Signed in Tokyo, March 23, 1935
ARTICLE I
The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall cede to the Government of Manchoukuo all the rights they possess concerning the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway), in consideration of which the Government of Manchoukuo shall pay to the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics the sum of one hundred and forty million (140,000,000) yen in Japanese currency.
ARTICLE II
All the rights of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics concerning the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) shall pass to the Government of Manchoukuo upon the coming into force of the present Agreement, and at the same time the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) shall be placed under the complete occupation and the sole management of the Government of Manchoukuo.
ARTICLE III
1 Upon the coming into force of the present Agreement, the senior members of the administration of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall be released from their duties. The said senior members of the administration of the Railway shall hand over all the archives, records, papers and documents of whatever description in their charge to their respective successors in the new administration of the Railway.
It is understood that the term the "senior members of the administration of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway)" employed in the present Article indicates:
(A) All the members of the Board of Directors and of the Audit Committee.
(B) The general manager and assistant manager of the Administration.
(C) The assistant chief controller.
(D) All the managers and sub-managers of the Departments of the Board of Directors, the Audit Committee, the Control and the Administration. All agents for commission, engineers for commission. All the senior agents, advisers and chiefs of the sections and sub-sections.
2 With the aim of ensuring the normal functioning of the Railway, the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics agree to place at the disposal of the new administration the following persons from among the senior members of the administration of the Railway who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as advisers for one month from the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement:
(A) The general manager of the Administration.
(B) The manager of General Affairs Office of the Administration.
(C) The manager of the Motive Power Department of the Administration.
(D) The chief of the Financial Department of the Administration.
(E) The manager of the Commercial Department of the Administration.
3 At any time after the coming into force of the present Agreement, the Government of Manchoukuo may dismiss any or all of the following persons:
(A) All the chiefs of railway sections, stations and depots.
(B) The chiefs of all the following auxiliary enterprises of the Railway:
a Forest concessions and lumbering.
b Coalmines.
c Power stations.
d Printing plant.
e Auxiliary enterprises of the Commercial Department.
f Nursery and green-houses in Harbin.
g Main workshops of the Ways Department.
h Wool-washing works and hydro-loading works.
i Water works in Harbin.
j Soft-drinks factory.
k Saw-mill.
l Gradations of beans.
m Waste-cleaning works.
n Grand Hotel.
o Health resorts and sanatoria.
p Hospitals and clinics.
q Library.
r Economic Bureau.
4 The persons referred to in Section 1 of the present Article shall have the right to remain in Manchoukuo and to retain their railway lodgings for one month after the coming into force of the present Agreement.
The persons referred to in Section 2 of the present Article shall have the right to remain in Manchoukuo and to retain their railway lodgings for two months after the coming into force of the present Agreement.
Those persons who have been dismissed by virtue of Section 3 of the present Article shall have the right to receive their regular salary for one month from the date of their dismissal. They shall have the right to remain in Manchoukuo and to retain their railway lodgings for two months from the date of their dismissal.
ARTICLE IV
The Government of Manchoukuo shall succeed to the assets and liabilities of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) in accordance with the list of assets and liabilities of the Railway as on December 31st, 1933, presented by the Delegation of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on March 22nd, 1934, to the Delegation of the Government of Manchoukuo through the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, as supplemented by the lists which were made on March 17th and March 21st, 1935, in order to show the changes sustained by the assets and liabilities included in the first list from the date of the first list up to the date of the last list and also to show the new assets and liabilities which have arisen on and after January 1st, 1934.
It is agreed that the provisions of Section 4, Article IX of the Agreement on General Principles for the Settlement of the Questions between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Republic of China signed at Peking on May 31st, 1924, and those of Section 3, Article I of the Agreement between the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Government of the Autonomous Three Eastern Provinces of the Republic of China signed at Mukden on September 20th, 1924, shall remain in force.
ARTICLE V
The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall have the right to maintain the following property for the use of their Consulate General in Harbin in the form of a permanent and rent-free lease:
a The land and buildings now occupied by the said Consulate General:
Locality: Yio-Ching-Kai, Chin-Chia-Kang.
