Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 16.djvu/1013

 CONVENTION WITH THE NORTH GERMAN UNION. 00*1*. 21, 1867. 979 Convention agreed upon between the Post Department: of me United States of America and of the North German Union for thc Amelioration of the Postal Service between the two Countries. Aarrcnn I. There shall be an exchanve of corres ndence between g the United States of America and the Ndrth Germanplinion, by means of their respective post departments; and this correspondence shall Goniispondgmbpgcg ; ... ence to be BX- lst. Letters ordinary and registered. bdzrmgdgahe 2d. Newspapers, book-packets, prints of all kinds, (comprising maps, Wimplans, engravings, drawings, photographs, lithographs, and all other like productions of mechanical processes, sheets of music, &c.,) and patterns or samples of merchandise, including grains and seeds. And such correspondence may be exchanged, whether originating in either of said countries and destined for the other, or originating in or destined for foreign countries to which these may respectively serve as intermediaries. Anrxcnm II. The offices for the exchan of mails shall — 0¤i¤¤¤ for ¤'¤- (a) on the part of the United States? bc, °b°"'g° °f mw Ist. New York. 2d. Boston. 3d. Portland. 4th. Detroit. 5th. Chicago. (b) on the part of the North German Union: lst. Aachen, (Aix la Chapelle.) 2d. Bremen. 3d. Hamburg. The two post departments may at any time discontinue either of said offices of exchange, or establish others by mutual consent. Aarrcnn III. Each officc shall make its own arrangements for the Arrangements despatch of its mails to the other office by regular lines of communica- 2;,‘;s“§;°h °£ tion; and should at its own cost pay the expense of such intermediate coégottmnstransportation. P°Y*°·¤°¤· The two offices, however, mutually agree, that, in making contracts for Contracts for the despatch of mails from American ports, or from European ports, d°$iE*°h ef those steamers and lines should always be employed, so far as consistent um ` with the rates of postage, by which the mails despatched shall earliest arrive at their destination; and when the speed is substantially the same, that the most favorable pecuniary conditions should be preferred. It is alsoagreed that the cost of international ocean and territorial transit of the closed mails between the respective frontiers shall be first defrayed by that one of the two departments which shall have obtained from the intermediaries the most favorable pecuniary terms for such conveyance; and any amount so advanced by one for account of the other shall be promptly reimbursed. Anricma IV. The standard weight for the single rate of international _Weight for postage, and rule of progression, shall be :—- 1st. For letters, 15 grammes. postage, 2d. For all other correspondence mentioned in paragraph two of the Erst. article, that which the despatching office shall adopt for the mails which it despatches to the other, adapted to the convenience and habits of its interior administration. But each office shall give notice to the other of the standard weight it adopts, and of any subsequent change thereoi