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+# Treaty of Versailles 1919
+
+# Source: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/partviii.asp
+
+The Avalon Project : The Versailles Treaty June 28, 1919
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+The Versailles Treaty June 28, 1919 : Part VIII
+Main Menu
+Part I
+Part II
+Part III
+Part IV
+Part V
+Part VI
+Part VII
+Part VIII
+Part IX
+Part X
+Part XI
+Part XII
+Part XIII
+Part XIV
+Part XV
+PART VIII. REPARATION.
+SECTION l
+GENERAL PROVISIONS
+ARTICLE 231.
+The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of Germany and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.
+ARTICLE: 232.
+The Allied and Associated Governments recognise that the resources of Germany are not adequate, after taking into account permanent diminutions of such resources which will result from other provisions of the present Treaty, to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage.
+The Allied and Associated Governments, however, require, and Germany undertakes, that she will make compensation for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allied and Associated Powers and to their property during the period of the belligerency of each as an Allied or Associated Power against Germany by such aggression by land, by sea and from the air, and in general all damage as defined in Annex l hereto.
+In accordance with Germany's pledges, already given, as to complete restoration for Belgium, Germany undertakes, in addition to the compensation for damage elsewhere in this Part provided for, as a consequence of the violation of the Treaty of 1839, to make reimbursement of all sums which Belgium has borrowed from the Allied and Associated Governments up to November 11, 1918, together with interest at the rate of five per cent (5) per annum on such sums. This amount shall be determined by the Reparation Commission, and the German Government undertakes thereupon forthwith to make a special issue of bearer bonds to an equivalent amount payable in marks gold, on May 1, 1926, or, at the option of the German Government, on the 1st of May in any year up to 1926. Subject to the foregoing, the form of such bonds shall be determined by the Reparation Commission. Such bonds shall be handed over to the Reparation Commission, which has authority to take and acknowledge receipt thereof on behalf of Belgium.
+ARTICLE 233.
+The amount of the above damage for which compensation is to be made by Germany shall be determined by an Inter-Allied Commission, to be called the Reparation Commission and constituted in the form and with the powers set forth hereunder and in
+Annexes II
+to
+VII
+inclusive hereto.
+This Commission shall consider the claims and give to the German Government a just opportunity to be heard.
+The findings of the Commission as to the amount of damage defined as above shall be concluded and notified to the German Government on or before May 1, 1921, as representing the extent of that Government's obligations.
+The Commission shall concurrently draw up a schedule of payments prescribing the time and manner for securing and discharging the entire obligation within a period of thirty years from May 1, 1921. If, however, within the period mentioned, Germany fails to discharge her obligations, any balance remaining unpaid may, within the discretion of the Commission, be postponed for settlement in subsequent years, or may be handled otherwise in such manner as the Allied and Associated Governments, acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in this Part of the present Treaty, shall determine.
+ARTICLE 234.
+The Reparation Commission shall after May 1 , 1921, from time to time, consider the resources and capacity of Germany, and, after giving her representatives a just opportunity to be heard, shall have discretion to extend the date, and to modify the form of payments, such as are to be provided for in accordance with
+Article 233
+; but not to cancel any part, except with the specific authority of the several Governments represented upon the Commission.
+ARTICLE 235.
+In order to enable the Allied and Associated Powers to proceed at once to the restoration of their industrial and economic life, pending the full determination of their claims, Germany shall pay in such installments and in such manner (whether in gold, commodities, ships, securities or otherwise) as the Reparation Commission may fix, during 1919, 1920 and the first four months Of 1921 , the equivalent of 20,000,000,000 gold marks. Out of this sum the expenses of the armies of occupation subsequent to the Armistice of November 11, 1918, shall first be met, and such supplies of food and raw materials as may be judged by the Governments of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers to be essential to enable Germany to meet her obligations for reparation may also, with the approval of the said Governments, be paid for out of the above sum. The balance shall be reckoned towards liquidation of the amounts due for reparation. Germany shall further deposit bonds as prescribed in paragraph 12 (c) Of
+Annex II
+hereto.
+ARTICLE 236.
+Germany further agrees to the direct application of her economic resources to reparation as specified in Annexes
+III
+,
+IV
+,
+V
+, and
+VI
+, relating respectively to merchant shipping, to physical restoration, to coal and derivatives of coal, and to dyestuffs and other chemical products; provided always that the value of the property transferred and any services rendered by her under these Annexes, assessed in the manner therein prescribed shall be credited to her towards liquidation of her obligations under the above Articles.
+ARTICLE 237.
+The successive installments, including the above sum, paid over by Germany in satisfaction of the above claims will be divided by the Allied and Associated Governments in proportions which have been determined upon by them in advance on a basis of general equity and of the rights of each.
+For the purposes of this division the value of property transferred and services rendered under
+Article 243
+, and under Annexes
+III
+,
+IV
+,
+V
+,
+VI
+, and
+VII
+, shall be reckoned in the same manner as cash payments effected in that year.
+ARTICLE 238.
+In addition to the payments mentioned above Germany shall effect, in accordance with the procedure laid down by the Reparation Commission, restitution in cash of cash taken away, seized or sequestrated, and also restitution of animals, objects of every nature and securities taken away, seized or sequestrated, in the cases in which it proves possible to identify them in territory belonging to Germany or her allies.
+Until this procedure is laid down, restitution will continue in accordance with the provisions of the Armistice of November 11, 1918, and its renewals and the Protocols thereto.
+ARTICLE 239.
+The German Government undertakes to make forthwith the restitution contemplated by Article 238 and to make the payments and deliveries contemplated by Articles
+233
+,
+234
+,
+235
+and
+236
+.
+ARTICLE 240.
+The German Government recognises the Commission provided for by
+Article 233
+as the same may be constituted by the Allied and Associated Governments in accordance with
+Annex II
+, and agrees irrevocably to the possession and exercise by such Commission of the power and authority given to it under the present Treaty.
+The German Government will supply to the Commission all the information which the Commission may require relative to the financial situation and operations and to the property, productive capacity, and stocks and current production of raw materials and manufactured articles of Germany and her nationals, and further any information relative to military operations which in the judgment of the Commission may be necessary for the assessment of Germany's liability for reparation as defined in
+Annex I
+.
+The German Government will accord to the members of the Commission and its authorised agents the same rights and immunities as are enjoyed in Germany by duly accredited diplomatic agents of friendly Powers.
+Germany further agrees to provide for the salaries and expenses of the Commission and of such staff as it may employ.
+ARTICLE 241.
+Germany undertakes to pass, issue and maintain in force any legislation, orders and decrees that may be necessary to give complete effect to these provisions.
+ARTICLE 242
+The provisions of this Part of the present Treaty do not apply to the property, rights and interests referred to in
+Sections III
+and
+IV
+of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, nor to the product of their liquidation, except so far as concerns any final balance in favour of Germany under
+Article 243
+(a).
+ARTICLE 243
+The following shall be reckoned as credits to Germany in respect of her reparation obligations:
+Any final balance in favour of Germany under
+Section V (Alsace-Lorraine)
+of Part III (Political Clauses for Europe) and
+Sections III
+and
+IV
+of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty;
+Amounts due to Germany in respect of transfers under
+Section IV (Saar Basin)
+of Part III (Political Clauses for Europe),
+Part IX Financial Clauses)
+, and
+Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways)
+;
+Amounts which in the judgment of the Reparation Commission should be credited to Germany on account of any other transfers under the present Treaty of property, rights, concessions or other interests.
+In no case, however, shall credit be given for property restored in accordance with
+Article 238
+of the present Part.
+ARTICLE 244
+The transfer of the German submarine cables which do not form the subject of particular provisions of the present Treaty is regulated by
+Annex VII
+hereto.
+ANNEX I.
