheless the omission from the letter bill of the entry "Remb." and of the amount of the trade charge does not affect the responsibility of the administration of the country of destination for failing to collect the amount.

ARTICLE 8. RESPONSIBILITY FOR REGISTERED ARTICLES

(1) In case of the loss of a registered article, and except in cases beyond control, the sender, or, at the request of the sender, the addressee, is entitled to an indemnity of 50 francs.

(2) Countries prepared to undertake risks arising from causes beyond control are authorized to collect from the sender on this account a supplementary rate of not more than 25 centimes for each registered article.

(3) The obligation of paying the indemnity rests with the administration to which the dispatching office is subordinate. To that administration is reserved a remedy against the administration responsible, that is to say, against the administration on the territory or in the service of which the loss took place.

In case of the loss, under circumstances beyond control, on the territory or in the service of a country undertaking the risks mentioned in the preceding paragraph, of a registered article sent from another country, the country where the loss occurred is responsible for it to the dispatching office, if the latter undertakes risks in cases beyond control in dealing with its own public.