Meetings of the Commission are held periodically, and its decisions are made by unanimous consent of the members. Its official languages are English and French. FINANCES Expenses of the Commission incident to the carrying out of its functions are a first charge against the fund of monetary gold to be distributed. UNITED STATES RELATIONS Participation of the United States in the Commission is based upon the Paris Agreement on Reparation, to which it was a party. The United States Commissioner receives his instructions from the Department of State, which is responsible for the formulation of United States policy regarding the redistribution of looted gold. The United States Commissioner is an official representative of the United States Government, appointed by the Department of State, and has full rights of participation. RELATIONS WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS In carrying out its functions, the Commission maintains a close relationship with IARA. BASIC TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS U. S. Department of State. Distribution of Reparation; Establishment of InterAllied Reparation Agency; Restitution of Monetary Gold. Agreement Between the United States of America and Other Governments. Opened for signature at Paris, January 14, 1946. Entered into force January 24, 1946. Treaties and Other International Acts Series 1655, Pub. 2966. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1947. (61 Stat., pt. 3, 3157.) Bulletin. "Tripartite Commission for the Restitution of Monetary Gold." September 29, 1946, p. 563. Germany: Distribution of Reparation; Establishment of Inter-Allied Reparation Agency; Restitution of Monetary Gold. Protocol Between the United States of America and Other Governments, Apportioning shares between India and Pakistan under the Agreement of January 14, 1946. Effective from January 24, 1946. Treaties and Other International Acts Series 1797, Pub. 3289. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1948. (62 Stat. pt. 3-.) Restitution of Monetary Gold: Protocol Between the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and France and Austria. Entered into Force November 4, 1947. Treaties and Other International Acts Series 1683, Pub. 3046. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1948. (61 Stat. pt. 4, 3571.) Restitution of Monetary Gold: Protocol Between the United States of America, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and France and Italy. Entered into Force December 16, 1947, effective September 15, 1947. Treaties and Other International Acts Series 1707, Pub. 3078. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1948. (61 Stat. 3729.) Political and Legal Committee of Control of the International Zone of Tangier City of Tangier, Morocco ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT The Empire of Morocco, while constituting a single geographic entity, nominally under a sultan, consists of three zones, the French Zone, the Spanish Zone, and the International Zone of Tangier, each administered independently of the other, pursuant to international agreements. The Tangier Zone is provisionally administered by an international regime in accordance with (a) the Convention Regarding the Organization of the Statute of the Tangier Zone, signed at Paris on December 18, 1923, by France, Great Britain, and Spain and later adhered to by Sweden, which entered into force on May 24, 1924;1 (b) a revision of the above-mentioned convention, signed on July 25, 1928, between the same countries and Italy, ratified by France, Great Britain, and Spain as well as the signatory Governments and later adhered to by Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden;1 and (c) the AngloFrench Agreement for the Reestablishment of the International Administration of Tangier, signed at the conclusion of the Conference Concerning the Reestablishment of the International Regime in Tangier, August 10-31, 19451 (in which Conference the United States and the Soviet Union also participated). The agreement was subsequently adhered to by Belgium, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Sweden. The Statute of 1923 provided for the establishment of the Committee of Control as well as other administrative bodies. The AngloFrench Agreement of 1945 provided for the re-establishment of the international regime of Tangier (which had been suppressed by unilateral act of Spain in 1940) to operate from October 11, 1945, until a 1 See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 182. revised Tangier statute was agreed upon by certain parties to the Act of Algeciras.2 In accordance with the provisions of the AngloFrench Agreement, the United States and the Soviet Union were "invited to collaborate in the provisional regime of the Tangier Zone." MEMBERSHIP The Committee of Control consists of the consuls de carrière of the United States, Belgium, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom (Sweden and the U.S.S.R., although parties to the Act of Algeciras, do not participate). PURPOSES, POWERS, AND FUNCTIONS The Committee of Control is charged with insuring the observance of the regime of economic equality provided for in the General Act of Algeciras and of the provisions of the convention of 1923. Its functions are extensive and important, but, for the most part, supervisory. The Committee has among other powers the right to veto or annul laws, regulations, resolutions and decisions of the International Legislative Assembly, which is composed of representatives of the foreign native communities under the presidency of the Mendoub (the personal representative of the sultan). The Committee has legislative powers, ordinarily vested in the Assembly, in cases where the latter body fails to act. The Assembly is subject to dissolution by a decision of the Committee, accompanied by a statement of the reasons for the action and adopted by a three-fourths majority. The Committee selects the administrator of the zone, a person of Belgian, Netherlands, Portuguese, or Swedish nationality, who carries out the decisions of the Assembly and directs the administration of the zone. STRUCTURE The Committee is composed of the consular representatives mentioned above. The functions of the president of the Committee are performed by the consuls of the powers in rotation for one year each, in accordance with article 30 of the convention of 1923 and article 7 of the Anglo-French Agreement of 1945. 