contribution being calculated according to the proportion of the Imperial revenues derived from Alsace-Lorraine in 1913. ARTICLE 59. The French Government will collect for its own account the Imperial taxes, duties and dues of every kind leviable in the territories referred to in Article 51 and not collected at the time of the Armistice of November 11, 1918. ARTICLE 60. The German Government shall without delay restore to AlsaceLorrainers (individuals, juridical persons and public institutions) all property, rights and interests belonging to them on November 11, 1918, in so far as these are situated in German territory. ARTICLE 61. The German Government undertakes to continue and complete without delay the execution of the financial clauses regarding AlsaceLorraine contained in the Armistice Conventions. ARTICLE 62. The German Government undertakes to bear the expense of all civil and military pensions which had been earned in AlsaceLorraine on date of November 11, 1918, and the maintenance of which was a charge on the budget of the German Empire. The German Government shall furnish each year the funds necessary for the payment in francs, at the average rate of exchange for that year, of the sums in marks to which persons resident in AlsaceLorraine would have been entitled if Alsace-Lorraine had remained under German jurisdiction. ARTICLE 63. For the purposes of the obligation assumed by Germany in Part VIII (Reparation) of the present Treaty to give compensation for damages caused to the civil populations of the Allied and Associated countries in the form of fines, the inhabitants of the territories referred to in Article 51 shall be assimilated to the abovementioned populations. ARTICLE 64. The regulations concerning the control of the Rhine and of the Moselle are laid down in Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty. ARTICLE 65. Within a period of three weeks after the coming into force of the present Treaty, the port of Strasburg and the port of Kehl shall be constituted, for a period of seven years, a single unit from the point of view of exploitation. The administration of this single unit will be carried on by a manager named by the Central Rhine Commission, which shall also have power to remove him. This manager shall be of French nationality. He will reside in Strasburg and will be subject to the supervision of the Central Rhine Commission. There will be established in the two ports free zones in conformity with Part XII (Ports, Waterways and Railways) of the present Treaty. A Special Convention between France and Germany, which shall be submitted to the approval of the Central Rhine Commission, will fix the details of this organisation, partcularly as regards finance. It is understood that for the purpose of the present Article the port of Kehl includes the whole of the area necessary for the movements of the port and the trains which serve it, including the harbour, quays and railroads, platforms, cranes, sheds and warehouses, silos, elevators and hydro-electric plants, which make up the equipment of the port. The German Government undertakes to carry out all measures which shall be required of it in order to assure that all the makingup and switching of trains arriving at or departing from Kehl, whether for the right bank or the left bank of the Rhine, shall be carried on in the best conditions possible. All property rights shall be safeguarded. In particular the administration of the ports shall not prejudice any property rights of the French or Baden railroads. Equality of treatment as respects traffic shall be assured in both ports to the nationals, vessels and goods of every country. In case at the end of the sixth year France shall consider that the progress made in the improvement of the port of Strasburg still requires a prolongation of this temporary régime, she may ask for such prolongation from the Central Rhine Commission, which may grant an extension for a period not exceeding three years. Throughout the whole period of any such extension the free zones above provided for shall be maintained. Pending appointment of the first manager by the Central Rhine Commission a provisional manager who shall be of French nationality may be appointed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers subject to the foregoing provisions. For all purposes of the present Article the Central Rhine Commission will decide by a majority of votes. ARTICLE 66. The railway and other bridges across the Rhine now existing within the limits of Alsace-Lorraine shall, as to all their parts and their whole length, be the property of the French State, which shall ensure their upkeep. ARTICLE 67. The French Government is substituted in all the rights of the German Empire over all the railways which were administered by the Imperial railway administration and which are actually working or under construction. The same shall apply to the rights of the Empire with regard to railway and tramway concessions within the territories referred to in Article 51. This substitution shall not entail any payment on the part of the French State. The frontier railway stations shall be established by a subsequent agreement, it being stipulated in advance that on the Rhine frontier they shall be situated on the right bank. ARTICLE 68. In accordance with the provisions of Article 268 of Chapter I of Section I of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, for a period of five years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, natural or manufactured products originating in and coming from the territories referred to in Article 51 shall, on importation into German customs territory, be exempt from all customs duty. The French Government may fix each year, by decree communicated to the German Government, the nature and amount of the products which shall enjoy this exemption. The amount of each product which may be thus sent annually into Germany shall not exceed the average of the amounts sent annually in the years 1911-1913. Further, during the period of five years above mentioned, the German Government shall allow the free export from Germany and the free reimportation into Germany, exempt from all customs duties and other charges (including internal charges), of yarns, tissues, and other textile materials or textile products of any kind and in any condition, sent from Germany into the territories referred to in Article 51, to be subjected there to any finishing process, such as bleaching, dyeing, printing, mercerization, gassing, twisting or dressing. ARTICLE 69. During a period of ten years from the coming into force of the present Treaty, central electric supply works situated in German territory and formerly furnishing electric power to the territories referred to in Article 51 or to any establishment the working of which passes permanently or temporarily from Germany to France, shall be required to continue such supply up to the amount of consumption corresponding to the undertakings and contracts current on November 11, 1918. Such supply shall be furnished according to the contracts in force and at a rate which shall not be higher than that paid to the said works by German nationals. ARTICLE 70. It is understood that the French Government preserves its right to prohibit in the future in the territories referred to in Article 51 all new German participation: (1) In the management or exploitation of the public domain and of public services, such as railways, navigable waterways, water works, gas works, electric power, etc.; (2). In the ownership of mines and quarries of every kind and in enterprises connected therewith; (3) In metallurgical establishments, even though their working may not be connected with that of any mine. ARTICLE 71. As regards the territories referred to in Article 51, Germany renounces on behalf of herself and her nationals, as from November 11, 1918, all rights under the law of May 25, 1910, regarding the trade in potash salts, and generally under any stipulations for the intervention of German organisations in the working of the potash mines. Similarly, she renounces on behalf of herself and her nationals all rights under any agreements, stipulations or laws which may exist to her benefit with regard to other products of the aforesaid territories. ARTICLE 72. The settlement of the questions relating to debts contracted before November 11, 1918, between the German Empire and the German States or their nationals residing in Germany on the one part and Alsace-Lorrainers residing in Alsace-Lorraine on the other part shall be effected in accordance with the provisions of Section III of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, the expression "before the war" therein being replaced by the expression "before November 11, 1918". The rate of exchange applicable in the case of such settlement shall be the average rate quoted on the Geneva Exchange during the month preceding November 11, 1918. There may be established in the territories referred to in Article 51, for the settlement of the aforesaid debts under the conditions laid down in Section III of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty, a special clearing office, it being understood that this office shall be regarded as a "central office" under the provisions of paragraph 1 of the Annex to the said Section. ARTICLE 73. The private property, rights and interests of Alsace-Lorrainers in Germany will be regulated by the stipulations of Section IV of Part X (Economic Clauses) of the present Treaty. ARTICLE 74. The French Government reserves the right to retain and liquidate all the property, rights and interests which German nationals or societies controlled by Germany possessed in the territories referred |