+Compensation may be claimed from Germany under Article 232 above in respect of the total damage under the following categories:
+Damage to injured persons and to surviving dependents by personal injury to or death of civilians caused by acts of war, including bombardments or other attacks on land, on sea, or from the air, and all the direct consequences thereof, and of all operations of war by the two groups of belligerents wherever arising.
+Damage caused by Germany or her allies to civilian victims of acts of cruelty, violence or maltreatment (including injuries to life or health as a consequence of imprisonment, deportation, internment or evacuation, of exposure at sea or of being forced to labour), wherever arising, and to the surviving dependents of such victims.
+Damage caused by Germany or her allies in their own territory or in occupied or invaded territory to civilian victims of all acts injurious to health or capacity to work, or to honour, as well as to the surviving dependents of such victims.
+Damage caused by any kind of maltreatment of prisoners of war.
+As damage caused to the peoples of the Allied and Associated Powers, all pensions and compensation in the nature of pensions to naval and military victims of war (including members of the air force), whether mutilated, wounded, sick or invalided, and to the dependents of such victims, the amount due to the Allied and Associated Governments being calculated for each of them as being the capitalised cost of such pensions and compensation at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty on the basis of the scales in force in France at such date.
+The cost of assistance by the Government of the Allied and Associated Powers to prisoners of war and to their families and dependents.
+Allowances by the Governments of the Allied and Associated Powers to the families and dependents of mobilised persons or persons serving with the forces, the amount due to them for each calendar year in which hostilities occurred being calculated for each Government on the basis of the average scale for such payments in force in France during that year.
+Damage caused to civilians by being forced by Germany or her allies to labour without just remuneration.
+Damage in respect of all property wherever situated belonging to any of the Allied or Associated States or their nationals, with the exception of naval and military works or materials, which has been carried off, seized, injured or destroyed by the acts of Germany or her allies on land, on sea or from the air, or damage directly in consequence of hostilities or of any operations of war.
+Damage in the form of levies, fines and other similar exactions imposed by Germany or her allies upon the civilian population.
+ANNEX II.
+1.
+The Commission referred to in
+Article 233
+shall be called "The Reparation Commission" and is hereinafter referred to as "the Commission".
+2.
+Delegates to this Commission shall be nominated by the United States of America, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and the Serb-Croat-Slovene State. Each of these Powers will appoint one Delegate and also one Assistant Delegate, who will take his place in case of illness or necessary absence, but at other times will only have the right to be present at proceedings without taking any part therein.
+On no occasion shall the Delegates of more than five of the above Powers have the right to take part in the proceedings of the Commission and to record their votes. The Delegates of the United States, Great Britain, France and Italy shall have this right on all occasions. The Delegate of Belgium shall have this right on all occasions other than those referred to below. The Delegate of Japan shall have this right on occasions when questions relating to damage at sea, and questions arising under Article 200 of Part IX (Financial Clauses) in which Japanese interests are concerned, are under consideration. The Delegate of the Serb-Croat-Slovene State shall have this right when questions relating to Austria, Hungary or Bulgaria are under consideration.
+Each Government represented on the Commission shall have the right to withdraw therefrom upon twelve months, notice filed with the Commission and confirmed in the course of the sixth month after the date of the original notice.
+3.
+Such of the other Allied and Associated Powers as may be interested shall have the right to appoint a Delegate to be present and act as Assessor only while their respective claims and interests are under examination or discussion, but without the right to vote.
+4.
+In case of the death, resignation or recall of any Delegate, Assistant Delegate or Assessor, a successor to him shall be nominated as soon as possible.
+5.
+The Commission will have its principal permanent Bureau in Paris and will hold its first meeting in Paris as soon as practicable after the coming into force of the present Treaty, and thereafter will meet in such place or places and at such time as it may deem convenient and as may be necessary for the most expeditious discharge of its duties.
+6.
+At its first meeting the Commission shall elect, from among the Delegates referred to above, a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman, who shall hold office for one year and shall be eligible for re-election. If a vacancy in the Chairmanship or Vice-Chairmanship should occur during the annual period, the Commission shall proceed to a new election for the remainder of the said period.
+7.
+The Commission is authorised to appoint all necessary officers, agents and employees who may be required for the execution of its functions, and to fix their remuneration; to constitute committees, whose members need not necessarily be members of the Commission, and to take all executive steps necessary for the purpose of discharging its duties; and to delegate authority and discretion to officers, agents and committees.
+8.
+All proceedings of the Commission shall be private, unless, on particular occasions, the Con mission shall otherwise determine for special reasons.
+9.
+The Commission shall be required, if the German Government so desire, to hear, within a period which it will fix from time to time, evidence and arguments on the part of Germany on any question connected with her capacity to pay.
+10.
+The Commission shall consider the claims and give to the German Government a just opportunity to be heard, but not to take any part whatever in the decisions of the Commission The Commission shall afford a similar opportunity to the allies of Germany, when it shall consider that their interests are in question.
+11.
+The Commission shall not be bound by any particular code or rules of law or by any particular rule of evidence or of procedure, but shall be guided by justice, equity and good faith. Its decisions must follow the same principles and rules in all cases where they are applicable. It will establish rules relating to methods of proof of claims. It may act on any trustworthy modes of computation.
+12.
+The Commission shall have all the powers conferred upon it, and shall exercise all the functions assigned to it, by the present Treaty.
+The Commission shall in general have wide latitude as to its control and handling of the whole reparation problem as dealt with in this Part of the present Treaty and shall have authority to interpret its provisions. Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty, the Commission is constituted by the several Allied and Associated Governments referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 above as the exclusive agency of the said Governments respectively for receiving, selling, holding, and distributing the reparation payments to be made by Germany under this Part of the present Treaty. The Commission must comply with the following conditions and provisions:
+Whatever part of the full amount of the proved claims is not paid in gold, or in ships, securities and commodities or otherwise, Germany shall be required, under such conditions as the Commission may determine, to cover by way of guarantee by an equivalent issue of bonds, obligations or otherwise, in order to constitute an acknowledgment of the said part of the debt.
+In periodically estimating Germany's capacity to pay, the Commission shall examine the German system of taxation, first, to the end that the sums for reparation which Germany is required to pay shall become a charge upon all her revenues prior to that for the service or discharge of any domestic loan, and secondly, so as to satisfy itself that, in general, the German scheme of taxation is fully as heavy proportionately as that of any of the Powers represented on the Commission.
+In order to facilitate and continue the immediate restoration of the economic life of the Allied and Associated countries, the Commission will as provided in
+Article 235
+take from Germany by way of security for and acknowledgment of her debt a first installment of gold bearer bonds free of all taxes and charges of every description established or to be established by the Government of the German Empire or of the German States, or by any authority subject to them; these bonds will be delivered on account and in three portions, the marks gold being payable in conformity with
+Article 262
+of Part IX (Financial Clauses) of the present Treaty as follows:
+To be issued forthwith, 20,000,000,000 Marks gold bearer bonds, payable not later than May l, 1921, without interest. There shall be specially applied towards the amortisation of these bonds the payments which Germany is pledged to make in conformity with
+Article 235
+, after deduction of the sums used for the reimbursement of expenses of the armies of occupation and for payment of foodstuffs and raw materials. Such bonds as have not been redeemed by May l, 1921, shall then be exchanged for new bonds of the same type as those provided for below (paragraph l2, C, (2).
+To be issued forthwith, further 40,000,000,000 Marks gold bearer bonds, bearing interest at 2-1/2 per cent. per annum between 1921 and l926, and thereafter at 5 per cent. per annum with an additional l per cent. for amortisation beginning in 1926 on the whole amount of the issue.
+To be delivered forthwith a covering undertaking in writing to issue when, but not until, the Commission is satisfied that Germany can meet such interest and sinking fund obligations, a further installment of 40,000,000,000 Marks gold 5 per cent. bearer bonds, the time and mode of payment of principal and interest to be determined by the Commission.
