Transportation of State funds and property

The contractor must load on its passenger vessels, within the limits of capacity still available at the time a request is made, ordinary shipments of all kinds destined for the service of the State or the colonies, on condition that loading and discharging operations shall be performed under normal conditions and without prejudice to existing contracts. The contractor must carry the funds as well as bullion which the Treasury may ship or which may be shipped for its account, and at rates arranged with the Minister of Finance. Special agents accompanying shipments of funds or metals are entitled to free passage less subsistence, and the contractor is obliged to follow such agents' instructions for the loading and discharging of specie and for their placement and safekeeping on board.

Other transportation for State account

The contractor undertakes to carry bodies of soldiers, sailors, and officers, who have died abroad or in the colonies, at 25 percent reduction from the commercial rate. Special agreements cover the transportation of deserters, persons under discipline, untried prisoners, convicts, and persons under extradition for the Government of France or of a foreign country. For the transporting of insane persons, the contractor is entitled to double the rates paid for other passengers of the same class.

Transportation for account of the contractor

The contractor is permitted to carry passengers and cargo in accordance with commercial practice. The contractor forbids agents of the vessel or vessel employees from undertaking any commercial operation for their own account, and the usual navigation requirements, as to customs and quarantine regulations in ports of call, are required to be complied with under contract terms. Cargo must be properly stowed. Inflammable or dangerous cargo may not be placed on deck nor in any of the spaces reserved for passenger accommodations. The care of and service to, passengers are required by contract to be according to the best conditions in practice on French and foreign passenger vessels, such as prescribed food requirements for individuals, etc.

An official complaint register shall be carried on each vessel, visaed by a Government commissioner and open to all passengers, in an accessible part of each ship, and upon the return of each voyage a certified copy of this register shall be transmitted to the Merchant Marine Administration by the Government commissioner. In this manner, any complaint against the service of the ship may be entered by any passenger for consideration and action by the Merchant Marine Ministry.

An important concession is that the contractor shall give preference, all things being equal, to shipments of French commerce, among applications for space, provided these applications are made to the contractor's agents within the period established for this purpose and stated in notices posted in each agency. Such applications will be given serial numbers and registered at each agency on a counter book, showing date and hour of receipt.

CHAPTER VI. POSTAL SERVICE

The contractor undertakes to transport without limitation as to weight for account of the French Government, all mail tendered in ports served by the vessel, including diplomatic pouches.

The rate to be paid for the carriage of mail is established by article 40 of the law of December 19, 1926, which provides:

Free transportation of diplomatic pouches and, when necessary, for the official of the Postal Administration accompanying them, shall be provided. The contract provides for expeditious handling of mails in ports, for delivery and collection, and for port transportation of postal officials, and specifies that the contractor shall provide at this own expense for the replacement of, or repair to, sacks lost or damaged through ship's fault.

Postal agents on board

The Postal and Telegraph Administrations have the right to place on boar:1 each passenger vessel an official known as "Controller of Maritime Postal Service", who shall possess full and exclusive authority in regard to everything concerning receipt and transmission of mail entrusted to his care.

For subsistence, the Controller shall be accommodated as a first-class passenger and during calls in ports when there is no table service for passengers, shall be accommodated as an officer of the ship and at a reduction of 50 percent from the prices of the first-class passenger subsistence.

Cabin accommodations are provided for the Controller and his work, as well as secure spaces for valuables and for storage of mail.

For the space and accommodations, the Postal Administration undertakes to pay the contractor at one-half the usual commercial rates for space actually occupied, not including subsistence.

Except in cases of force majeure, the contractor assumes responsibility for damage to the mails in the same manner as the Postal Administration is liable to third parties.

Postal monopoly

The contractor is forbidden to undertake the carriage of any mail matter except that sent by French and foreign post offices, French diplomatic and consular offices. The only exception to this rule is ship's papers and documents remaining in the custody of the master of the vessel.

Parcel post is to be carried in compliance with the laws, agreements, regulations, and tariffs in force or which may be formulated.

AGREEMENTS WITH THE UNITED STATES POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT

The contractor is held to the obligations and the advantages accruing to the French Government through agreements under the International Postal Union, which may be made during the period of the contract. The same shall apply to any agreement which may be concluded with the United States Post Office Department or transportation company by the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs on condition that they do not entail for the contractor greater obligations nor lesser advantages than those which would accrue in applying the agreements under the International Postal Union.

CHAPTER VII. ITINERARIES

The days and hours of departure at terminal points and other traffic conditions shall be fixed by the Minister of Merchant Marine, upon proposal by the contractor, after taking into consideration the requirements of the postal and commercial services. Alterations in itineraries may be made by the Government without extra remuneration to the contractor, in cases of epidemics or other emergencies.

Departure from France must not take place before mail shipments from Paris have arrived. Delays under the circumstances are subject to log entry and cannot exceed 6 hours without the consent of the contractor.

All cases of force majeure creating delays or diversions must be covered by log entry and by reports of the master of the vessel, stating all conditions.

Rate control and preference

The contractor shall fix commercial passenger rates and freight rates to the best commercial advantage, upon conditions which shall be published in the company tariffs.

A preferential reduction of at least 5 percent shall be fixed in favor of the various classes of passengers transported between France and the French Antilles, as compared with those transported between France and Colon. Freight rates to or from the French Antilles and French Guiana must not be higher than those for similar freight to or from Colombia and Venezuela. Freight carried from France to French Guiana should always be transshipped at Fort-de-France on first passenger vessel leaving that colony.

Export merchandise of foreign origin, transshipped to complete the cargo on a mail-passenger vessel sailing from France, must not be charged a lower freight rate than that imposed by the contractor on similar goods of French origin, to be sent by the same vessel to the same destination.

Import merchandise, loaded in a foreign port, must not be charged a higher freight rate than that imposed by the contractor on similar merchandise shipped over the same route, to be transshipped to a foreign port.

Rebates are forbidden to shippers of freight of foreign origin or destined to be transshipped in a French port to a foreign port unless equal benefits are conceded to goods of French origin or destined for France, loaded in the same port or on the same passenger vessel.

Exceptions to the provisions of the 3 preceding paragraphs may be made whenever the contractor is fighting foreign competition. In such case, the contractor must furnish the Minister of Merchant Marine with a full justification or become liable to further penalties, described hereafter.

Special reduction in tariffs

On the lines between France, Mexico, the Antilles, and Central America, special reductions in tariffs shall apply to French war invalids and war pensioners, and to large French families, according to the following schedules: French war invalids and war pensioners, having a 50 to 75 percent disability, are entitled to 25 percent reduction from full commercial rates. Such invalids and pensioners, having 75 to 100 percent disability are entitled to a 50 percent reduction from full commercial rates. ... The same discount applies to totally disabled invalids or pensioners.

Large French families traveling together, including father, mother, and children of between 3 and 18 years of age, are entitled to the following reductions on single full-price tickets : 20 percent for families of 5 persons; 30 percent for families of 6 persons; 35 percent for families of 7 persons, and 50 percent for families of larger than 7 persons.

These reductions apply only to price of transportation; subsistence being computed as a separate item and furnished by the company at cost price.

Vessel specifications

Vessels in service under the contract shall be of French registry and fly the French postal ensign, shall be of sufficient number to insure regularity of service, and shall include sufficient reserves for the maintenance of service. In no case is the contractor allowed to plead an exception because of lack of reserve tonnage, and this provision shall especially hold in the case of loss of a vessel when the contractor cannot plead force majeure for interruption of -service. Within a period of 6 months after the loss of a vessel, the concessionaire must either replace the lost vessel with another vessel complying with the conditions required for the first vessel, or else have ordered another vessel capable of meeting the conditions of the contract, unless otherwise authorized by the Minister of Merchant Marine.

Unless otherwise authorized by the Minister, each vessel when reaching the age of 25 years must be replaced by a new vessel. In case of necessity, temporary assignment of vessels which do not comply with all the conditions agreed upon, may be permitted, but only upon the approval of the Minister of Merchant Marine, and no vessel necessary to the service of subsidized lines can be definitely removed from the service without authorization of the Minister.

The contractor must advise the Government at least 30 days in advance as to the name of the vessels assigned to each voyage.

Construction and repair of vessels

Vessels to be built to replace vessels in the service at the time this contract went into effect must be superior to the original vessels insofar as port equipment may permit, taking into account competitive conditions and improvements necessary to insure profitable operation. Replacement vessels must be of French construction, unless expressly authorized by the Minister of Merchant Marine.

Construction of replacement vessels shall be on the basis of competitive bids from a sufficient number of qualified French shipbuilders, specifying delivery time-limit, plans and costs estimates. If the most advantageous offer is deemed acceptable, the Minister shall give his approval to that bid, and the contractor must, the price and time-period being equal, have all major conversions or repairs done in shipyards in France or the French colonies, unless agreement is made with the Minister of Merchant Marine to the contrary. The Government reserves the right to exercise general and detailed inspection over new construction and repairs. It may delegate representatives for this purpose, to whom plans, orders, and purchases must be communicated, and to whom the shipyards and shops may be made accessible at all times. The contractor must furnish a list of these shipyards and submit plans for construction or remodelling work to be performed.

All vessels must be registered first class upon by the Minister of Merchant Marine. registered in a French classification society.

in a classification society agreed Vessels to be constructed must be

Transactions in regard to the construction and repair of vessels must have a clause stipulating that the Decree of August 10, 1899, relative to transactions entered into by the State, shall be applied as if the transaction had been entered into by the State.

Finally, a clause shall be included covering the percentage of repair work that may be performed on a vessel abroad.

Military equipment

At the beginning of construction of new vessels, the company shall submit its plans to the Minister of Marine (Navy), so that study may be made by the French Navy with a view for appropriating said vessels in time of war, and if the Minister of Marine believes it necessary to do certain work in connection with the requisition of the vessel for war purposes, the expenses resulting from such work shall be for account of the French Navy. Any fittings prescribed by the Navy must not result in impeding normal speed of the service nor reduce normal commercial space more than by 75 cubic meters (2,648 cubic feet). If it is deemed essential to exceed this space, the Navy shall be liable for the payment of a special indemnity as reimbursement for loss on this account. If the space used is less than 75 cubic meters, the company shall benefit only from the various indemnities which are provided for the appropriation of merchant vessels from among the entire French merchant fleet.

