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Show northern boundary of the United States,"12" international law the provision in the Berlin Act for local coastwise and local interior river navigation by all flags which, however well adapted to the ex- isting status in the Congo where no absolute sovereignty had been yet establish- ed by any one Power, was not in accord with international law as accepted by the United States* See Report of Feb. 28, 1885, by the Committee on Foreign Relations, House of Representatives, #2655, 48th Congress, Second Session, Vol. 2 House Reports 1884.-1885* The Act of the Secretary of State under date of April 22, 1884, recog- nizing the Flag of the International Association of the Congo was approved by the United States Senate on April 10, 1887. 1 Malloy*s Treaties, 3270 125 ' . . -'Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between the United States and Leopold II, King of the Belgians and Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo, approved by the United States Senate, Jan. 11, 1892. 1 Malloy's Treaties, 333* This treaty terminated July 1,1917, In the fall of 1919, representatives of the United States (Frank L Polk, Henry White and Tasker H. Bliss), Belgium, the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan and Portugal conferred "to ensure by arrangements suitable to modern requirements the application of the general principles of civilization established by the Acts of Berlin and Brussels," The courtesy of the State Department at Washington supplies the sequel, by letter dated Dec. 3, 1929, as follows "On September 10, 1919, a convention was signed at St. Germain-en-Laye, revising the General Act of Berlin of Feb- ruary 26, 1885, and the General Act and Declaration of Brussels of July 2, 1890. This convention provides that merchandise belonging to the nationals of th'e signa-fcory powers and to adhering powers shall have free access to the interior of the regions specified in its Article 1, including "all the regions forming the basin of the Congo and its affluents." The convention was signed on the part of the United States and was transmitted to the Senate by President Coolidge on May 22, 1928, with a view to receiving the advice and consent of that body to its ratification. . . * Very truly yours, For the Secretary of States, Charles M» Barnes, Chief Treaty Division." The treaty was ratified by the Senate on April 3* 1930* The ratification, however, contained a reservation abrogating Article 12 of the treaty in so far as it might require the United States to submit disputes arising under, the treaty to an arbitral tribunal in conformity with the provisions of the Covenant of the League of Nations. The reservation provided instead that ". . « "in the event of a dispute in which the United States may be involved arising under the convention, such dispute shall, if the United States so requests, be submitted to a court of arbitration consti- tuted in tetcbordanoe with the convention for the pacific settlement of inter- national disputes signed at The Hague on October 18, 1907, or to some other court of arbitration." Consult: 72 Cong* Reo, 671J4.-6716, where the treaty is set out in full* - ¦ip/ ' See 20 Stat« at L# ij.81 for text of the Maryland-Virginia compact* For the New York-Vermont compact, see 21 Stat. at L. 72, The New York-Connecticut compact is described in 21 Stat. at L. 351* The Connecticut-Rhode Island'com* pact is th.e subject of 25 Stat* at L. 553* The New York-Pennsylvania compact is set for-th in 26 Stat. at L. 329. For a nearly perfect annotated list of all formal coiapacts between States of the Amerioan Union prior to the year 1925# |