2 The general act of the International Conference of Algeciras, designed to effect governmental and economic reform in Morocco, was signed Apr. 7, 1906, by the United States, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, and Sweden (see Basic Texts and Publications, p. 182) and later ratified by all signatories. This act assigned certain administrative duties to the diplomatic corps at Tangier, while recognizing the independence and integrity of the Sultan and his territory. The concept of an international regime for Tangier was envisioned in the convention of Nov. 27, 1912, between France and Spain. The Committee meets twice a month at the call of the president or upon the demand of one of its members. Each member of the Committee has one vote, and decisions are taken by a majority vote. Arabic, Spanish, and French are the official languages. FINANCES Funds for the expenses of the international administration of Tangier, including those of the Committee of Control, are obtained from the regular revenue of the zone. Members of the Committee are the diplomatic representatives of their countries and as such their salaries are paid by the respective countries. UNITED STATES RELATIONS Authorization. The United States Government participates in the Committee of Control by virtue of its being a party to (a) the General Act of the International Conference at Algeciras, April 7, 1906,3 for which the United States instrument of ratification was deposited with Spain December 31, 1906, the date of entry into force of the Act, and (b) the Final Act of the Conference Concerning the Reestablishment of the International Regime in Tangier, Paris, August 31, 1945.3 United States Agencies Chiefly Concerned. The Department of State is responsible for United States representation on the Committee. The American Diplomatic Agent and Consul at Tangier is the United States member, with full participation rights. BASIC TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS U.S. Department of State. General Act and Additional Protocol of the International Conference of Algeciras, April 7, 1906. Treaty Series 456. Washington, Government Printing Office. 34 Stat., pt. 3, 2905. Department of State Bulletin. October 21, 1945, pp. 613-18. The AngloFrench Agreement of August 31, 1945, and the Final Act of the Conference of August 10-31, 1945. -. Digest of International Law. Compiled by Green H. Hackworth. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1940-44. 8 vols. A historical account of U.S. interests in the Tangier Zone is contained in vol. I, pp. 92–95, and vol. II, pp. 509-12. 1940 and 1941. Pubs. 1506 and 1521. Participation of the United States Government in International Conferences, July 1, 1945-June 30, 1946. Pub. 2817. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1947. 292 pp. Contains account of the Paris Conference of 1945. pp. 146-7. League of Nations. Convention Regarding the Organization of the Statute of the Tangier Zone, signed at Paris December 18, 1923. League of Nations Treaty Series, vol. 28, p. 541. Geneva, 1924. Committee of Control of the International Zone of Tangier. Bulletin Official. Published bimonthly. 1933–. See Basic Texts and Publications, below. Interparliamentary Union for the Promotion of International Arbitration 6 rue Constantin, Geneva, Switzerland ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT The idea of establishing contacts among various European parliamentary bodies for the promotion of international arbitration and the limitation of armaments was first suggested at the Paris Peace Conference in 1878. In June 1889, on the initiative of members of the French and British parliaments, a conference was held in Paris which was attended by parliamentary representatives from Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Hungary, Liberia, Spain, and the United States. It was decided to make the conference a permanent institution, and by 1939 there were 51 States represented in the organization. Although represented at the first conference in 1889, the United States Group did not attend the annual conferences until 1899, from which time it has actively participated. In 1892, as a result of action taken at the 1891 and 1892 Conferences, a Permanent Bureau of the Interparliamentary Union, including a general secretariat, was established at Bern. The Bureau's headquarters was transferred from Bern to Brussels in 1909, to Christiania during World War I, and at the war's end, to Geneva. The work of the Union was disrupted by World War II, but many interparliamentary groups remained intact and, in every state in which their activity was not interrupted by foreign occupation, maintained executive bodies. Although the Bureau continued to operate at Geneva with a reduced staff and budget, a temporary office was opened in London with funds supplied by the Union. An entente of the members of parliament of the occupied countries was also effected in London. In August 1944 a meeting of several of these groups was held at Geneva. Contacts were also maintained during the war with the provisional office in London by the United States Group. Since the war the Bureau has greatly augmented its staff and increased its budget. Annual conferences have now been resumed, the first since 1939 having been held in Cairo in 1947. The latest, the 1949 conference, met in Stockholm in September. MEMBERSHIP The members of the Union are national groups, consisting of the members of the respective national parliaments. All Members of |