Vessels must include one or more special bunkers of a total effective space of 30 cubic meters (1,059 cubic feet). In case of special requirements or in case they may be used for the transportation of war munitions, such bunkers must be placed as far as possible from all sources of heat, must be perfectly tight, and so located that they can be completely flooded however the vessel may be loaded, such flooding control to be made possible from the deck. Dimensions of hatches of munition bunkers shall be given by the interested administration for each passenger vessel at the time the study of the project is made. The contractor shall have the bunkers comply with all foreign laws and regulations, nonobservance of which might result in vessel movement delay or increased cost of operation, due to increased port dues, etc.

Official trials, delivery of vessels

No vessel may be placed in service until it has been examined by a special commission whose members shall be appointed by the Minister of Merchant Marine who alone has power to place the vessel in service. This commission shall have performed as extensive trials as it may deem necessary and shall satisfy itself that the vessels comply with the conditions of the contract, and that on the basis of trial runs of periods of 4 consecutive hours, show a speed in excess of that which the vessel must perform in actual service. This extra increment of speed is fixed at 11⁄2 knots. The power developed during 4-hour speed trials, and the speed attained on the basic run, must be obtained only with the use of permanent installations on board, which are to be used in actual service, and to the exclusion of all provisional installations designed to produce abnormal increase of power of the engine and boiler equipment. Trial runs shall be performed under sea and weather conditions which will permit establishing mean draft corresponding to half the total weight of passengers and baggage, freight, fuel, stores, and fresh water.

Speed calculations are made according to the rules and regulations of the Navy, and vessels must furthermore submit to an endurance run not to exceed 48 hours, at the speed actually used in service.

Labor disputes

In labor disputes between the company and its seagoing personnel, the company is obliged to submit the matter to arbitration without delay under maritime law. If the State places its personnel at the disposition of the company, following a disagreement of this nature, the pay of this personnel must not be less than the compensation fixed by Navy regulations or than the pay covered by commercial labor agreements for their respective grades and character of work in force at the time of interruption of service.

Personnel other than that of the State, shipped on vessels requisitioned for maintaining the service, shall be paid according to the labor tariff in force at the time work is stopped. In case of increase in wages, the employees shall draw such increases from the date such increases go into effect.

Nationality of executives

French citizens only shall be members of the administrative board of the company, or serve as a manager or in an executive capacity in the company. Agents and correspondents of the company abroad and in the colonies must also, insofar as possible, be French citizens.

Working conditions

Within 6 months from the date of the law authorizing the contract, additional regulations for working conditions and working hours for seagoing personnel and working regulations for shore employees and laborers, as well as conditions of retirement for shore personnel, shall be completed. For conditions of retirement covering shore personnel, the first funds shall be made up by the present assets of the pension fund.

These regulations and new retirement plans shall be established by a commission in which the company and the organizations representing the personnel shall be equally represented.

CHAPTER VIII. OPERATIONS CONTROL

Supervision over the services is exercised in the name of the Minister of Merchant Marine by the Government commissioner at the company's legal place of business. The commissioner exercises control over operations of every character performed by the company. He does not interfere in the operations, but must be kept posted on all developments and must receive all pertinent information. The commissioner's expenses are paid by the company. Besides the commissioner, the Minister of Merchant Marine may appoint, in ports of registry and ports of call not in the French colonies, an official to represent him with the agents of the company, at a compensation not to exceed 1,200 francs ($46.80) per year, payable by the company, and the Minister for Colonies appoints in the ports of call in the colonies representatives to represent him with the agents of the company.

During a voyage, representative control is vested in the Controller of Maritime Postal Service or by special agents. These officials have the right to make inspection trips on board passenger vessels, or to inspect such vessels and their equipment at any time. All such inspections and all departure

hours shall be recorded in the ship's log.

Financial control

Financial control over operations are to be exercised by the Department of Finance. The accounting of the contractor is subject to audit by inspectors of finance, in respect to both approved services and to others, and the contractor must produce annually the operations accounts as prescribed by the Minister of Merchant Marine and the Minister of Finance.

The accounts are examined by a commission, to be fixed by decree, upon the suggestions of the Minister of Merchant Marine and the Minister of Finance, and the commission shall report to the Minister of Merchant Marine. The company reports its regulations and all modifications of its regulations to the Government, which retains the right to disapprove all modifications. The Minister of Merchant Marine shall report to the Parliament the results of the previous fiscal year.

CHAPTER IX. MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

War clause

"In case of war, whether France be a belligerent or a neutral, the State shall, with the knowledge of the company, arrange the modifications to be made in the execution of the services, according to the circumstances. The suspension of the services whether entirely or in part shall not invalidate the agreement, but the financial stipulations shall be modified in taking account of the services eventually maintained."

Subsidy payments

In consideration of the subsidy, the contractor executes specified services at his own cost, risk, and peril, and all expenses of whatever nature are for his account.