with a view to the rectification of all abuses and the improvement of the lot of prisoners on both sides.

Detailed and conscientious reports of the conditions discovered at these inspections shall be mutually exchanged by the two parties through the medium of the protecting Power. III. In view of the detention of a number of children born in the British Empire of German parents, the German delegates thought it necessary that the Agreement should. contain a provision to the effect that children under age of persons who are eligible for repatriation shall be repatriated, provided that they have on the coming into force of the Agreement of the 14th July, 1918, no military obligations in the State where they at present reside, if one of their parents or their guardian wishes it and if no objection is raised by the other parent, provided that the child, if over the age of 15 years, desires to leave. The British delegates objected to the insertion of such a provision in the Agreement, since the children described above are British subjects. At the same time, the British delegates undertook that the wishes of the German delegates that the departure of these children should be permitted should be carefully examined and considered before the Agreement comes into effect.

The German delegates took cognisance of the above, with the observation that they anticipate a prompt and satisfactory settlement of the question.

IV. The German delegates expressed the opinion that among the twenty German civilians not of military age, whom it is permissible for the British to retain under a former Agreement, there are certain persons whose retention does not appear justifiable under that Agreement, since they were over 55 years of age at the time of the conclusion of the Agreement in question. The persons concerned are those whose names are denoted by the numbers 3, 4, 5, 15 and 17 in the British list of the twenty Germans retained, namely, Herr Wirtz, Dr. Mensching, Dr. Duenschmann, Herr Smidt, Herr Goldhagen.

The German delegates proposed that these persons should be repatriated or interned in a neutral country, or that, if they are to be retained, they should at least be set at liberty and only subjected to police supervision. The same proposal applies to Herr Koettgen and Herr von Luettwitz, noted in the British list under numbers 10 and 19, who are recommended for consideration on account of their physical ill-health. The same number of British civilians, who are being detained in Germany under the above-mentioned Agreement, would be treated in the same manner by the German Government.

The British delegates, while maintaining that the persons

mentioned above were being justly retained, undertook on their return to England to submit the German proposals to the competent authorities for examination and to recommend them for consideration.

V. As it was not possible at this Conference to arrive at an Agreement with regard to the recognition of the persons coming under the designation of medical personnel, both delegations will recommend to their respective Governments that this question should be settled by a special Agreement.

NEWTON.
FRIEDRICH.

(No 2.)-Declaration by the Netherlands Minister for Foreign Affairs.

LE Gouvernement des Pays-Bas se déclare en principe tout disposé à collaborer avec les Gouvernements allemand et britannique à la mise en œuvre de l'arrangement intervenu entre les délégués des deux pays en tant que les dispositions de cet acte le prévoient. Des considérations d'ordre constitutionnel pourraient demander que les points qui réclament spécialement la collaboration des Pays-Bas soient consignés dans des arrangements à conclure avec chacun des Gouvernements précités.

En vue des difficultés croissantes relatives à la situation économique des Pays-Bas, le Gouvernement de la Reine. heureux de pourvoir offrir l'hospitalité à des prisonniers de guerre, mais tenant compte en même temps des préoccupations du public néerlandais, doit se réserver de faire dépendre sa collaboration définitive du règlement de certaines questions d'ordre économique et financier, en particulier, sur le point de l'utilisation éventuelle des navires mentionnés dans l'Annexe 1 sous le No. 3, pour le transport aux Pays-Bas des marchandises nécessaires à l'approvisionnement du pays. Le Ministre des Affaires Étrangères,

La Haye, le 14 juillet, 1918.

J. LOUDON.

(No. 3.) An Agreement between the British and the German Governments concerning Combatant Prisoners of War and Civilians.

I.-REPATRIATION AND INTERNMENT IN NEUTRAL COUNTRIES OF COMBATANTS AND CIVILIANS.

1. Extension of Existing Agreements.

ART. I.-Warrant officers and non-commissioned officers,* as well as men, who have been prisoners of war for more than eighteen months on the date on which this Agreement comes into force, shall be repatriated head for head, and rank for rank, with the exception of the prisoners specified in Article 8.

For the purpose of this exchange no distinction shall be made between the different ranks of the warrant officers and non-commissioned officers.

From the date on which this Agreement comes into force, paragraph 11 of The Hague Agreement of the 2nd July, 1917, shall only apply to officers.

II.-All combatant prisoners of war who are interned in the Netherlands and in Switzerland in accordance with existing agreements on the date on which this Agreement comes into force shall, with the co-operation of the Netherlands and Swiss Governments, be repatriated without regard to the surplus. Subject to the consent of the Netherlands Government, the same shall apply to all other members of the forces of the two countries who are interned in the Netherlands on the date on which this Agreement comes into force.

