port information as to the amount and quantity of goods exported and the date of export, and the department is informed as to this export; on the export of the last portion the certificate is taken away and handed to the department in accordance with section 10.

SEC. 12. For goods permitted to be exported abroad through Finland the owners thereof must submit to the customs through which the goods are going before they are sent into Finland, in addition to the respective certificates and transport information, also railway waybills for such goods or duplicates thereof, indicating the transito route of the goods through Finland to that country to which the permission for export has been given. If the waybill (or copy thereof) corresponds in every way to the permission granted for export, then the customs put a stamp on said document of a special description, with the seal of the customs and signature of the manager or his representative, stating that permission is given for the goods mentioned on the railway documents to be exported abroad. If on the waybill or copy there is no indication as transito forwarding of the goods abroad via Finland, then the goods will be considered as forwarded to Finland and no stamp will be placed on the waybill or copy thereof by the customs.

(NOTE. For goods forwarded from station Petrograd-Novyport all documents concerning their outgoing must be submitted to the Petrograd port customs, for goods forwarded from station Petrograd-Finlandsky (or Kulikovo Pole) to the Petrograd customs house attached to the Finland Railway, and for goods forwarded from a station in the interior of Russia to the White Island customs house.)

SEC. 13. The export to England of game, dead birds, eggs, and pigs' bacon is permitted by obtaining special permission on each separate occasion and without the certificate demanded according to section 8 if the goods are sent to that country by direct Scandinavian sea connections.

SEC. 14. On the direct waybills for transport to England of the goods mentioned in section 13 a stamp such as mentioned in section 12 is put on by the Petrograd customs house attached to the Finland Railway, if in connection with the proposed transport the following rules for the Scandinavian direct sea connection to England are observed: If on the waybills is indicated that the goods are destined for an English port (London, Hull, Newcastle, Granton, or Grangemouth) for such and such a receiver in England and if in other respects the waybill corresponds to the regulations pertaining to the particular goods in question. (Tariff of Russian Railways, 1914, No. 236, St. 20651.)

SEC. 15. During the navigation season of 1915 the export is permitted without prohibition to north Norway on sailing vessels and steamers belonging to Russians on the Archangel sea coast, of timber, certain articles of food, and articles connected with the deer (reindeer) industry according to the list attached hereto, on the condition that the skipper of the vessel on his return from Norway submits a certificate from the Russian consular authorities, and if there are no such authori

ties at the place where the goods have been unloaded, then a certificate from the local Norwegian authorities that the goods have actually arrived in Norway.

SEC. 16. The customs house through which the goods mentioned in sections 13-15 are exported will inform the department of each shipment of goods, indicating the quantity of the goods exported and the country of destination.

SEC. 17. The export is permitted, without special permission being obtained in each instance and without the issue of the certificate required according to section 18, direct to allied countries on Russian vessels or vessels under an allied flag, of the goods mentioned in the list attached hereto. The customs house will inform the department in all instances of the export abroad and permission to proceed abroad of vessels on the basis of this paragraph, indicating the name of the vessel, the flag under which same sails, the kind and quantity of goods, and port of destination.

SEC. 18. The fact of a steamer carrying coal in her bunkers necessary for steaming purposes is not to be considered as an objection to a steamer proceeding to leave a port and go to sea; the question as to what quantity of coal is necessary for the steamer will be decided by the local port authorities, and in such places where there are no port authorities, by the local customs authorities. The steamer has the right to take with her the coal which she brought with her to a Russian port, and vessels are not bound to unload that quantity which might be considered as suplus over and above what is required for navigation.

SEC. 19. On the export abroad by sea of goods, the export of which is not allowed according to general rules, but which has been permitted on the basis of the conditions mentioned above, the port customs authorities must furnish skippers with certificates regarding the goods being exported on the respective vessels, indicating the date and port of loading, quantity and description of goods, and port of destination. (Signed) DIRECTOR S. SHATELEN, Chief of the Department, S. Antonov. Confirmed 4/17 May, 1915, by the minister of finances.

P. BARK.

LIST OF GOODS THE EXPORT OF WHICH ABROAD IS PROHIBITED OWING TO CIRCUMSTANCES ARISING FROM THE WAR.

I. The following goods are not allowed to be exported abroad by any whatever of the frontiers of the Empire:

[A list of goods three pages long follows.]

II. The export is forbidden over the Persian Afghanistan frontiers of camels.

III. The export abroad of every description of goods is prohibited from the ports situated in the confines of the governments of Petrograd, Estland, Lifland, and Curland.

Addition to sec. 15.--List of goods, the export of which is allowed to north Norway by sea vessels during the 1915 season of navigation:

All kinds of timber and wood, tea, cream butter, salmon, venison (deer meat), tongues, deer wool, deerskins.

(NOTE. The quantity of cream butter permitted in each separate instance for export to northern Norway is decided by the governor of Archangel.)

Addition to sec. 17.-List of goods permitted to be exported direct to allied countries on Russian vessels or on vessels under allied flags: Maize, bran, all kinds of oil cakes and residues, pigs' bacon, cream butter, dead game and poultry, live poultry, eggs, entrails, fish, tobacco of superior quality (the question of quality to be decided by the excise authorities), all kinds of timber, oil seeds, seeds of clover and other grass foods, all kinds of furs, except lambskins, sheepskins, and goatskins.

CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT.

Proclamation of abdication issued by Tsar Nicholas, March 15, 1917.

