Que la Norvège n'a pris de mesures en quelque manière correspondantes qu'en y plaçant à une époque postérieure au balisage et pour un court laps de temps une bouée sonore, dont les frais d'établissement et d'entretien ne pourraient même être comparés à ceux du balisage et du bateau-phare;

Que de ce qui précède ressort que la Suède n'a pas douté de son droit aux Grisbådarna et qu'elle n'a pas hésité d'encourir les frais incombant au propriétaire et possesseur de ces bancs jusque même à un montant très considérable;

Quant aux mesurages de mer,

Que la Suède a procédé la première et une trentaine d'années avant le commencement de toute contestation, à des mesurages exacts, laborieux et coûteux des parages de Grisbådarna, tandis que les mesurages faits quelques années plus tard par les soins de la Norvège n'ont même pas atteint les limites des mesurages suédois :

Considérant donc qu'il n'est pas douteux du tout que l'attribution des bancs de Grisbådarna à la Suède est en parfaite concordance avec les circonstances les plus importantes de fait;

Considérant, qu'une démarcation, qui attribue les Skjöttegrunde la partie la moins importante du territoire litigieuxà la Norvège se trouve suffisamment appuyée, de son côté, par la circonstance de fait sérieuse que, quoiqu'on doive conclure des divers documents et témoignages, que les pêcheurs suédoiscomme il a été dit plus haut-ont exercé la pêche dans les parages en litige depuis un temps plus reculé, dans une plus large mesure et en plus grand nombre, il est certain d'autre part que les pêcheurs norvégiens n'y ont été jamais exclus de la pêche;

Que, en outre, il est avéré qu'aux Skjöttegrunde, les pêcheurs norvégiens ont presque de tout temps, et d'une manière relativement bien plus efficace qu'aux Grisbadarna, pris part à la pêche aux homards.

Par ces motifs:

Le tribunal décide et prononce :

Que la frontière maritime entre la Norvège et la Suède, en tant qu'elle n'a pas été réglée par la Résolution Royale du 15 mars, 1904, est déterminée comme suit:

Du point XVIII, situé comme il est indiqué sur la carte annexée au projet des commissaires norvégiens et suédois du 18 août, 1897, une ligne droite est tracée au point XIX, formant le point de milieu d'une ligne droite tirée du récif le plus septentrional des Röskären au récif le plus méridional des Svartskjär, celui qui est muni d'une balise,

Du point XIX ainsi fixé une ligne droite est tracée au point XX, formant le point de milieu d'une ligne droite tirée du récif le plus septentrional du groupe des récifs Stora Drammen au récif le Hejeknub situé au sud-est de l'île Heja,

Du point XX une ligne droite est tracée dans une direction ouest, 19 degrés au sud, laquelle ligne passe au milieu entre les

Grisbådarna et le Skjöttegrund sud et se prolonge dans la même direction jusqu'à ce qu'elle aura atteint la mer libre.

Fait à La Haye, le 23 octobre, 1909, dans l'Hôtel de la Cour permanente d'Arbitrage.

Le Secrétaire général :

MICHIELS VAN VERDUYNEN.

Le Secrétaire :

RÖELL.

Le Président :

J. A. LOEFF.

ARBITRATION CONVENTION between the United States of America and the Republic of Paraguay.-Signed at Asuncion, March 13, 1909.

[Ratifications exchanged at Asuncion, October 2, 1909.]

THE Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Paraguay, signatories of the Convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes, concluded at The Hague on the 29th July, 1899;*

Taking into consideration that by Article XIX of that Convention the High Contracting Parties have reserved to themselves the right of concluding agreements with a view to referring to arbitration all questions which they shall consider possible to submit to such treatment;

Have authorized the undersigned to conclude the following Convention:

ART. I. Differences which may arise of a legal nature, or relating to the interpretation of Treaties existing between the two Contracting Parties, and which it may not have been possible to settle by diplomacy, shall be referred to the Permanent Court of Arbitration established at The Hague by the Convention of the 29th July, 1899, provided, nevertheless, that they do not affect the vital interests, the independence, or the honour of the two Contracting States, and do not concern the interests of third Parties.

II. In each individual case the High Contracting Parties, before appealing to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, shall conclude a special agreement defining clearly the matter in dispute, the scope of the powers of the arbitrators, and the periods to be fixed for the formation of the arbitral tribunal and the several stages of the procedure. It is understood that on the part of the United States such special agreements will be

*Vol. XCI, page 970.

made by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and on the part of Paraguay shall be subject to the procedure required by her laws.

III. The present Convention is concluded for a period of five years dating from the day of the exchange of the ratifications.

IV. The present Convention shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by the President of Paraguay, with the previous approval of the Legislative Congress. The ratifications shall be exchanged at Asuncion as soon as possible, and the Convention shall take effect on the date of the exchange of its ratifications.

Done in duplicate, in the English and Spanish languages, at Asuncion, this 13th day of March, 1909.