III. The civilian subjects of each of the two parties, including all officers and other ratings of the mercantile marine, who are in any territory which is in the power of the other party on the date on which this Agreement comes into force, shall, regardless of age and sex, be repatriated if they so desire. The British Government shall, however, have the right to retain a number not exceeding seventy, and the German Government a number not exceeding forty, including in each case those retained by virtue of previous Agreements.

IV. The surplus of valid German civilians to be repatriated under the provisions of Article III shall be met by the surplus of British combatants to be repatriated from neutral countries in pursuance of Article II. The number of these British combatants shall be taken as 4,820, composed as follows:

The expression

warrant officers and non-commissioned officers" throughout this Agreement includes the equivalent naval ratings.

+ Page 257.

(a.) 320 officers and 2,200 warrant and non-commissioned officers interned in Holland under The Hague Agreement of the 2nd July, 1917.

(b.) 2,300 combatants of all ranks, including those interned in Holland by order of the Netherlands Government.

If these numbers are not reached, the deficiency shall be made up by the repatriation from Germany of an equal number of valid British combatant prisoners of war, who shall be of corresponding ranks, in so far as concerns subparagraph (a) above.

Should the number of valid British civilians who are repatriated in pursuance of Article III amount to less than 6,000, the deficiency shall be made up by the repatriation of an equal number of valid British combatant prisoners of war.

It is further provided that if the number of valid German civilians who are repatriated in pursuance of Article III exceeds 20,000, one valid British combatant prisoner of war shall be repatriated for every thrée German civilians above that number.

The selection of the combatant prisoners of war referred to in the three preceding paragraphs shall be made according to priority of capture.

For the purpose of this article a valid ("diensttauglich ") combatant or a valid (“wehrfähig ") civilian shall be deemed to be one who is not eligible for repatriation under any previous Agreement.

V.--Civilians, including officers and other ratings of the mercantile marine, interned in the Netherlands in accordance with The Hague Agreement of the 2nd July, 1917, shall be repatriated as soon as possible with the co-operation of the Netherlands Government.

VI. Members of the German forces in tropical regions who have been captured, or who may be captured, by the British forces, shall, failing their repatriation under the provisions of this or any other Agreement, be transferred to Great Britain as soon as opportunity offers.

VII. The provisions of paragraph 11 of The Hague Agreement of the 2nd July, 1917, shall be extended so as to include German officers in British oversea Dominions and Protectorates and occupied territories.

VIII. The petty officers and men of submarines who have been in captivity for more than eighteen months on the date on which this Agreement comes into force shall be interned in the Netherlands.

IX. The transport of the persons referred to in Articles I to VIII shall be carried out as provided in Annexes I and II to this Agreement. The necessary measures shall be taken as soon as this Agreement comes into force.

X.-Combatant prisoners of war who, on the date on which this Agreement comes into force, have not fulfilled the conditions set forth in Article I thereof, shall be exchanged as soon as possible after becoming qualified.

XI.-The foregoing provisions shall be brought to the notice of those whom they concern by repeated insertions in the press and by notices in the camps.

XII. Representatives of the protecting Powers are empowered to supervise the execution of the provisions of Articles I to XI.

XIII.-Lists of those civilians who wish to leave the territory of the State where they are residing shall be furnished without delay to their Government.

XIV. The provisions of Articles I and VIII of this Agreement and of paragraph 11 of The Hague Agreement of the 2nd July, 1917, shall lapse on the 1st August, 1919. The termination shall not affect those persons who are eligible for repatriation or internment in neutral countries on the date when the provisions lapse.

2. Further Provisions with regard to Wounded and Sick Combatant Prisoners of War.

XV.-Visits to camps by Travelling Medical Commissions shall be resumed. Each such Commission shall be composed of two neutral doctors and one doctor of the captor State. The function of these Commissions shall be to ascertain the combatant prisoners of war who are eligible for repatriation or internment in a neutral country on grounds of their physical condition, and their decisions shall be made in accordance with the schedules of disabilities agreed between the two Governments.

Travelling Commissions shall visit the camps in the. United Kingdom and Germany once every three months. Paragraphs 7 and 9 of The Hague Agreement of the 2nd July, 1917, are hereby cancelled.

XVI. The following prisoners of war shall be brought before the Travelling Commissions, whether they are in camps or in working parties:

1. Those recommended by Camp Medical Officers in lists. drawn up by them;

2. Those whose names are proposed by the Government of their country of origin to the Government of the captor State;

3. Those recommended by Help Committees of camps. (See Article 51.)

For the purpose mentioned in paragraph 1, sub-paragraph 3, the Help Committees of camps shall be authorised