sent, determine upon the two towns where each administration shall respectively install its terminal office for the purpose of the connection referred to herein.

ARTICLE VI.

The two departments shall also determine, by common consent, upon all matters relative to the apparatus to be employed in the service, and upon the order in which correspondence is to be transmitted: the cost of the necessary apparatus and the expense of installation, maintenance, upkeep and working of the said instruments within the respective territories being borne by each of the high contracting parties.

ARTICLE VII.

Although the connection of the telegraph lines of Mexico and those of British Honduras shall for the present be by means of one wire and at one point only in each country, it is understood that, if later on business requirements demand it and the telegraph administrations of the two countries so agree, other wires and points of connection of the lines in question may be added from time to time.

It is also understood that the connection of the lines of Mexico and British Honduras to which this convention refers, can only be effected between lines belonging to the governments of the two respective countries, which in the case of Mexico are styled the FEDERAL LINES, and in British Honduras the GOVERNMENT LINES, but in no case shall either of the said lines be connected with a private line established within the territory of the other high contracting party.

ARTICLE VIII.

The act of entering the connecting wires into the telegraph offices assigned for the purpose in conformity with the stipulations of Article V of the present convention, and of placing in the said offices the instruments necessary for the operation of such wires shall constitute the connection of the Federal Lines of Mexico with the Government Lines of British Honduras.

The service will be performed as follows: the Mexican Federal telegraph offices of connection shall receive all the traffic offered to them by the offices of their system for the Government Telegraph Offices of British Honduras, and retransmit the same immediately to their destination by the connecting wire, and the same offices shall also receive the

traffic offered to them by means of the same wire by the Government Telegraph offices of British Honduras for Mexico, and forward the same at once to its destination; so that there shall always be in all the Mexican Federal Telegraph offices of connection, an exact record of all the traffic passing over both lines.

ARTICLE IX.

For the purpose of official communications between the General Federal Telegraph Department of Mexico, and the Postal and Telegraph Department of British Honduras, the former may make use of the Spanish language and the latter of the English. For the service between the telegraph offices of both departments, the Spanish language shall be used, and for the transmission of messages the Mexican telegraph alphabet actually in use on the Mexican lines shall be employed, unless, by common consent, it is agreed to adopt some other alphabet.

ARTICLE X.

It is agreed that neither the Republic of Mexico nor their agents, shall transact business directly with the public within the territory of British Honduras, and that in all operations of the service the British administration shall be the only intermediary for communication with that public. British Honduras will observe the same rules with regard to the public and the service in the territory of the Republic of Mexico.

ARTICLE XI.

The messages exchanged between the two countries, provided always that the same be sent from and addressed to some point within the territory of the other, shall be classified thus: OFFICIAL. PRIVATE. SERVICE.

ARTICLE XII.

All messages emanating from the government authorities of either country shall be considered as "Official;" those sent by any private person or corporation, as "Private;" and those exchanged between the two telegraphic administrations, or between the offices of the aforesaid departments on matters relating to the telegraphic service, subject to such rules as may be agreed upon between the two parties, shall be considered as "Service" messages.

ARTICLE XIII.

All the above mentioned messages may, at the option of the sender, be transmitted under one or more of the following headings: Urgent, Collated, Multiple, and Reply paid.

The General Federal Telegraph Department of Mexico and the Postal and Telegraph Department of British Honduras, may, by mutual agreement, establish such other special rulings for messages as may become desirable, in the working of the service betwen the two countries.

ARTICLE XIV.

"Private" messages shall be paid for in full in strict accordance with the tariffs in force in the telegraph offices of both administrations. An "Official" message which originates from, and is destined for a place within the territories of the high contracting parties shall, so far as it is transmitted on their lines, be given precedence in transmission, and shall always be collated and transmitted as an urgent message, but the tolls in such messages must be paid in cash, in accordance with the respective tariffs, without any extra charge for the collation or precedence given the message. If the "Official" message is destined for another country, i. e., only passing in transit through Mexico, it will not be entitled to any special treatment, and therefore to be charged for as an ordinary private message. "Service" messages to be admitted free of charge, subject always to any rules which may be agreed upon in accordance with the provisions of Article 12.