(L.S.) EDWARD C. O'BRIEN (L.S.) MANUEL GONDRA

AGREEMENT between the Government of Venezuela and the "Compagnie française des Câbles télégraphiques" settling disputed Questions between the Government and the Company, and granting Exclusive Rights of Cablegraphic Communications with other Countries.-Signed at Carácas, May 11, 1909.*

(Translation.)

Office of the Attorney-General of the Nation. THE Undersigned, Dr. Juvenal Anzola, acting in his capacity of Attorney-General of the Nation, and by the express instructions of the Federal Executive, as appears from the official note No. 820 of the Minister of the Interior, dated the 10th May, 1909, hereto annexed, on the one part; and, on the other, Désiré Brun, the representative of the "Compagnie française des Câbles télégraphiques," as appears from the power of attorney herewith annexed, in original (to be returned, after a certified copy has been deposited with the records of the proceedings), hereby

declare

That, in order to bring to an absolute and definitive end all pending questions and claims between the United States of Venezuela and the "Compagnie française des Câbles télégraphiques"-no matter what their source or nature-they have agreed to conclude, and do hereby conclude the Agreement contained in the following Articles:

ART. 1. The "Compagnie française des Câbles télégraphiques" recognizes and accepts the dissolution of the contract made by it with the National Government on the 23rd April, 1895, as decreed by a decision of the Federal Court of Cassation on the 4th August, 1905.

* "Official Gazette," May 11, 1909.

2. The "Compagnie française des Câbles télégraphiques (henceforward to be styled the "Company") cedes and hands over as the possession and property of the Government of Venezuela the coastwise cables laid down betwen La Guayra and Puerto Cabello, between La Vela de Coro and Maracaibo, and between La Guayra, Higuerote, Guanta, Cumaná, Porlamar, and Carúpano, and the land-lines and offices appertaining to those cables, with all apparatus, furniture, and accessories at present belonging thereto, all in the condition in which they are at present.

3. The National Government grants to the Company the exclusive right of maintaining cablegraphic communication between Venezuela and the outside world for a period of twenty years, under the provisions and conditions of the special contract between the Minister of Development and the said Company-a contract to be incorporated with the present Agreement, and to form an integral portion thereof.

4. All actions and executions at present pending between the nation and the Company are hereby terminated, to which effect this document in original shall be annexed to the proceedings in connection with the action now being brought by the nation against the above-mentioned Company before the Superior Court of this district. A certified copy of the same document shall be produced in order that it may be annexed to the papers of the case heard before the Federal Court of Cassation for the dissolution of the contract referred to.

5. Both parties formally and for ever renounce their rights to any shares and claims arising out of the matters which have been the subject of litigation between them.

6. Failure to comply with these provisions by either of the parties to this Agreement will, ipso facto, lead to its dissolution.

7. The present Agreement will be ratified by the "Compagnie française des Câbles télégraphiques" in conformity with its statutes at the next meeting of the shareholders.

Done in duplicate, &c., Carácas, the 11th May, 1909.

JUVENAL ANZOLA.
DÉSIRÉ BRUN.

TELEGRAPHIC CONTRACT between the Government of Venezuela and the "Compagnie générale des Cables télégraphiques."-Signed at Caracas, May 11, 1909.†

(Translation.)

Ministry of Development.

THE Minister of Development of the United States of Venezuela, duly authorized thereto by the Federal Executive, on the one part; and, on the other, M. Désiré Brun, a French

See below.

"Official Gazette," May 11, 1909. Contract of July 6, 1909. Page 954.

Amended by Supplementary

citizen, in transit through the city, acting as the representative of the "Compagnie générale des Câbles télégraphiques," have agreed to conclude, and do hereby conclude, the following contract:—

ART. 1. The National Government grants to the "Compagnie générale des Câbles télégraphiques," henceforward to be called the "Contracting Company," the exclusive right of cablegraphic communication between Venezuela and the exterior, employing for that purpose the line already laid by it between La Guayra and Curaçao, thence to Santo Domingo, in the Republic of the same name, and thence by land line to Puerto Plata, continuing by cable to Cap Haytien, and from that point to New York.

2. The privilege mentioned in the foregoing Article shall hold good over a period of twenty years, to count from the date of this contract.

3. The National Government also grants to the Contracting Company, over the same period of twenty years, the right of preference over third parties and, under equal conditions, of laying down any other systems of communication invented, or to be invented.

4. The Contracting Company will continue to work the line which it already possesses between La Vela de Coro and Curaçao for cablegraphic communication with the towns in the west of the Republic; but the National Government, whenever it shall consider it necessary, shall be able to suspend the service along this section of the cable without incurring any obligation to indemnify the Contracting Company.

5. The Contracting Company agrees to charge per word on every cablegram sent over its line, the rates of the following tariff, which is to remain uniform not only with regard to the point of departure, but to that of the destination of the cablegrams: