tDistributed to the Council Official No. : C. 115. M. 36. 1930. V III. and Members of the League.] G e n e v a , January 15th, 1930. LEAGUE OF NATIONS ORGANISATION FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND TRANSIT EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON THE TRANSPORT OF NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS Held in Geneva, November 25th to 29th, 1929. RECORDS AND TEXTS Series of League of Nations Publications VIII. TRANSIT 1930. VIII. 1. CONTENTS Page I Composition of the D elegations to the Co n f e r e n c e .......................................... 5 II Minutes of the Meetings of the Conference : first Meeting, held on November 25th, 1929, at 3 p.m. : 1. Opening of the Conference : President’s S p e e c h ......................................... 8 2. Programme of W o r k ................................................................................................. 9 3. General Discussion : Questions relating to Railway Administration . 9 Second Meeting, held on November 26th, 1929, at 10.30 a.m. : 4. General Discussion : Questions relating to Railway Administration [continued)................................................................................................................ 13 Fiscal, Tariff and Similar Q u e stio n s...................................................................... 14 Third Meeting, held on November 26th, 1929, at 3.15 p.m. : 5. General Discussion : Fiscal, Tariff and Similar Questions (continued) . 19 Fourth Meeting, held on November 27th, 1929, at 10.30 a.m. : 6. General Discussion (continued) : Air T ra n s p o rt.............................................. 25 7. Composition of C o m m itte e s........................................................................................ 30 Fifth Meeting, held on November 29th, 1929, at 3.15 p.m. : 8. Results of the W ork of the C o m m itte e s .............................................................. 31 9. Adoption of the Final Act : Chapter I. System of Transport for Daily and Similar Newspapers in International T r a f f i c ........................................................................... 32 Chapter II. R a t e s .............................................................................................. 32 Chapter III. Customs and Police Fo rm a litie s ........................................ 32 Chapter IV. Customs and Fiscal Duties applicable to Newspapers. 33 Chapter V. Dropping of Packets of Newspapers from Aircraft in F l i g h t ................................................................................................................. 33 Chapter VI. Combined Railway and Air Navigation Transport. 33 Chapter VII. Periodicals.................................................................................... 33 Chapter VIII. Postal Questions relating to Newspapers and P e rio d ic a ls ....................................................................................................... 33 Addition to the Final Act of a New Chapter proposed by the Swiss D e le g a tio n ........................................................................................ 34 10. Closing Speeches.................................................................................................................. 34 Annexes : 1. A genda............................................................................................................................................. 37 2. Preparatory D o c u m e n ts ........................................................................................................ 37 3- Information concerning Customs Duties and Customs Formalities commu­ nicated by the Netherlands D eleg atio n ................................................................. 47 4- Memorandum from the Association of Austrian Daily Newspapers.................... 48 5' Memorandum by the Estonian G o v e rn m e n t.............................................................. 51 6. Observations from the Norwegian Association of Newspaper Owners . 52 7 • Plan of Night Service by Air in 1 9 3 0 ............................................................................... 53 8. Summary of the Discussions of the Committee on Questions connected with Customs and Police F o rm a litie s ............................................................................... 53 9’ Summary of the Discussions of the Committee on Postal Questions . , . 54 10 • Draft Final Act . * ...................................................................................................... 55 11 • Addition of a New Chapter to the Final Act, proposed by the Swiss Delegation 57 12 ■ Final Act adopted by the Conference on November 29th, 1929............................. 58 S,d,N- i-25o (F.) 980 (A ). a/3o. Imp. J. de G. I COMPOSITION OF THE DELEGATIONS TO THE CONFERENCE GERMANY, M H. H. VOELCKERS, German Consul-General at Geneva. yi h. Katzenberger, Counsellor of Legation at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. M.' W. Gu t , Ministerial Counsellor at the Ministry of Posts. BELGIUM. M. J. G. Crispiels, Inspector-General of Customs. M. E. M ons, Chief of Division in the General Post Office. M. G, J. G ilso n , H ead of Office in the National Railway Company. UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND. Mr. C. B. C o ll in s , Of the Air Ministry. Mr, H. W . P h i l l i p s , Assistant Overseas and Continental Traffic Manager, London, Midland and Scottish Railway Company. BULGARIA. M. D. M ik o ff, Chargé d’Affaires accredited to the Swiss Federal Council. M. S. Iv a n o f f , Deputy-Director of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones. M. J. M itk o f f , Chief of the Customs Section in the Ministry of Finance. DENMARK. M. C. I. M o n d r u p , Director-General of Posts and Telegraphs. M. N. A. M ô l l e r , Head of Section in the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. SPAIN. M. E. M. D a n is , Head of the Press Bureau in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. M. H. Cuartara Garcia, Assessor in the Customs Department. M. F. Jimenez Ontiveros, Engineer to the State Railways. FRANCE. M. P. B a r g e t o n , Minister Plenipotentiary, Head of the Press Service in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. M. E. L e c u y e r , Administrator of Customs. M. A. P o u r c e l , Chief Engineer attached to the management of the P.L.M. Railway Company. HUNGARY. M. P. d e H e v e s y d e H e v e s , Resident Minister, Permanent Delegate accredited to the League of Nations. M. Z o ltân B a r a n y a i , First Secretary of Legation. Dr. D énes d e K o v a c s , Counsellor of Section in the Ministry of the Interior. M. K a lm a n P r i h r a d n y , Deputy-Director of the State Railways. Dr. C harles de Forster, Counsellor at the General Post Office. ITALY. M. M. G a ld i, Chief of Division in the Ministry of Communications. M, G. B a r e l l a , Director-Manager of the Pofiolo d’Italia. M' L. B e l m o n t e , Chief Inspector of State Railways. A. P ir o z z i, Chief of Section in the Air Ministry. General G. P e l l i s s e r o , Director-Manager of the Gazzetta del Pofiolo. THE NETHERLANDS. M' A. H e l d r in g , Director-General of the Algemeen Handelsblad. M- A. P. F. D uijnstee, Chief Inspector of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephones. W. F. H. van Rijckevorsel, Chief Inspector of the Netherlands Railways. — 7 — INTERNATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC ASSOCIATION. Tonkheer L. van den Berch van He e m s t e d e , Director-General of the Association. ,j g W r o n s k y , Chairman of the Association's Committee on the Transport of Newspapers by Air, Director of the “ Deutsche Luft Hansa “ COMPAGNIE INTERNATIONALE DES WAGONS-LITS ET DES GRANDS EXPRESS EUROPÉENS, ” M. H. L u u y t , Chief Inspector. THE NEWSPAPER PROPRIETORS’ ASSOCIATION, LIMITED, LONDON. Mr. T. W . M c A ra , Secretary of the Association, THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FRENCH NEWSPAPERS. M. A. Ch a u c h a t , Secretary of the Federation. THE SWISS NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS’ ASSOCIATION. M. E . R ie tm a n n , Chairman of the Association. MESSAGERIES HACHETTE, PARIS. M. R. Schoeller, Director-General. GEORG STILKE, PUBLISHER, BERLIN. Dr. G. St il k e , Bookseller and Publisher. M, H. W . VON H erw arth, Bookseller and Publisher. Secretariat : M. R. H a a s, Chief of the Communications and Transit Section of the League Secretariat, Secretary-General of the Conference. M. R o m e in , Member of the Communications and Transit Section of the League Secretariat. Switzerland has 2,000 papers and magazines, or one periodical per 2,000 inhabitants. In nenmark the high figure is reached of one copy of a newspaper for every three inhabitants. “ This mighty engine for the formation and information of public opinion is growing in power and potentiality every year—east and west, north and south. Its use and abuse are a solemn responsibility upon all who are concerned with the production and distribution of newspapers. “ Here and now, we are only concerned with the latter part of the problem. We have to do our best with what the poet called 1 Motions and means, on land and sea ’, (and I must add 1 air ’) that they m ay not — ‘ . prove a bar To the mind’s gaining that prophetic sense Of future change, that point of vision whence May be discovered what in soul ye are M. B a r g e t o n (France) said how pleased the French delegation had been to learn that Lord B u rn h am had agreed to take th e Chair at this Conference. Lord Burnham had presided over the 1927 Conference of Press Experts with an ability, firm n ess, tact and cordiality which had been greatly appreciated by all. 2, Programme of Work. The P r e s id e n t said that, although it was the usual practice for conferences to resolve