Area: 14,873.68 square metres.
Buildings:
Office, No. 1049; 2,174.90 square metres.
Residence, No. 1047; 685.37 square metres.
Residence, No. 1048; 1,447.61 square metres.
Garage and its annex, No. 1051; 245.88 square metres.
Guard-room, No. 1052; 38.90 square metres.
b The land and building now occupied by the officials of the said Consulate General:
Locality: Hai-Cheng-Kai, Chin-Chia-Kang.
Area: 2,530 square metres.
Building: No. 934; 258.51 square metres.
The following property shall be leased rent-free and sine die to the Consul General of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Harbin on the day of the coming into force of the present Agreement, and shall immediately thereafter be placed and remain under the occupation and management of the community
of the citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Harbin to be used solely for the purposes prescribed hereunder:
a The IVth School of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway), situated at No. 35, Shang-Wu-Kai, Tao-Li, Harbin, with all the buildings and property to be found there, to be used for the elementary and secondary education of the said community.
b The land known under No. 949, at the corner of Kao-Shi-Kai and Ching-Cha-Kai, Tao-Li, Harbin, with all the buildings on it, which are to be used in the future as a hospital.
Within one month from the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement, a library shall be selected, for the use of the above-mentioned IVth School, from the books of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) Library in Harbin, by mutual agreement between the local authorities of Manchoukuo and the Consul General of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Harbin. The books so selected shall be transferred to the said School.
ARTICLE VI
The properties occupied by the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) which are claimed by the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as belonging to them and not to the Railway, and the properties existing in the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics which are claimed by the Government of Manchoukuo as belonging to the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway), are regarded as having been mutually renounced by respective Governments in favour of the other Government, and neither Government shall in future raise against the other Government any demand concerning the said properties.
The above provisions shall not apply to the properties (buildings and their sites and other railway properties) of the Transbaikal Railway now existing at Manchuli, and the properties of the Ussuri Railway now existing at Suifenho, which are actually occupied respectively by the said two Railways and shall remain their property under their management.
ARTICLE VII
Out of the sum of one hundred and forty million (140,000,000) yen in Japanese currency referred to in Article I of the present Agreement, the sum of forty-six million seven hundred thousand (46,700,000) yen shall be paid in cash in accordance with the provisions of Article VIII of the present Agreement, and the settlement for the remaining sum of ninety-three million three hundred thousand (93,300,000) yen shall be effected in the form of payments made by the Government of Manchoukuo for goods delivered to the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in accordance with the provisions of Article IX of the present Agreement.
ARTICLE VIII
Out of the sum of forty-six million seven hundred thousand (46,700,000) yen to be paid in cash in accordance with the provisions of Article VII of the present Agreement, the sum of twenty-three million three hundred thousand (23,300,000) yen shall be paid simultaneously with the signing of the present Agreement.
The remaining sum of twenty-three million four hundred thousand (23,400,000) yen as well as the simple interest at the rate of three per cent. per annum is to be paid by the Government of Manchoukuo to the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the form of the Treasury Bonds of the Government of Manchoukuo. The said Treasury Bonds are to be issued of the following amounts and mature on the dates indicated hereunder: six million three hundred and seventy-six thousand five hundred (6,376,500) yen maturing on December 23rd, 1935; six million two hundred and forty-four thousand eight hundred and seventy-five (6,244,875) yen maturing on September 23rd, 1936; six million one hundred and thirteen thousand two hundred and fifty (6,113,250) yen maturing on June 23rd, 1937; five million nine hundred and eighty-one thousand six hundred and twenty-five (5,981,625) yen maturing on March 23rd,
1938. The Treasury Bonds of the Government of Manchoukuo mentioned above are to be issued in favour of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and are to be delivered by the Representative of the Government of Manchoukuo to the Representative of the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics simultaneously with the signing of the present Agreement, and shall be paid at the Industrial Bank of Japan, Ltd.
