broken up without any detriment whatever to military advantages, and, consequently, that the stipulation, in Article III., for holding all the departments until a complete evacuation takes place, is no concession to us. The plan indicated in this stipulation is rather a concession to France, the finances and the inhabitants of which will thereby be released from the expense and trouble connected with the billeting of the army of occupation in two departments. The four weeks' respite allowed for the complete evacuation corresponds to the fifteen days agreed to in Article III. of the special Convention of the 29th of June of last year, in that it is not a question of the evacuation of two, but of four departments, and not of the removal of 25,000 but 50,000 men. The occupation of Belfort by our troops until the payment in full of the war indemnity and interest thereon, is a political necessity for us. Otherwise we should not be in a position to justify to public opinion in Germany the earlier evacuation of that place, and I beg of your Excellency not to allow any doubt to exist on the fact that this point is absolutely and imperatively necessary for the accomplishment of a mutual understanding.

"Article IV. has in view the object, on the one hand, of securing the financial interests of the military administration, and, on the other hand, of avoiding the difficulties which would accompany separate regulations with regard to the maintenance of the different bodies of troops.

"The Articles V. and VI. coincide, almost word for word, with Articles VII. and VIII. of the special Convention of the 29th of June of last year. Article V. corresponding to Article VII. of that Convention, limits the neutralisation of the evacuated departments to the date of the complete evacuation of the French territory.

"In the report of your Excellency of the 22nd of February, you suggest that the neutralisation might be prolonged to the 1st of March next year. It cannot be denied that such a pledge on the part of France would be desirable, and I do not hesitate to authorise your Excellency to demand it, should you consider this concession obtainable.

"Article VII. has for its object to obviate the difficulties likely to arise from a negotiation. relative to the agreement about the first two

milliards, and the first payment of interest. This agreement, the last item wherein shows a balance in our favour of 256,911 frs. 45 centimes, was already communicated in October last by your Excellency to the French Government, without any remark having been made about it up to the present time. We must make a point of having this definitely settled.

"I await with deep interest the report of your Excellency on the progress of the negotiations to be entered into.

(Signed)

"VON BISMARCK.'

ARTICLE I.

"France pledges herself to pay by the 10th of May, 1873, the milliard which, according to the arrangement in the 1st Article of the special convention of the 29th of June, 1872, was to fall due on the 1st of March, 1874. The payments on account shall not be less than one hundred millions, and shall be notified to the German Government at least one month before payment. France shall pay the milliard which, according to the above-mentioned arrangement, is to fall due on the 1st of March, 1875, in four instalments of two hundred and fifty millions each, on the 1st of

June, the 1st of July, the 1st of August, and the 1st of September, 1873. Simultaneously with the last payment, France shall pay to the German Government the interest accumulated since March 1873."

ARTICLE II.

"The regulations laid down in the third paragraph of Article VII. of the treaty of peace of the 10th of May, 1871, apply to all payments made in accordance with the preceding article.

ARTICLE III.

"His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia, shall order, on the 1st of July, 1873, after the payment of the second instalment of two hundred and fifty millions due on that day, the evacuation of the departments of the Ardennes, Vosges, Meuse and Meurthe-etMoselle,-which the German troops shall occupy until that date,—and will cause it to take place within four weeks at the latest. The evacuation of the arrondissement of Belfort will take place after the payment of the two hundred and fifty millions, and the interest due on the 1st of September, 1873."

ARTICLE IV.

"France undertakes the maintenance of the German troops quartered in the departments of the Vosges, Ardennes, Meuse, and Meurthe-etMoselle, up to the day of the complete evacuation of those departments, as well as the maintenance of the troops quartered in the arrondissement of Belfort, until the evacuation of that part."

ARTICLE V.

"Until the evacuation of the arrondissement of Belfort, the departments mentioned in Article III. shall, after their evacuation by the German troops, be declared neutral in a military sense, and only such French troops shall be stationed therein as are necessary to garrison these departments with a view to the maintenance of order. France shall not have the right of erecting therein any new fortifications, nor of strengthening those already existing there.

"His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia, shall not cause to be constructed, in the departments occupied by the