+The dates for payment of interest, the manner of applying the amortisation fund, and all other questions relating to the issue, management and regulation of the bond issue shall be determined by the Commission from time to time.
+Further issues by way of acknowledgment and security may be required as the Commission subsequently determines from time to time.
+In the event of bonds, obligations or other evidence of indebtedness issued by Germany by way of security for or acknowledgment of her reparation debt being disposed of outright, not by way of pledge, to persons other than the several Governments in whose favour Germany's original reparation indebtedness was created, an amount of such reparation indebtedness shall be deemed to be extinguished corresponding to the nominal value of the bonds, etc., so disposed of outright, and the obligation of Germany in respect of such bonds shall be confined to her liabilities to the holders of the bonds, as expressed upon their face.
+The damage for repairing, reconstructing and rebuilding property in the invaded and devastated districts, including reinstallation of furniture, machinery and other equipment, will be calculated according to the cost at the dates when the work is done.
+Decisions of the Commission relating to the total or partial cancellation of the capital or interest of any verified debt of Germany must be accompanied by a statement of its reasons.
+13.
+As to voting, the Commission will observe the following rules:
+When a decision of the Commission is taken, the votes of all the Delegates entitled to vote, or in the absence of any of them, of their Assistant Delegates, shall be recorded. Abstention from voting is to be treated as a vote against the proposal under discussion. Assessors have no vote.
+On the following questions unanimity is necessary:
+Questions involving the sovereignty of any of the Allied and Associated Powers, or the cancellation of the whole or any part of the debt or obligations of Germany;
+Questions of determining the amount and conditions of bonds or other obligations to be issued by the German Government and of fixing the time and manner for selling, negotiating or distributing such bonds;
+Any postponement, total or partial, beyond the end of 1930, of the payment of installments falling due between May 1, 1921, and the end of 1926 inclusive;
+Any postponement, total or partial, of any installment falling due after 1926 for a period exceeding three years;
+Questions of applying in any particular case a method of measuring damages different from that which has been previously applied in a similar case;
+Questions of the interpretation of the provisions of this Part of the present Treaty.
+All other questions shall be decided by the vote of a majority.
+In case of any difference of opinion among the Delegates, which cannot be solved by reference to their Governments, upon the question whether a given case is one which requires a unanimous vote for its decision or not, such difference shall be referred to the immediate arbitration of some impartial person to be agreed upon by their Governments, whose award the Allied and Associated Governments agree to accept.
+14.
+Decisions of the Commission, in accordance with the powers conferred upon it, shall forthwith become binding and may be put into immediate execution without further Proceedings.
+15.
+The Commission will issue to each of the interested Powers, in such form as the Commission shall fix:
+A certificate stating that it holds for the account of the said Power bonds of the issues mentioned above, the said certificate, on the demand of the Power concerned, being divisible in a number of parts not exceeding five;
+From time to time certificates stating the goods delivered by Germany on account of her reparation debt which it holds for the account of the said Power.
+The said certificates shall be registered, and upon notice to the Commission, may be transferred by endorsement.
+When bonds are issued for sale or negotiation, and when goods are delivered by the Commission, certificates to an equivalent value must be withdrawn.
+16.
+Interest shall be debited to Germany as from May 1, 1921, in respect of her debt as determined by the Commission, after allowing for sums already covered by cash payments or their equivalent, or by bonds issued to the Commission, or under
+Article 243
+. The rate of interest shall be 5 per cent. unless the Commission shall determine at some future time that circumstances justify a variation of the rate.
+The Commission, in fixing on May 1, 1921, the total amount of the debt of Germany, may take account of interest due on sums arising out of the reparation of material damage as from November 11, 1918, up to May 1, 1921.
+17.
+In case of default by Germany in the performance of any obligation under this Part of the present Treaty, the Commission will forthwith give notice of such default to each of the interested Powers and may make such recommendations as to the action to be taken in consequence of such default as it may think necessary.
+18.
+The measures which the Allied and Associated Powers shall have the right to take, in case of voluntary default by Germany, and which Germany agrees not to regard as acts of war may include economic and financial prohibitions and reprisals and in general such other measures as the respective Governments may determine to be necessary in the circumstances.
+19.
+Payments required to be made in gold or its equivalent on account of the proved claims of the Allied and Associated Powers may at any time be accepted by the Commission in the form of chattels, properties, commodities, businesses, rights, concessions within or without German territory, ships, bonds, shares or securities of any kind, or currencies of Germany or other States, the value of such substitutes for good being fixed at a fair and just amount by the Commission itself.
+20.
+The Commission, in fixing or accepting payment in specified properties or rights, shall have due regard for any legal or equitable interests of the Allied and Associated Powers or of neutral Powers or of their nationals therein.
+21.
+No member of the Commission shall be responsible, except to the Government appointing him, for any action or omission as such member. No one of the Allied or Associated Governments assumes any responsibility in respect of any other Government.
+22.
+Subject to the provisions of the present Treaty this Annex may be amended by the unanimous decision of the Governments represented from time to time upon the Commission.
+23.
+When all the amounts due from Germany and her allies under the present Treaty or the decisions of the Commission have been discharged and all sums received, or their equivalents, shall have been distributed to the Powers interested, the Commission shall be dissolved.
+ANNEX III.
+1.
+Germany recognises the right of the Allied and Associated Powers to the replacement, ton for ton (gross tonnage) and class for class, of all merchant ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war.
+Nevertheless, and in spite of the fact that the tonnage of German shipping at present in existence is much less than that lost by the Allied and Associated Powers in consequence of the German aggression, the right thus recognised will be enforced on German ships and boats under the following conditions:
+The German Government, on behalf of themselves and so as to bind all other persons interested, cede to the Allied and Associated Governments the property in all the German merchant ships which are of 1,600 tons gross and upwards; in one-half, reckoned in tonnage, of the ships which are between 1,000 tons and 1,600 tons gross; in one-quarter, reckoned in tonnage, of the steam trawlers; and in one-quarter, reckoned in tonnage, of the other fishing boats.
+2.
+The German Government will, within two months of the coming into force of the present Treaty, deliver to the Reparation Commission all the ships and boats mentioned in paragraph 1.
+3.
+The ships and boats mentioned in paragraph 1 include all ships and boats which (a) fly, or may be entitled to fly, the German merchant flag; or (b) are owned by any German national, company or corporation or by any company or corporation belonging to a country other than an Allied or Associated country and under the control or direction of German nationals; or (c) are now under construction (1) in Germany, (2) in other than Allied or Associated countries for the account of any German national, company or corporation.
+4.
+For the purpose of providing documents of title for the ships and boats to be handed over as above mentioned, the German Government will:
+Deliver to the Reparation Commission in respect of each vessel a bill of sale or other document of title evidencing the transfer to the Commission of the entire property in the vessel free from all encumbrances, charges and liens of all kinds, as the Commission may require;
+Take all measures that may be indicated by the Reparation Commission for ensuring that the ships themselves shall be placed at its disposal.
+5.
+As an additional part of reparation, Germany agrees to cause merchant ships to be built in German yards for the account of the Allied and Associated Governments as follows:
+Within three months of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the Reparation Commission will notify to the German Government the amount of tonnage to be laid down in German ship-yards in each of the two years next succeeding the three months mentioned above.
+Within two years of the coming into force of the present Treaty, the Reparation Commission will notify to the German Government the amount of tonnage to be laid down in each of the three years following the two years mentioned above.
+The amount of tonnage to be laid down in each year shall not exceed 200,000 tons, gross tonnage.
+The specifications of the ships to be built, the conditions under which they are to be built and delivered, the price per ton at which they are to be accounted for by the Reparation Commission, and all other questions relating to the accounting ordering, building and delivery of the ships, shall be determined by the Commission.