In case the exchange rate of the yen in terms of the Swiss franc calculated on the basis of the respective exchange rates of the yen and the Swiss franc in London on the day before the date of payment of any of the second and subsequent instalments provided for in the present Article should be lower or higher by eight per cent. or more in comparison with the exchange rate of the yen in terms of the Swiss franc as calculated on the basis of the respective exchange rates of the yen and the Swiss franc in London on the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement, the amount of the said instalment shall be increased or decreased, as the case may be, so that the value in Swiss francs of the instalment shall be the same as it is on the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement.
In case the present gold parity of the Swiss franc (one Swiss franc being equivalent to nine thirty-firsts of one gramme of fine gold) should be altered or in case the convertibility of the Swiss franc into gold should be suspended, the following method shall be adopted in place of the method provided for in the preceding paragraph.
In case the weight of fine gold whose value, when calculated on the basis of the price of gold and the exchange rate of the yen in London on the day before the date of payment of any of the second and subsequent instalments provided for in the present Article, is equal to the amount of the instalment, should be less or more by eight per cent. or more in comparison with the weight of fine gold whose value, when calculated on the basis of the price of gold and the exchange rate of the yen in London on the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement, is equal to the
[Page 1312 was transcribed with GPT (Codex CLI), not Claude.]
said instalment, the amount of the instalment shall be increased or reduced, as the case may be, so that the value in fine gold of the instalment shall be the same as it is on the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement.
ARTICLE IX
The settlement for the sum of ninety-three million three hundred thousand (93,300,000) yen, to be effected in the form of payments made by the Government of Manchoukuo for the goods delivered to the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as provided for in Article VII of the present Agreement, shall be executed in the following manner:
1 The Trade Representation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Japan will make contracts for the purchase of goods produced or manufactured in Manchoukuo or Japan, with the subjects or juridical persons of either of these two countries, up to the sum of ninety-three million three hundred thousand (93,300,000) yen indicated in Article VII within the period of six months from the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement. The delivery of the goods thus purchased shall be effected to the Trade Representation in Japan by the above-mentioned subjects or juridical persons within the period of three years from the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement in accordance with the terms of the contracts concerned, it being understood that the goods so delivered in the course of each of the six equal periods of six months constituting the said three years shall not exceed in value the sum of thirty-one million one hundred thousand (31,100,000) yen and that the total amount of the goods delivered in the course of each of the three equal periods of one year constituting the said three years shall not exceed in value the sum of thirty-one million one hundred thousand (31,100,000) yen.
2 The terms of payment for the goods shall be arranged in such a way that for each such period of six months in the course of the said three years the Government of Manchoukuo shall make payment not exceeding the sum of
fifteen million five hundred and fifty thousand (15,550,000) yen for the delivery of the goods mentioned in the foregoing Section and in case any balance of that sum shall for any reason remain unpaid at the end of any such period of six months, such balance shall be paid off during the next six months and so on, so that the whole sum of ninety-three million three hundred thousand (93,300,000) yen shall be paid off by the end of the said three years.
3 It is agreed that should the above-mentioned contracts not be concluded within the period of six months after the coming into force of the present Agreement, the Trade Representation shall have the right to make such contracts after the expiration of the said period of six months, and further that, should any of the parties other than the Trade Representation to the contracts concluded in accordance with the forgoing provisions of the present Article fail to carry out such contracts or to fulfil such contracts in a proper manner for which reason these contracts are abrogated, the Trade Representation shall in each case have the right to conclude fresh contracts with other subjects or juridical persons of Manchoukuo or Japan, in which case the latter contracts may provide for the payment for and the delivery of the goods to be effected after the three years' term above mentioned.
4 The contracts in the present Article shall be concluded either c.i.f. or f.o.b. at the choice of the Trade Representation and shall provide for payments in cash for goods by the Government of Manchoukuo.
5 When the Trade Representation have concluded a contract for the purchase of goods with the subjects or juridical persons of Manchoukuo or Japan, the Trade Representation shall give the Financial Attaché to the Legation of Manchoukuo in Japan a résumé of the contract, mentioning the names of the parties to the contract, the description, place of origin and quantity of the goods, to be paid, the date and place of delivery of the goods and of the payment therefor, as well as any other terms of the payment and delivery, including any provisions for payment in advance. The said résumé shall be attested by both parties to the contract. Besides this, so far as circumstances permit, certificates of origin issued by any chamber of commerce and industry in Manchoukuo or Japan in respect of the goods, or by any other organization authorized to issue such certificates by the Government of either of these two countries, shall be presented to the Financial Attaché by the seller of the goods.
