Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 31.djvu/1971

 CONVENTION AS TO AFRICA. JUNE 8, 1899. 1919 Who, furnished with powers in good and due form, have adopted the following provisions:—— ARTICLE I. From the coming into force of the present _Convention, the import Hi£¤g<;rr¤_&¤;_;>‘r;·¤> duty on spirituous liquors, as that duty is regulated by the General if j `F U' il " Act of Brussels, shall be raised throughout the zone where there does not exist the system of total prohibition provided by Article XCI of the said General Act, to the rate of 70 fr. the hectolitre at 50 degrees centigrade for a period of six years. It may, exceptionally, be at the rate of 60 fr. only the hectolitre at 50 degrees centigrade in the Colony of Togo and in that of Dahomey. The import duty shall be augmented proportionally for each degree above 50 degrees centigrade; it may be `diminished proportionally for each degree below 50 egrees centigrade. At the end of the above—mentioned period of six years, the import gygjsggf aim Six duty shall be submitted to revision, taking as a basis the results pro-" ` duced by the preceding rate. The Powers retain the right of maintaining and increasing the duty beyond the minimum fixed by the present Article in the regions where they now possess that right. ARTICLE II. In accordance with Article XCIII of the General Act of Brussels, E"°‘s“ d““" distilled drinks made in the regions mentioned in Article XCII of the. slaid General Act, and intended for consumption, shall pay an excise uty. - This excise duty, the collection of which the Powers undertake to » insure as far as possible, shall not be lower than the minimum import duty fixed by A1 ticle 1 of the present Convention. A ARTICLE III. It is understood that the powers who signed the General Act of- (,0§§,$,*},§,§,‘§,_"‘l"*"" ‘° Brussels, or who have adhered to it, and who are not represented at the present Conference, preserve the right of adhering to the present Convention. ARTICLE IV. The present Convention shall be ratified within the shortest possible Raml°*m°HS` period, and such period shall not in any case exceed one year. Each Power shall address its ratification to the Government of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, which shall give notice thereof to all the other powers signatory of the present Convention. The ratifications of all the Powers shall be deposited in the archives of the Kingdom of Belgium. As soon as all the ratifications have been produced, or at latest one Pr°°°°°l‘ year after the signature of the present Convention, their deposit shall be recorded in a Protocol which shall be signed by the Representatives of all the Powers who shall have ratified. A certified copy of this Protocol shall be addressed to all the Powers interested. ARTICLE V. The present Convention shall come into force in all the possessions mm' of the Contracting Powers situated in the zone defined by Article XC of the General Act of Brussels on the thirtieth day after the date of