+6.
+Germany undertakes to restore in kind and in normal condition of upkeep to the Allied and Associated Powers, within two months of the coming into force of the present Treaty, in accordance with procedure to be laid down by the Reparation Commission, any boats and other movable appliances belonging to inland navigation which since August 1, 1914, have by any means whatever come into her possession or into the possession of her nationals, and which can be identified.
+With a view to make good the loss in inland navigation tonnage from whatever cause arising, which has been incurred during the war by the Allied and Associated Powers, and which cannot be made good by means of the restitution prescribed above, Germany agrees to cede to the Reparation Commission a portion of the German river fleet up to the amount of the loss mentioned above, provided that such cession shall not exceed 20 per cent. of the river fleet as it existed on November 11, 1918.
+The conditions of this cession shall be settled by the arbitrators referred to in
+Article 339
+of Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty, who are charged with the settlement of difficulties relating to the apportionment of river tonnage resulting from the new international regime applicable to certain river systems or from the territorial changes affecting those systems.
+7.
+Germany agrees to take any measures that may be indicated to her by the Reparation Commission for obtaining the full title to the property in all ships which have during the war been transferred, or are in process of transfer, to neutral flags, without the consent of the Allied and Associated Governments.
+8.
+Germany waives all claims of any description against the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals in respect of the detention, employment, loss or damage of any German ships or boats, exception being made of payments due in respect of the employment of ships in conformity with the Armistice Agreement of January 13, 1919, and subsequent Agreements.
+The handing over of the ships of the German mercantile marine must be continued without interruption in accordance with the said Agreement.
+9.
+Germany waives all claims to vessels or cargoes sunk by or in consequence of naval action and subsequently salved, in which any of the Allied or Associated Governments or their nationals may have any interest either as owners, charterers, insurers or otherwise, notwithstanding any decree of condemnation which may have been made by a Prize Court of Germany or of her allies.
+ANNEX IV.
+1.
+The Allied and Associated Powers require, and Germany undertakes, that in part satisfaction of her obligations expressed in the present Part she will, as hereinafter provided, devote her economic resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas of the Allied and Associated Powers, to the extent that these Powers may determine.
+2.
+The Allied and Associated Governments may file with the Reparation Commission lists showing:
+Animals, machinery, equipment, tools and like articles of a commercial character, which have been seized, consumed or destroyed by Germany or destroyed in direct consequence of military operations, and which such Governments, for the purpose of meeting immediate and urgent needs, desire to have replaced by animals and articles of the same nature which are in being in German territory at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty;
+Reconstruction materials (stones, bricks, refractory bricks, tiles, wood, window-glass, steel, lime, cement, etc.), machinery, heating apparatus, furniture and like articles of a commercial character which the said Governments desire to have produced and manufactured in Germany and delivered to them to permit of the restoration of the invaded areas.
+3.
+The lists relating to the articles mentioned in 2 (a) above shall be filed within sixty days after the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty.
+The lists relating to the articles in 2 (b) above shall be filed on or before December 31, 1919.
+The lists shall contain all such details as are customary in commercial contracts dealing with the subject matter, including specifications, dates of delivery (but not extending over more than four years), and places of delivery, but not price or value, which shall be fixed as hereinafter provided by the Commission.
+4.
+Immediately upon the filing of such lists with the Commission, the Commission shall consider the amount and number of the materials and animals mentioned in the lists provided for above which are to be required of Germany. In reaching a decision on this matter the Commission shall take into account such domestic requirements of Germany as it deems essential for the maintenance of Germany's social and economic life, the prices and dates at which similar articles can be obtained in the Allied and Associated countries as compared with those to be fixed for German articles, and the general interest of the Allied and Associated Governments that the industrial life of Germany be not so disorganised as to affect adversely the ability of Germany to perform the other acts of reparation stipulated for.
+Machinery, equipment, tools and like articles of a commercial character in actual industrial use are not, however, to be demanded of Germany unless there is no free stock of such articles respectively which is not in use and is available, and then not m excess of thirty per cent. of the quantity of such articles in use in any one establishment or undertaking.
+The Commission shall give representatives of the German Government an opportunity and a time to be heard as to their capacity to furnish the said materials, articles and animals.
+The decision of the Commission shall thereupon and at the earliest possible moment be communicated to the German Government and to the several interested Allied and Associated Governments.
+The German Government undertakes to deliver the materials, articles and animals as specified in the said communication, and the interested Allied and Associated Governments severally agree to accept the same, provided they conform to the specification given, or are not, in the judgment of the Commission, unfit to be utilised in the work of reparation.
+5.
+The Commission shall determine the value to be attributed to the materials, articles and animals to be delivered in accordance with the foregoing, and the Allied or Associated Power receiving the same agrees to be charged with such value, and the amount thereof shall be treated as a payment by Germany to be divided in accordance with
+Article 237
+of this Part of the present Treaty.
+In cases where the right to require physical restoration as above provided is exercised, the Commission shall ensure that the amount to be credited against the reparation obligation of Germany shall be the fair value of work done or materials supplied by Germany, and that the claim made by the interested Power in respect of the damage so repaired by physical restoration shall be discharged to the extent of the proportion which the damage thus repaired bears to the whole of the damage thus claimed for.
+6.
+As an immediate advance on account of the animals referred to in paragraph 2 (a) above, Germany undertakes to deliver in equal monthly installments in the three months following the coming into force of the present Treaty the following quantities of live stock:
+(1) To the French Government.
+500 stallions (3 to 7 years);
+30,000 fillies and mares (18 months to 7 years), type: Ardennais, Boulonnais or Belgian;
+2,000 bulls (18 months to 3 years);
+90,000 milch cows (2 to 6 years);
+1,000 rams;
+100,000 sheep;
+10,000 goats.
+(2) To the Belgian Government.
+200 stallions (3 to 7 years), large Belgian type;
+5,000 mares (3 to 7 years), large Belgian type;
+5,000 fillies (18 months to 3 years), large Belgian type;
+2,000 bulls (18 months to 3 years);
+50,000 milch cows (2 to 6 years);
+40,000 heifers;
+200 rams;
+20,000 Sheep;
+15,000 sows.
+The animals d elivered shall be of average health and condition.
+To the extent that animals so delivered cannot be identified as animals taken away or seized, the value of such animals shall be credited against the reparation obligations of Germany in accordance with paragraph 5 of this Annex.
+7.
+Without waiting for the decisions of the Commission referred to in paragraph 4 of this Annex to be taken, Germany must continue the delivery to France of the agricultural material referred to in Article III of the renewal dated January 16, 1919, of the Armistice.
+ANNEX V.
+1.
+Germany accords the following options for the delivery of coal and derivatives of coal to the undermentioned signatories of the present Treaty.
+2.
+Germany undertakes to deliver to France seven million tons of coal per year for ten years. In addition, Germany undertakes to deliver to France annually for a period not exceeding ten years an amount of coal equal to the difference between the annual production before the war of the coal mines of the Nord and Pas de Calais, destroyed as a result of the war, and the production of the mines of the same area during the years in question: such delivery not to exceed twenty million tons in any one year of the first five years, and eight million tons in any one year of the succeeding five years.
+It is understood that due diligence will be exercised in the restoration of the destroyed mines in the Nord and the Pas de Calais.
+3.
+Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium eight million tons of coal annually for ten years.
+4.
+Germany undertakes to deliver to Italy up to the following . quantities of coal:
+July 1919 to June 1920
+4-1/2 million tons,
+­1920­1921
+6
+­1921­1922
+7-1/2
+­1922­1923
+8
+­1923­1924
+and each of the following five years
+8-1/2
+At least two-thirds of the actual deliveries to be land-borne.
