greater, and in some cases very considerably greater, than the increases in the United Kingdom trade.

In many cases increases in United Kingdom re-exports are due to the fact that the products of British Indian and colonial products which formerly went direct to continental ports, such as Hamburg, Rotterdam, or Copenhagen, are now sent to the United Kingdom, and thence distributed to old customers in Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Among such may be mentioned pepper, cinnamon, and other spices (largely the produce of the British East Indies), Indian tea, palm kernels (mainly from British West Africa), and copra (mainly from the Straits Settlements and Australia). The direct trade of the British Overseas Dominions with the port of Hamburg alone is very great in normal times.

In many other instances our re-export trade for the first five months of this year shows a large decline. The following statement gives a few examples of such decreases in re-exports from the United Kingdom to all destinations:

Everything in the statistics I have quoted tends to show that the mercantile community of the United States has made profits proportionately equal to or greater than those of the mercantile community of Great Britain, in respect to all those demands which have inevitably arisen in Scandinavia and the Netherlands as a consequence of the closing of German ports. The total volume of the trade of the United States with these countries has increased 300 per cent., as your Excellency will see from the accompanying table, taken from the United States official Monthly Summary of Foreign Commerce," which shows the comparative value of the total exports of the United States to Scandinavian countries and the Netherlands during the first five

months of 1914 and 1915. The value of the total increase in these exports during this period amounted to 145,658,000 dollars. I have, &c.

E. GREY.

(Inclosure.)—TABLE showing Value of United States Exports.

Note verbale communicated to British Embassy in Washington by the State Department.

THE Department of State begs to acknowledge the receipt of the note verbale of the 6th August, in which the British Embassy states that Sir Edward Grey has requested the Embassy to explain any misapprehension which may have arisen with regard to the British note of the 31st July concerning the steamer Neches, which, it has been asserted, had been interpreted as stating that that vessel's cargo had been seized as a measure of reprisal against Germany's submarine policy.

The Department has taken due note of the Embassy's statements in amplification of that contained in the note of the 31st July mentioned.

Department of State, Washington, August 13, 1915.

AGREEMENT between the Postal Administration of Ceylon and the Postal Administration of the Province of Mozambique.-Colombo, February 9, 1915.*

THE Postmaster-General of Ceylon and the PostmasterGeneral of the province of Mozambique, being desirous of affording greater facilities than those that at present exist for

* "Diário do Governo," No. 93 of 1915. Signed also in the Portuguese language.

the transaction of postal business between their respective Administrations, have, subject to ratification by the respective Governments, entered into the following Agreement:

ART. I. There shall be a regular exchange of parcels and money orders between the province of Mozambique and such other countries and colonies as may be served through Mozambique on the one hand and Ceylon and countries served through Ceylon on the other hand, which shall be effected by means of the ordinary postal service between the province of Mozambique and Ceylon.

Parcels.

II. The office of exchange of parcels shall be the Post Offices of Mozambique, Beira, and Lourenço Marques for Mozambique; and the Post Office of Colombo for Ceylon, subject to alterations by mutual consent between the two Administrations.

III. The maximum limit of weight of a parcel shall be 11 lb. avoirdupois (5 kilog.), and no parcel shall exceed 3 ft. 6 in. in length, or 6 feet (1·90 metres) in length and girth combined.

IV. The postage on parcels up to 5 kilog. (11 lb.) exchanged between the province of Mozambique and Ceylon shall be apportioned as follows:

To the credit of the province of Mozambique, 75 centimes; sea postage, the charge fixed by the Postal Union Parcel Post Convention. To the credit of Ceylon, 75 centimes.

To these rates shall be added, in the case of insured parcels, 5 centimes for the province of Mozambique, 10 centimes for the sea transit, and 5 centimes for Ceylon for every 300 fr. (12.) or fraction thereof of the value declared, with a minimum 25 centimes per packet.

V. It is agreed that either of the parties to this Agreement shall arrange for the transit of parcels addressed from countries out of the Agreement to the other party or countries served through that party. The transit charges to be paid to the province of Mozambique or Ceylon for a parcel of whatever weight not exceeding 5 kilog. shall be 50 centimes and the combined transit and delivery charges to be paid to the province of Mozambique or Ceylon shall be 75 centimes. The terminal and the transit charges to be credited to the province of Mozambique or Ceylon besides the 50 centimes payable by the countries concerned shall be the charges which shall be due for the conveyance of such parcels beyond the country of transit to the place of destination for the determination of which tables in Form A of the Postal Union Parcel Convention Regulations shall be exchanged periodically.