The Financial Attaché, upon receipt of the résumé of the contract, provided its contents do not conflict with the provisions of the present Article, shall notify, not later than within seven days thereafter, the Trade Representation and the seller of the goods concerned to the effect that the Government of Manchoukuo undertake to effect payment for the goods in conformity with the said résumé of the contract.
For the purpose of obtaining a settlement of his accounts the seller of the goods shall hand to the Trade Representation the document entitling the Trade Representation to dispose of the said goods (bill of lading, invoice etc.).
The Financial Attaché, upon receipt of the notification given by the Trade Representation to the effect that the delivery of the goods referred to in the résumé of the contract has been accomplished, shall issue a cheque to order drawn with the Industrial Bank of Japan, Ltd. as payer, the seller of the goods as payee and the price of the goods as its face amount, and shall deliver it to the seller on the date of payment, and, in case the presentation of the certificates of origin of the goods above referred to shall have been prevented at the time of presentation of the résumé of the contract, against such certificates. The seller of the goods shall give a receipt for the said cheque. Payment in advance to the seller of the goods may be effected in a similar manner by the Financial Attaché in conformity with the résumé of the contract against the advice of the Trade Representation to the effect that such payment shall be made.
6 It is understood that in the present Article the term "goods manufactured in Manchoukuo or Japan" indicates goods manufactured within either of the said
two countries from raw materials imported from any other countries as well as from raw materials produced in either and that the term "juridical persons of Manchoukuo or Japan" indicates the juridical persons which are or may be incorporated in accordance with the law of Manchoukuo or Japan respectively.
ARTICLE X
1 Three month's notice shall be given to each of the employees of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway), other than those included in the provisions of Article III of the present Agreement, who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and whom the Government of Manchoukuo may desire to dismiss from reasons of convenience on the part of the Government of Manchoukuo after the coming into force of the present Agreement.
2 Employees of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and who may be dismissed shall have the right to remain in Manchoukuo for two months after their dismissal in order to dispose of their personal affairs.
3 Employees of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall continue in the full enjoyment of their rights in movable and immovable property in accordance with the laws of Manchoukuo.
4 Employees of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics shall enjoy the full right to dispose of their property in accordance with the laws of Manchoukuo and to carry their property out of Manchoukuo either in its original form or in its money equivalent in any foreign currency.
5 Employees of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway), who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and who have retired through dismissal or of their own accord and who leave for the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics within two months after their retirement,
shall be granted the privilege of free transport over the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) for themselves, their families, and their personal and household effects either to the station of Manchuli or to the station of Suifenho, at their own option.
ARTICLE XI
1 The various descriptions of retiring allowances and payments—(discharge allowances and other sums due to employees in respect of service on the Railway, employees' savings in the Relief Savings Association and the payments additional thereto on the part of the Railway including interest, pensions and block grants in accordance with the regulations of the Relief Savings Association, as well as pensions and compensations for personal injuries according to the "Regulations of 1912 relating to the indemnification of persons who have met with accidents")—to employees of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and who may be dismissed or may retire of their own accord after the coming into force of the present Agreement, so far as such allowances and payments are in respect of the period before the coming into force of the present Agreement, shall be individually reckoned and paid out in accordance with the regulations of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) in force up to the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement, as modified by the provisions of the present Article.
Note. Discharge allowances for the period up to November 11th, 1930, are to be paid according to the rates existing up to November 11th, 1930.
2 Employees who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and who are dismissed or retire of their own accord after the coming into force of the present Agreement shall be considered as employees who have been dismissed as the result of the abolition of offices, so far as concerns the calculation of the various descriptions of retiring allowances and payments.