+5.
+Germany further undertakes to deliver annually to Luxemburg, if directed by the Reparation Commission, a quantity of coal equal to the pre-war annual consumption of German coal in Luxemburg.
+6.
+The prices to be paid for coal delivered under these options shall be as follows:
+For overland delivery, including delivery by barge, the German pithead price to German nationals, plus the freight to French, Belgian, Italian or Luxemburg frontiers, provided that the pithead price does not exceed the pithead price of British coal for export. In the case of Belgian bunker coal, the price shall not exceed the Dutch bunker price.
+Railroad and barge tariffs shall not be higher than the lowest similar rates paid in Germany.
+For sea delivery, the German export price f. o. b. German ports, or the British export price f. o. b. British ports, whichever may be lower.
+7.
+The Allied and Associated Governments interested may demand the delivery, in place of coal, of metallurgical coke in the proportion of 3 tons of coke to 4 tons of coal.
+8.
+Germany undertakes to deliver to France, and to transport to the French frontier by rail or by water, the following products, during each of the three years following the coming into force of this Treaty:
+Armoured ships
+10,000 tons
+Light cruisers
+6,000 tons
+Destroyers
+800 tons
+Torpedo boats
+200 tons
+All or part of the coal tar may, at the option of the French Government, be replaced by corresponding quantities of products of distillation, such as light oils, heavy oils, anthracene, napthalene or pitch.
+9.
+The price paid for coke and for the articles referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be the same as the price paid by German nationals under the same conditions of shipment to the French frontier or to the German ports, and shall be subject to any advantages which may be accorded similar products furnished to German nationals.
+10.
+The foregoing options shall be exercised through the intervention of the Reparation Commission, which, subject to the specific provisions hereof, shall have power to determine all questions relative to procedure and the qualities and quantities of products, the quantity of coke which may be substituted for coal, and the times and modes of delivery and payment. In giving notice to the German Government of the foregoing options the Commission shall give at least 120 days, notice of deliveries to be made after January 1, 1920, and at least 30 days, notice of deliveries to be made between the coming into force of this Treaty and January 1, 1920. Until Germany has received the demands referred to in this paragraph, the provisions of the Protocol of December 25, 1918, (Execution of Article VI of the Armistice of November 11, 1918) remain in force. The notice to be given to the German Government of the exercise of the right of substitution accorded by paragraphs 7 and 8 shall be such as the Reparation Commission may consider sufficient. If the Commission shall determine that the full exercise of the foregoing options would interfere unduly with the industrial requirements of Germany, the Commission is authorised to postpone or to cancel deliveries, and in so doing to settle all questions of priority; but the coal to replace coal from destroyed mines shall receive priority over other deliveries.
+ANNEX VI.
+1.
+Germany accords to the Reparation Commission an option to require as part of reparation the delivery by Germany of such quantities and kinds of dyestuffs and chemical drugs as the Commission may designate, not exceeding 50 per cent. of the total stock of each and every kind of dyestuff and chemical drug in Germany or under German control at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty.
+This option shall be exercised within sixty days of the receipt by the Commission of such particulars as to stocks as may be considered necessary by the Commission.
+2.
+Germany further accords to the Reparation Commission an option to require delivery during the period from the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty until January 1, 1920, and during each period of six months thereafter until January 1 , 1925, of any specified kind of dyestuff and chemical drug up to an amount not exceeding 25 per cent. of the German production of such dyestuffs and chemical drugs during the previous six months period. If in any case the production during such previous six months was, in the opinion of the Commission, less than normal, the amount required may be 25 per cent. of the normal production.
+Such option shall be exercised within four weeks after the receipt of such particulars as to production and in such form as may be considered necessary by the Commission; these particulars shall be furnished by the German Government immediately after the expiration of each six months period.
+3.
+For dyestuffs and chemical drugs delivered under paragraph 1 , the price shall be fixed by the Commission having regard to prewar net export prices and to subsequent increases of cost.
+For dyestuffs and chemical drugs delivered under paragraph 2, the price shall be fixed by the Commission having regard to pre-war net export prices and subsequent variations of cost, or the lowest net selling price of similar dyestuffs and chemical drugs to any other purchaser.
+[See Map The Former German Cables]
+4.
+All details, including mode and times of exercising the options, and making delivery, and all other questions arising under this arrangement shall be determined by the Reparation Commission; the German Government will furnish to the Commission all necessary information and other assistance which it may require.
+5.
+The above expression ,,dyestuffs and chemical drugs,, includes all synthetic dyes and drugs and intermediate or other products used in connection with dyeing, so far as they are manufactured for sale. The present arrangement shall also apply to cinchona bark and salts of quinine.
+ANNEX VII.
+Germany renounces on her own behalf and on behalf of her nationals in favour of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers all rights, titles or privileges of whatever nature in the submarine cables set out below, or in any portions thereof:
+Emden-vigo: from the Straits of Dover to off vigo; Emden-Brest: from off Cherbourg to Brest; Emden-Teneriffe: from off Dunkirk to off Teneriffe; Emden-Azores (1): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal; Emden-Azores (2): from the Straits of Dover to Fayal; Azores-New York (1): from Fayal to New York; Azores-New York (2): from Fayal to the longitude of Halifax, Teneriffe-Monrovia: from off Teneriffe to off Monrovia; Monrovia-Lome:
+from aboutlat. :2° 30' N.; long.:7° 40' W. of Greenwich: to aboutlat. :2° 20' N.; long.:5° 30, W. of Greenwich; and from aboutlat. :3° 48' N.; long.:0° 00', to Lome;
+Lome-Duala: from Lome to Duala; Monrovia-Pernambuco: from off Monrovia to off Pernambuco; Constantinople-Constanza: from Constantinople to Constanza; Yap-Shanghai, Yap-Guam, and Yap-Menado (Celebes): from Yap Island to Shanghai, from Yap Island to Guam Island, and from Yap Island to Menado.
+The value of the above mentioned cables or portions thereof in so far as they are privately owned, calculated on the basis of the original cost less a suitable allowance for depreciation, shall be credited to Germany in the reparation account.
+SECTION II.
+SPECIAL PROVISIONS.
+ARTICLE 245.
+Within six months after the coming into force of the present Treaty the German Government must restore to the French Government the trophies, archives, historical souvenirs or works of art carried away from France by the German authorities in the course of the war of 1870-1871 and during this last war, in accordance with a list which will be communicated to it by the French Government; particularly the French flags taken in the course of the war of 1870-1871 and all the political papers taken by the German authorities on October 10, 1870, at the chateau of Cercay, near Brunoy (Seine-et-Oise) belonging at the time to Mr. Rouher, formerly Minister of State.
+ARTICLE 246.
+Within six months from the coming into force of the present Treaty, Germany will restore to His Majesty the King of the Hedjaz the original Koran of the Caliph Othman, which was removed from Medina by the Turkish authorities and is stated to have been presented to the ex-Emperor William II.
+Within the same period Germany will hand over to His Britannic Majesty's Government the skull of the Sultan Mkwawa which was removed from the Protectorate of German East Africa and taken to Germany.
+The delivery of the articles above referred to will be effected in such place and in such conditions as may be laid down by the Governments to which they are to be restored.
+ARTICLE 247.
+Germany undertakes to furnish to the University of Louvain, within three months after a request made by it and transmitted through the intervention of the Reparation Commission, manuscripts, incunabula, printed books, maps and objects of collection corresponding in number and value to those destroyed in the burning by Germany of the Library of Louvain. All details regarding such replacement will be determined by the Reparation Commission.