VI. The parcels shall be despatched in mail bags, boxes, or baskets with the ordinary mails. If boxes or baskets be used. the cost thereof and any repairs thereto shall be shared equally between the Postal Department of the province of Mozambique and the Postal Department of Ceylon.

VII. Every parcel shall bear the name and address of the person for whom it is intended, given with such completeness as will enable delivery to be effected. No parcel shall be accepted for transmission unless it be securely packed in such a manner as to protect the contents from damage.

VIII. Every parcel shall be accompanied by a declaration of its contents and value which must be signed by the sender, whose address should be stated. The form of declaration shall also have marked thereon the number of the parcel as shown in the bill, as well as the name of the place to which the parcel is addressed.

IX. No parcel may contain any letter or communication of the nature of a letter or any article chargeable with a higher rate of postage than the parcel tariff. If a parcel be posted with such an enclosure the parcel will be forwarded to its destination charged with postage on the enclosure at the unpaid rate applicable to such enclosure if forwarded through the post separately, and such postage shall be in addition to any other charges to be paid on delivery of the parcel.

No parcel may contain another parcel intended for delivery at an address other than that borne by the parcel itself. If such enclosed parcel be detected it will be withdrawn and sent forward charged with the unpaid postage from the country of origin to the place of destination.

X. Substances of a dangerous, damaging, or offensive nature, or contraband articles or liquids (unless securely packed in proper cases), or any living animal shall not be enclosed in a parcel.

Should any parcel containing any such prohibited article be detected in transit through the post, the parcel will be, without other formality, returned to the despatching office of exchange. The respective Administrations shall communicate to each other a list of the articles which their laws or regulations prohibit from being sent by parcel post.

XI. For each mail there shall be prepared a parcel bill upon which shall be entered the particulars of all parcels forwarded. The parcel bill shall be made out in duplicate, one copy to be retained by the despatching office of exchange and the other copy to accompany the mail to the office of exchange of the country of destination. The parcel bills shall be numbered consecutively commencing with No. 1 on the 1st January in each year, and each entry in a parcel bill shall be numbered consecutively, commencing with No. 1.

XII. Neither of the countries parties to this Agreement will be responsible for the loss of or damage to any parcel, and no indemnity can consequently be claimed from either country by the sender or addressee of a parcel which may become lost or damaged in transmission through the post, except in the case of insured parcels, and up to the limit of their value.

XIII. The maximum limit of value for an insured parcel is fixed subject to alterations from time to time by mutual

consent of the countries parties to this Agreement at 500 fr. (207.).

XIV. In any case affecting parcels not provided for in this agreement the provisions of the Universal Postal Union Parcel Post Convention shall be applied to parcels.

XV. The Postal Administration of each country shall prepare a quarterly account of the amounts entered on the parcels bills received.

The two copies of this account shall be forwarded to the corresponding administration accompanied by all parcel bills and verification certificates, if any, to be examined and accepted.

The creditor country shall make up a general account in duplicate half-yearly in support of already accepted quarterly accounts of both Administrations, and submit it to to the debtor country for acceptance.

This last Administration, after examining the general account, shall return it as soon as possible to the creditor country accompanied by a bank draft payable on demand on a bank in the creditor country for the amount of the balance, the expenses of the draft being paid by the debtor country.

Money Orders.

XVI. The amount of money orders exchanged between the contracting Administrations in both directions shall be expressed in sterling, each Administration having power to make its own arrangements as to rate of conversion and exchange.

XVII. The maximum amount for which a money order may be drawn in either country upon the other shall be 40. No money order shall contain a fraction of a penny.

XVIII. Each Administration of the two contracting countries shall retain the commission or charges on money orders issued within its jurisdiction, but the following shall be the charges due reciprocally

(a.) In respect of money orders exchanged between the contracting countries the country of issue shall pay to the country of payment one-half of 1 per cent. on the total amount of money orders advised for payment.

(b.) In respect of money orders issued on countries not parties to this Agreement through the intermediation of one of the contracting countries, the country of issue shall pay to the intermediary country three-quarters of 1 per cent. on the total amount of money orders advised for payment.

(c.) In respect of money orders issued in countries not parties to this Agreement on one of the contracting countries through the other, the intermediary country shall pay to the other one-quarter of 1 per cent. on the total amount of money orders advised for payment.

XIX. Each Administration of the contracting countries