3 Discharge allowances and other
payments relative to service concerning the Railway, and compensations for injuries sustained in such service, as well as savings and the prescribed interest thereon, shall be paid within a fortnight from the day of dismissal or retirement, provided that in respect of persons who shall be dismissed, half the amount of such savings shall be paid within two months from the date of the notice of such dismissal.
The block grants to persons who have been in the service of the Railway for less than ten years as well as payments additional to savings together with the prescribed interest thereon shall be paid in four equal instalments within two years from the date of dismissal or retirement. The first instalment shall be paid within a fortnight, and the second instalment at the end of a year after the date of dismissal or retirement, and the third and the fourth instalments shall be paid at the end respectively of six and twelve months after the payment of the second instalment. As regards the last three of these instalments, the Government of Manchoukuo shall issue bonds for the amounts due drawn up in the name of the respective persons and maturing on the dates prescribed above. These bonds shall be delivered to the respective recipients simultaneously with the payment of the first instalment above referred to and shall not be transferred thereafter to any other person.
Persons who have been in the service of the Railway for ten years or more shall be deemed entitled to pensions without undergoing the examination of their working efficiency, and the said pensions, instead of being paid annually, shall be paid in a block grant, that is to say, a sum eight and a half times the sum payable annually in respect of a pension shall be paid to the recipient in four equal instalments in the course of two years, in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Note. 1 The examination of the working efficiency of employees who have been in the service of the Railway for less than ten years will be effected according to the regulations of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) in force
up to the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement.
Note. 2 Pensions for personal injuries, instead of being paid annually, shall be paid in block grants, that is to say, a sum eight and a half times the sum payable annually shall be paid to the recipients in the same manner as for persons who have been in the service of the Railway for ten years or more.
4 Employees of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) who are in debt to the Railway shall have the sum of their indebtedness deducted from the various descriptions of retiring allowances and other payments due to them.
5 The various descriptions of retiring allowances and payments shall be paid in the currency of Manchoukuo at the exchange rate against the rouble of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) existing at the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement and applied by the said Railway for settlements with their employees. The recipients of these retiring allowances and payments shall be allowed to remit the money they have received to other countries after having converted it into foreign currency.
6 The various descriptions of retiring allowances and payments and the bonds of the Government of Manchoukuo shall be paid or delivered to the legal recipients direct, but persons who have returned to the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics can empower the Consul General of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in Harbin or any other person to receive them. Persons who have given such authority shall at the same time inform the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) to that effect.
7 Those persons who have retired before the coming into force of the present Agreement and are now being paid pensions shall continue to receive the pensions as previously in accordance with the regulations of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) in force up to the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement, irrespective of whether the said regulations shall remain in force, be
modified or abrogated thereafter. In this case Section 5 of the present Article shall be applied as regards the exchange rate against the rouble of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway), and, in case the legal recipients should be returning or should have returned to the territory of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, as regards remittances to other countries.
8 The sums which are to be paid out by the Administration or the Relief Savings Association of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) to employees who are citizens of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and of which neither the legal recipients nor their proxies or successors have demanded payment up to the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement, shall be disposed of in accordance with the regulations of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) in force up to the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement.
9 Employees who have been dismissed or have retired after the coming into force of the present Agreement shall, during a period of one month from the date of their dismissal or retirement, retain their full rights with regard to their railway lodgings under the same conditions as before.
ARTICLE XII
It is understood that the term "North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway)" includes all the rights, enterprises and properties appurtenant thereto.
ARTICLE XIII
The Governments of Manchoukuo and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, with a view to promote and facilitate the intercourse and traffic between the two countries, shall conclude, within three months from the date of the coming into force of the present Agreement, a separate agreement, which will provide for the settlement of questions concerning the conveyance of passengers, luggage and goods in transit, direct
service for passengers, luggage and goods between railway stations of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and those of the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway), and also, technical conditions permitting, direct services without reloading of goods between the Ussuri Railway and the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) via the station of Suifenho.
Within the period of the said three months, the two Governments shall conclude another separate agreement which will provide for telegraphic connection between the telegraphic lines hitherto operated by the North Manchuria Railway (Chinese Eastern Railway) and those of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.
ARTICLE XIV
The present Agreement shall come into force on the date of its signature.