+Germany undertakes to deliver to Belgium, through the Reparation Commission, within six months of the coming into force of the present Treaty, in order to enable Belgium to reconstitute two great artistic works:
+The leaves of the triptych of the Mystic Lamb painted by the Van Eyck brothers, formerly in the Church of St. Bavon at Ghent, now in the Berlin Museum;
+The leaves of the triptych of the Last Supper, painted by Dierick Bouts, formerly in the Church of St. Peter at Louvain, two of which are now in the Berlin Museum and two in the Old Pinakothek at Munich.
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+The Avalon Project : The Versailles Treaty June 28, 1919
+Avalon Home
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+The Versailles Treaty June 28, 1919 : Part XIII
+Main Menu
+Part I
+Part II
+Part III
+Part IV
+Part V
+Part VI
+Part VII
+Part VIII
+Part IX
+Part X
+Part XI
+Part XII
+Part XIII
+Part XIV
+Part XV
+PART XIII. LABOUR
+.
+SECTION I.
+ORGANISATION OF LABOUR.
+Whereas the League of Nations has for its object the establishment of universal peace, and such a peace can be established only if it is based upon social justice;
+And whereas conditions of labour exist involving such injustice, hardship, and privation to large numbers of people as to produce unrest so great that the peace and harmony of the world are imperilled; and an improvement of those conditions is urgently required: as, for example, by the regulation of the hours of work, including the establishment of a maximum working day and week, the regulation of the labour supply, the prevention of unemployment, the provision of an adequate living wage, the protection of the worker against sickness, disease and injury arising out of his employment, the protection of children, young persons and women, provision for old age and injury, protection of the interests of workers when employed in countries other than their own recognition of the principle of freedom of association, the organisation of vocational and technical education and other measures;
+Whereas also the failure of any nation to adopt humane conditions of labour is an obstacle in the way of other nations which desire to improve the conditions in their own countries;
+The HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, moved by sentiments of justice and humanity as well as by the desire to secure the permanent peace of the world, agree to the following:
+CHAPTER l.
+ORGANISATION.
+ARTICLE 387.
+A permanent organisation is hereby established for the promotion of the objects set forth in the Preamble.
+The original Members of the League of Nations shall be the original Members of this organisation, and hereafter membership of the League of Nations shall carry with it membership of the said organisation.
+ARTICLE 388.
+The permanent organisation shall consist of:
+a General Conference of Representatives of the Members and,
+an International Labour Office controlled by the Governing Body described in
+Article 393
+.
+ARTICLE 389.
+The meetings of the General Conference of Representatives of the Members shall be held from time to time as occasion may require, and at least once in every year. It shall be composed of four Representatives of each of the Members, of whom two shall be Government Delegates and the two others shall be Delegates representing respectively the employers and the workpeople of each of the Members.
+Each Delegate may be accompanied by advisers, who shall not exceed two in number for each item on the agenda of the meeting. When questions specially affecting women are to be considered by the Conference, one at least of the advisers should be a woman.
+The members undertake to nominate non-Government Delegates and advisers chosen in agreement with the industrial organisations, if such organisations exist, which are most representative of employers or workpeople, as the case may be, in their respective countries.
+Advisers shall not speak except on a request made by the Delegate whom they accompany and by the special authorisation of the President of the Conference, and may not vote.
+A Delegate may by notice in writing addressed to the President appoint one of his advisers to act as his deputy, and the adviser, while so acting, shall be allowed to speak and vote.
+The names of the Delegates and their advisers will be communicated to the International Labour Office by the Government of each of the Members.
+The credentials of Delegates and their advisers shall be subject to scrutiny by the Conference, which may, by two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present, refuse to admit any Delegate or adviser whom it deems not to have been nominated in accordance with this Article.
+ARTICLE 390.
+Every Delegate shall be entitled to vote individually on all matters which are taken into consideration by the Conference.
+If one of the Members fails to nominate one of the nonGovernment Delegates whom it is entitled to nominate, the other non-Government Delegate shall be allowed to sit and speak at the Conference, but not to vote.
+If in accordance with
+Article 389
+the Conference refuses admission to a Delegate of one of the Members, the provisions of the present Article shall apply as if that Delegate had not been nominated.
+ARTICLE 391.
+The meetings of the Conference shall be held at the seat of the League of Nations, or at such other place as may be decided by the Conference at a previous meeting by two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present.
+ARTICLE 392.
+The International Labour Office shall be established at the seat of the League of Nations as part of the organisation of the League.
+ARTICLE 393
+The International Labour Office shall be under the control of a Governing Body consisting of twenty-four persons, appointed in accordance with the following provisions:
+The Governing Body of the International Labour Office shall be constituted as follows:
+Twelve persons representing the Governments;
+Six persons elected by the Delegates to the Conference representing the employers;
+Six persons elected by the Delegates to the Conference representing the workers.
+Of the twelve persons representing the Governments eight shall be nominated by the Members which are of the chief industrial importance, and four shall be nominated by the Members selected for the purpose by the Government Delegates to the Conference, excluding the Delegates of the eight Members mentioned above.
+Any question as to which are the Members of the chief industrial importance shall be decided by the Council of the League of Nations.
+The period of office of the Members of the Governing Body will be three years. The method of filling vacancies and other similar questions may be determined by the Governing Body subject to the approval of the Conference.
+The Governing Body shall, from time to time, elect one of its members to act as its Chairman, shall regulate its own procedure and shall fix its own times of meeting. A special meeting shall be held if a written request to that effect is made by at least ten members of the Governing Body.
+ARTICLE 394.
+There shall be a Director of the International Labour Office, who shall be appointed by the Governing Body, and, subject to the instructions of the Governing Body, shall be responsible for the efficient conduct of the International Labour Office and for such other duties as may be assigned to him.
+The Director or his deputy shall attend all meetings of the Governing Body.
+ARTICLE 395.
+The staff of the International Labour Office shall be appointed by the Director who shall, so far as is possible with due regard to the efficiency of the work of the Office, select persons of different nationalities A certain number of these persons shall be women.
+ARTICLE 396.
+The functions of the International Labour Office shall include the collection and distribution of information on all subjects relating to the international adjustment of conditions of industrial life and labour, and particularly the examination of subjects which it is proposed to bring before the Conference with a view to the conclusion of international conventions, and the conduct of such special investigations as may be ordered by the Conference.
+It will prepare the agenda for the meetings of the Conference.
+It will carry out the duties required of it by the provisions of this Part of the present Treaty in connection with international disputes.
+It will edit and publish in French and English, and in such other languages as the Governing Body may think desirable, a periodical paper dealing with problems of industry and employment of international interest.
+Generally, in addition to the functions set out in this Article, it shall have such other powers and duties as may be assigned to it by the Conference.
+ARTICLE 397.
+The Government Departments of any of the Members which deal with questions of industry and employment may communicate directly with the Director through the Representative of their Government on the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, or failing any such Representative, through such other qualified official as the Government may nominate for the purpose.
+ARTICLE 398.
+The International Labour Office shall be entitled to the assistance of the Secretary-General of the League of Nations in any matter in which it can be given.
+ARTICLE 399
+.
+Each of the Members will pay the travelling and subsistence expenses of its Delegates and their advisers and of its Representatives attending the meetings of the Conference or Governing Body, as the case may be.
+All the other expenses of the International Labour Office and of the meetings of the Conference or Governing Body shall be paid to the Director by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations out of the general funds of the League.
+The Director shall be responsible to the Secretary-General of the League for the proper expenditure of all moneys paid to him in pursuance of this Article.
+CHAPTER II.
+PROCEDURE.
+ARTICLE 400.
+The agenda for all meetings of the Conference will be settled by the Governing Body, who shall consider any suggestion as to the agenda that may be made by the Government of any of the Members or by any representative organisation recognised for the purpose of
+Article 389
+.
+ARTICLE 401.
+The Director shall act as the Secretary of the Conference, and shall transmit the agenda so as to reach the Members four months before the meeting of the Conference, and, through them, the non-Government Delegates when appointed.