[The Annual Register, 1917, p. 243.]

By the Grace of God, We, Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias, Tsar of Poland, Grand Duke of Finland, etc., to our faithful subjects be it known:

In the days of a great struggle against a foreign enemy, who has been endeavoring for three years to enslave our country, it pleased God to send Russia a further painful trial. Internal troubles threatened to have a fatal effect on the further progress of this obstinate war. The destinies of Russia, the honor of her heroic army, the happiness of the people, and the whole future of our beloved country demand that the war should be conducted at all costs to a victorious end. The cruel enemy is making his last efforts, and the moment is near when our valiant army, in concert with our glorious allies, will finally overthrow the foe.

In these decisive days in the life of Russia we have thought that we owed to our people the close union and organization of all its forces for the realization of rapid victory, for which reason, in agreement with the Imperial Duma, we have recognized that it is for the good of the country that we should abdicate the crown of the Russian State and lay down the supreme power. Not wishing to separate ourself from our beloved son, we bequeath our heritage to our brother, the Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovitch, with our blessing for the future of the throne of the Russian State. We bequeath it to our brother to govern in full union with the National Representatives sitting in the legislative institutions and to take his inviolable oath to them in the name of our well-beloved country.

We call upon all faithful sons of our native land to fulfill their sacred and patriotic duty in obeying the Tsar at the painful moment of na

tional trials and to aid him, together with the representatives of the nation, to conduct the Russian Empire in the way of prosperity and glory.

May God help Russia.

PSKOν, March 15, 1917.

ARMISTICE.

Terms of armistice with Germany, Austria-Hungary, Turkey, and Bulgaria, signed at Brest-Litovsk December 15, 1917.1

[London Times, Jan. 5, 1918.]

PREAMBLE.

The following is the text of the agreement concluded for an armistice between the plenipotentiary representatives of the chief army commands of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, and Turkey, of the one part, and of Russia, of the other part, for bringing about a lasting and honorable peace for all the parties:

TEXT.

ARTICLE I. The armistice takes effect from December 17, 1917, at noon (Dec. 4, 1917, at 2 p. m., Russian time), and is to remain in force until January 14, 1918, at noon (Jan. 1, 1918, at 2 p. m., Russian time.) The contracting parties have the right on the 21st day of the armistice to give seven days' notice to terminate it, and if this be not done, then the armistice will automatically remain in force until one of the contracting parties gives such seven days' notice.

ART. II. The conditions of the armistice shall apply to all the land and air fighting forces of the said powers, on the land front comprised between the Black Sea and the Baltic, and they shall likewise apply to the Russo-Turkish theaters of war in Asia.

The contracting parties undertake, for the period that the armistice is in force, not to reinforce the troops on the said fronts or on the islands in the Moon Sound, and this alsɔ refers and applies to their formation into military units. No regrouping in preparation for an offensive is permitted.

Further, the contracting parties undertake that until January 14, 1918, they will not put into operation any transfer of troops from the front between the Black Sea and the Baltic; that is to say, such transfers as had not been begun before the time when the armistice agreement was signed.

Finally, the contracting parties undertake not to assemble troops in the Baltic ports east of 15° longitude east of Greenwich and in the

1 A treaty of peace was signed at Brest-Litovsk, Mar. 3, 1918. (New York Times, Current History, 8 (pt. 1), 54.)

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ports of the Black Sea during the period in which the armistice remains in force.

ART. III. On the European front the most advanced entanglements on each side of the positions of each of the contracting parties shall be considered as the lines of demarkation. At such places where no closed-in positions exist the lines of demarkation on both sides shall be considered as existing midway between the most advanced occupied points on each side, and the intervening zone shall be considered as neutral. Moreover, navigable rivers which separate opposing positions shall be considered as neutral, and they shall not be navigated, except for previously agreed traffic of a mercantile nature. In sectors where positions are separated from each other by a great distance lines of demarkation shall be agreed upon by armistice commissions without delay, and they shall be made distinguishable.

In the Russo-Turkish theaters of war in Asia the lines of demarkation, as well as traffic over them, shall be regulated by agreement between the high commands on both sides.

ART. IV. For the development and strengthening of friendly relations between the nations of the contracting parties organized intercourse between troops shall be permitted under the following conditions:

1. Intercourse is permissible for pourparlers and for members of armistice commissions and their representatives. Each one of them having this object in view must be in possession of an order made out by a corps commander or a corps committee at least.

2. On every sector of a Russian division organized intercourse may take place at from two to three points. For this purpose centers for intercourse on divisional fronts are to be established between the lines of demarkation and are to be distinguished by white flags. Intercourse there is only to be allowed by day between sunrise and sunset. At the intercourse centers there must not be present at any one time more than 25 unarmed persons from each side. The exchange of news and newspapers is to be permitted. Open letters may be handed in for dispatch. The sale and exchange of wares of everyday use is to be permitted at the intercourse centers.

3. The interment of the dead in the neutral zone is permissible. More precise details are to be arranged in each case by the divisional commanders on both sides or by the higher service field posts.

4. As regards the return of men who have been discharged from military service in one country and who have their homes beyond the lines of demarkation of the other country, this question can only be the subject of discussion at the negotiations for peace. This also applies to men belonging to Polish detachments.

5. All persons, who, contrary to the conditions contained in clauses 1 to 4, shall cross the line of demarkation of the opposite side will be placed under arrest and will be delivered up again only at the conclusion of peace or at the end of the period of armistice.