ARTICLE XV.

The charge for messages passing between Mexico and British Honduras shall be governed by the following regulations:

I. When originating from, and addressed to, any place within the territory of the respective countries:

(a) If the message be dated from a place where there is a Mexican telegraph or telephone office and is filed at said office, and be addressed to a place in British Honduras connected with a colonial government telegraph or telephone line, it must be charged for in accordance with the Federal tariff rates and the Federal regulations in force for the interior service of Mexico from the place where the message is handed in to the place of connection with the lines of British Honduras, plus the tariffs in force in British Honduras.

(b) If a message be dated from a place where there is a government telegraph or telephone office in British Honduras, and be filed at said office, and addressed to any place in the Republic of Mexico connected by Federal telegraph or telephone line, it must be charged for in accordance with the tariff rates for the interior service of British Honduras, from the place where the message is handed in, to the point of connection with the Federal lines of Mexico, plus the charge of the latter country from the aforesaid office of connection to the point of destination.

(c) To the charges mentioned in the two preceding clauses there shall be added any charge for postage, or for the use of any private line, or for both items if it be necessary for the message to pass through the post or over private telephone or telegraph line, or successively through both, in order to reach its final destination.

(d) If the message be dated from a place where there is a Mexican telegraph or telephone office, or a British Honduras telegraph office, and be not actually handed in at the said office, but at an office belonging to a private line, the sender of the message will have to pay, in addition to the charges specified in the three preceding clauses as due to Mexico and British Honduras for a similar message handed in at a Mexican Federal telegraph office, or at a British Honduras government telegraph office, the tolls charged by such private lines for the service rendered.

(e) If at the place of origin there should be no government telegraph or telephone office, either Mexican or British Hondurean, as the case may be, the government lines shall only be paid according to the tariff and regulations in force from the place where such messages are handed in for transmission.

(f) Messages which are handed in direct at an office of connection addressed to an office of the other high contracting party, as well as those which are sent from one of the offices of either of the high contracting parties addressed to an office of connection of the other high contracting party, shall pay, over and above the tariff rate from the originating office to the point of destination, an extra charge of five cents United States currency for the first ten words, and one cent United States currency for each additional word, which extra charge shall accrue to the high contracting party whose office makes the charge.

II. Messages despatched over the British Honduras lines for any other country and only passing in transit through Mexico, as well as those sent from other countries to British Honduras under similar conditions, shall for the purpose of transmission be charged from the last office of trans

mission in Mexico, subject to the regulations and special tariffs which govern the International Telegraph Service of the Republic of Mexico, and they shall be taxed and charged for according to the aforesaid special Mexican regulations and tariffs in addition to the regulations and tariffs of British Honduras.

III. If with a view to evade the payment of a portion of the dues indicated above, it should occur that a message originating at a place within the territory of one of the high contracting parties should be handed in direct at an office of the other, the office at which the message is so handed in shall count and fix the charges on the same strictly on the basis laid down in Rules I and II of the present article, and shall credit the other high contracting party with the share of the charges corresponding hereto in conformity with the said rules, exactly as if the message had been duly handed in at an office of the latter.

ARTICLE XVI.

Each of the high contracting parties shall be at liberty to fix and modify, at its discretion, their rules and tariffs in force on their respective lines, but should communicate these to the other party, and no alteration of such rules shall be effective until one month after the official advice in respect to the same has reached the principal office responsible for the management of the telegraphic service of the other high contracting party. In the interest of the said service, however, every endeavour should be made to render the rules and regulations of both countries simple, uniform, and precise.

ARTICLE XVII.

The Mexican Federal telegraph and telephone offices will collect in Mexican " pesos" the tolls on every message addressed from Mexico to British Honduras from the office of origin in Mexico to its final destination.

The British Honduras telegraph offices will collect in United States currency the tolls of all messages transmitted over their lines addressed to places in Mexico.

The tolls on international messages passing through Mexico under the stipulations of Rule II of Article 15 of this convention, shall be collected in Mexico as well as in British Honduras, as provided for in that regulation and the laws of Mexico bearing on the subject.