+ARTICLE 402.
+Any of the Governments of the Members may formally object to the inclusion of any item or items in the agenda. The grounds for such objection shall be set forth in a reasoned statement addressed to the Director, who shall circulate it to all the Members of the Permanent Organisation.
+Items to which such objection has been made shall not, however, be excluded from the agenda, if at the Conference a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present is in favour of considering them.
+If the Conference decides (otherwise than under the preceding paragraph) by two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present that any subject shall be considered by the Conference, that subject shall be included in the agenda for the following meeting.
+ARTICLE 403.
+The Conference shall regulate its own procedure, shall elect its own President, and may appoint committees to consider and report on any matter.
+Except as otherwise expressly provided in this Part of the present Treaty, all matters shall be decided by a simple majority of the votes cast by the Delegates present.
+The voting is void unless the total number of votes cast is equal to half the number of the Delegates attending the Conference.
+ARTICLE 404
+.
+The Conference may add to any committees which it appoints technical experts, who shall be assessors without power to vote.
+ARTICLE 405.
+When the Conference has decided on the adoption of proposals with regard to an item in the agenda, it will rest with the Conference to determine whether these proposals should take the form: (a) of a recommendation to be submitted to the Members for consideration with a view to effect being given to it by national legislation or otherwise, or (b) of a draft international convention for ratification by the Members.
+In either case a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present shall be necessary on the final vote for the adoption of the recommendation or draft convention, as the case may be, by the Conference.
+In framing any recommendation or draft convention of general application the Conference shall have due regard to those countries in which climatic conditions, the imperfect development of industrial organisation or other special circumstances make the industrial conditions substantially different and shall suggest the modifications, if any, which it considers may be required to meet the case of such countries.
+A copy of the recommendation or draft convention shall be authenticated by the signature of the President of the Conference and of the Director and shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the League of Nations. The Secretary-General will communicate a certified copy of the recommendation or draft convention to each of the members.
+Each of the Members undertakes that it will, within the period of one year at most from the closing of the session of the Conference, or if it is impossible owing to exceptional circumstances to do so within the period of one year, then at the earliest practicable moment and in no case later than eighteen months from the closing of the session of the Conference, bring the recommendation or draft convention before the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, for the enactment of legislation or other action.
+In the case of a recommendation, the Members will inform the Secretary-General of the action taken.
+In the case of a draft convention, the Member will, if it obtains the consent of the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, communicate the formal ratification of the convention to the Secretary-General and will take such action as may be necessary to make effective the provisions of such convention.
+If on a recommendation no legislative or other action is taken to make a recommendation effective, or if the draft convention fails to obtain the consent of the authority or authorities within whose competence the matter lies, no further obligation shall rest upon the Member.
+In the case of a federal State, the power of which to enter into conventions on labour matters is subject to limitations, it shall be in the discretion of that Government to treat a draft convention to which such limitations apply as a recommendation only, and the provisions of this Article with respect to recommendations shall apply in such case.
+The above Article shall be interpreted in accordance with the following principle:
+In no case shall any Member be asked or required, as a result of the adoption of any recommendation or draft convention by the Conference, to lessen the protection afforded by its existing legislation to the workers concerned.
+ARTICLE 406.
+Any convention so ratified shall be registered by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, but shall only be binding upon the Members which ratify it.
+ARTICLE 407
+.
+If any convention coming before the Conference for final consideration fails to secure the support of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present, it shall nevertheless be within the right of any of the Members of the Permanent Organisation to agree to such convention among themselves.
+Any convention so agreed to shall be communicated by the Governments concerned to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who shall register it.
+ARTICLE 408.
+Each of the Members agrees to make an annual report to the International Labour Office on the measures which it has taken to give effect to the provisions of conventions to which it is a party. These reports shall be made in such form and shall contain such particulars as the Governing Body may request. The Director shall lay a summary of these reports before the next meeting of the Conference.
+ARTICLE 409.
+In the event of any representation being made to the International Labour Office by an industrial association of employers or of workers that any of the members has failed to secure in any respect the effective observance within its jurisdiction of any con vention to which it is a party, the Governing Body may communicate this representation to the Government against which it is made and may invite that Government to make such statement on the subject as it may think fit.
+ARTICLE 410.
+If no statement is received within a reasonable time from the Government in question, or if the statement when received is not deemed to be satisfactory by the Governing Body, the latter shall have the right to publish the representation and the statement, if any, made in reply to it.
+ARTICLE 411.
+Any of the Members shall have the right to file a complaint with the International Labour Office if it is not satisfied that any other Member is securing the effective observance of any convention which both have ratified in accordance with the foregoing Articles.
+The Governing Body may, if it thinks fit, before referring such a complaint to a Commission of Enquiry, as hereinafter provided for, communicate with the Government in question in the manner described in
+Article 409
+.
+If the Governing Body does not think it necessary to communicate the complaint to the Government in question, or if, when they have made such communication, no statement in reply has been received within a reasonable time which the Governing Body considers to be satisfactory, the Governing Body may apply for the appointment of a Commission of Enquiry to consider the complaint and to report thereon.
+The Governing Body may adopt the same procedure either of its own motion or on receipt of a complaint from a Delegate to the Conference.
+When any matter arising out of
+Articles 410
+or
+411
+is being considered by the Governing Body, the Government in question shall, if not already represented thereon, be entitled to send a representative to take part in the proceedings of the Governing Body while the matter is under consideration. Adequate notice of the date on which the matter will be considered shall be given to the Government in question.
+ARTICLE 412.
+The Commission of Enquiry shall be constituted in accordance with the following provisions:
+Each of the Members agrees to nominate within six months of the date on which the present Treaty comes into force three persons of industrial experience, of whom one shall be a representative of employers, one a representative of workers, and one a person of independent standing, who shall together form a panel from which the Members of the Commission of Enquiry shall be drawn.
+The qualifications of the persons so nominated shall be subject to scrutiny by the Governing Body, which may be two-thirds of the votes cast by the representatives present refuse to accept the nomination of any person whose qualifications do not in its Opinion comply with the requirements of the present Article.
+Upon the application of the Governing Body, the Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall nominate three persons one from each section of this panel, to constitute the Commission of Enquiry, and shall designate one of them as the President of the Commission. None of these three persons shall be a person nominated to the panel by any Member directly concerned in the complaint.
+ARTICLE: 413.
+The Members agree that, in the event of the reference of a complaint to a Commission of Enquiry under
+Article 411
+, they will each, whether directly concerned in the complaint or not, place at the disposal of the Commission all the information in their possession which bears upon the subject-matter of the complaint.
+ARTICLE 414.
+When the Commission of Enquiry has fully considered the complaint, it shall prepare a report embodying its findings on all questions of fact relevant to determining the issue between the parties and containing such recommendations as it may think proper as to the steps which should be taken to meet the complaint and the time within which they should be taken.
+It shall also indicate in this report the measures, if any, of an economic character against a defaulting Government which it considers to be appropriate, and which it considers other Governments would be justified in adopting.
+ARTICLE 415.
+The Secretary-General of the League of Nations shall communicate the report of the Commission of Enquiry to each of the Governments concerned in the complaint, and shall cause it to be published.
+Each of these Governments shall within one month inform the Secretary-General of the League of Nations whether or not it accepts the recommendations contained in the report of the Commission- and if not, whether it proposes to refer the complaint to the Permanent Court of International Justice of the League of Nations.
+ARTICLE 416.
+In the event of any Member failing to take the action required by
+Article 405
+, with regard to a recommendation or draft Convention, any other Member shall be entitled to refer the matter to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
+ARTICLE 417
+.
+The decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice in regard to a complaint or matter which has been referred to it in pursuance of
+Article 415
+or
+Article 416
+shall be final.
+ARTICLE 418.
+The Permanent Court of International Justice may affirm, vary or reverse any of the findings or recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry, if any, and shall in its decision indicate the measures, if any, of an economic character which it considers to be appropriate, and which other Governments would be justified in adopting against a defaulting Government.
+ARTICLE 419
+.
+In the event of any Member failing to carry out within the time specified the recommendations, if any, contained in the report of the Commission of Enquiry, or in the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice, as the case may be, any other Member may take against that Member the measures of an economic character indicated in the report of the Commission or in the decision of the Court as appropriate to the case.
+ARTICLE 420.
+The defaulting Government may at any time inform the Governing Body that it has taken the steps necessary to comply with the recommendations of the Commission of Enquiry or with those in the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice, as the case may be, and may request it to apply to the Secretary-General of the League to constitute a Commission of Enquiry to verify its contention. In this case the provisions of
+Articles 412
+,
+413
+,
+414
+,
+415
+,
+417
+and
+418
+shall apply, and if the report of the Commission of Enquiry or the decision of the Permanent Court of International Justice is in favour of the defaulting Government, the other Governments shall forthwith discontinue the measures of an economic character that they have taken against the defaulting Government.
+CHAPTER III.
+GENERAL PRESCRIPTIONS.
+ARTICLE 421.
+The Members engage to apply conventions which they have ratified in accordance with the provisions of this Part of the present Treaty to their colonies, protectorates and possessions which are not fully self-governing:
+Except where owing to the local conditions the convention is inapplicable, or
+Subject to such modifications as may be necessary to adapt the convention to local conditions.
+And each of the Members shall notify to the International Labour Office the action taken in respect of each of its colonies, protectorates and possessions which are not fully self-governing.
+ARTICLE 422.
+Amendments to this Part of the present Treaty which are adopted by the Conference by a majority of two-thirds of the votes cast by the Delegates present shall take effect when ratified by the States whose representatives compose the Council of the League of Nations and by three-fourths of the Members.
+ARTICLE 423.
+Any question or dispute relating to the interpretation of this Part of the present Treaty or of any subsequent convention concluded by the Members in pursuance of the provisions of this Part of the present Treaty shall be referred for decision to the Permanent Court of International Justice.
+CHAPTER IV.
+TRANSITORY PROVISIONS.
+ARTICLE 424.
+The first meeting of the Conference shall take place in October, 1919. The place and agenda for this meeting shall be as specified in the Annex hereto.
+Arrangements for the convening and the organisation of the first meeting of the Conference will be made by the Government designated for the purpose in the said Annex. That Government shall be assisted in the preparation of the documents for submission to the Conference by an International Committee constituted as provided in the said Annex.
+The expenses of the first meeting and of all subsequent meetings held before the League of Nations has been able to establish a general fund, other than the expenses of Delegates and their advisers, will be borne by the Members in accordance with the apportionment of the expenses of the International Bureau of the Universal Postal Union.
+ARTICLE 425.
+Until the League of Nations has been constituted all communications which under the provisions of the foregoing Articles should be addressed to the Secretary-General of the League will be preserved by the Director of the International Labour Office, who will transmit them to the Secretary-General of the League.
+ARTICLE 426.
+Pending the creation of a Permanent Court of International Justice disputes which in accordance with this Part of the present Treaty would be submitted to it for decision will be referred to a tribunal of three persons appointed by the Council of the League of Nations.
+ANNEX.
+FIRST MEETING OF ANNUAL LABOUR CONFERENCE, 1919.
+The place of meeting will be Washington.
+The Government of the United States of America is requested to convene the Conference.
+The International Organising Committee will consist of seven Members, appointed by the United States of America, Great Britain, France, Italy, Japan, Belgium and Switzerland. The Committee may, if it thinks necessary, invite other Members to appoint representatives.
+Agenda:
+Application of principle of the 8-hours day or of the 48-hours week.
+Question of preventing or providing against unemployment.
+Women's employment:
+Before and after child-birth, including the question of maternity benefit;
+During the night;
+In unhealthy processes.
+Employment of children:
+Minimum age of employment;
+During the night;
+In unhealthy processes.
+Extension and application of the International Conventions adopted at Berne in 1906 on the prohibition of night work for women employed in industry and the prohibition of the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches.
+SECTION II.
+GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
+ARTICLE 427.
+The High Contracting Parties, recognising that the well-being, physical, moral and intellectual, of industrial wage-earners is of supreme international importance, have framed, in order to further this great end, the permanent machinery provided for in Section l and associated with that of the League of Nations.
+They recognise that differences of climate, habits, and customs, of economic opportunity and industrial tradition, make strict uniformity in the conditions of labour difficult of immediate attainment. But, holding as they do, that labour should not be regarded merely as an article of commerce, they think that there are methods and principles for regulating labour conditions which all industrial communities should endeavour to apply, so far as their special circumstances will permit.
+Among these methods and principles, the following seem to the High Contracting Parties to be of special and urgent importance:
+First.­The guiding principle above enunciated that labour should not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce.
+Second.­The right of association for all lawful purposes by the employed as well as by the employers.
+Third.­The payment to the employed of a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable standard of life as this is understood in their time and country.
+Fourth.­The adoption of an eight hours day or a forty-eight hours week as the standard to be aimed at where it has not already been attained.
+Fifth.­The adoption of a weekly rest of at least twenty-four hours, which should include Sunday wherever practicable.
+Sixth.­The abolition of child labour and the imposition of such limitations on the labour of young persons as shall permit the continuation of their education and assure their proper physical development.
+Seventh.­The principle that men and women should receive equal remuneration for work of equal value.
+Eighth.­The standard set by law in each country with respect to the conditions of labour should have due regard to the equitable economic treatment of all workers lawfully resident therein.
+Ninth.­Each State should make provision for a system of inspection in which women should take part, in order to ensure the enforcement of the laws and regulations for the protection of the employed.
+Without claiming that these methods and principles are either complete or final, the High Contracting Parties are of opinion that they are well fitted to guide the policy of the League of Nations; and that, if adopted by the industrial communities who are members of the League, and safeguarded in practice by an adequate system of such inspection, they will confer lasting benefits upon the wage-earners of the world.
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+---
+
+# Source: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_menus/versailles_menu.asp
+
+Avalon Project - The Versailles Treaty June 28, 1919
+Avalon Home
+Document
+Collections
+Ancient
+4000bce - 399
+Medieval
+400 - 1399
+15
+th
+Century
+1400 - 1499
+16
+th
+Century
+1500 - 1599
+17
+th
+Century
+1600 - 1699
+18
+th
+Century
+1700 - 1799
+19
+th
+Century
+1800 - 1899
+20
+th
+Century
+1900 - 1999
+21
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+Century
+2000 -
+The Versailles Treaty June 28, 1919
+International Military Tribunal for Germany
+Contents
+Part I
+Part II
+Part III
+Part IV
+Part V
+Part VI
+Part VII
+Part VIII
+Part IX
+Part X
+Part XI
+Part XII
+Part XIII
+Part XIV
+Part XV
+International Military Tribunal for Germany
+Avalon Home
+Document
+Collections
+Ancient
+4000bce - 399
+Medieval
+400 - 1399
+15
+th
+Century
+1400 - 1499
+16
+th
+Century
+1500 - 1599
+17
+th
+Century
+1600 - 1699
+18
+th
+Century
+1700 - 1799
+19
+th
+Century
+1800 - 1899
+20
+th
+Century
+1900 - 1999
+21
+st
+Century
+2000 -
+© 2008 Lillian Goldman Law Library
+127 Wall Street, New Haven, CT 06511.
+Avalon Statement of Purpose
+Accessibility at Yale
+Contact Us
+Yale Law Library
+University Library
+Yale Law School
+Search Morris
+Search Orbis