The Bernese Congress. 
91 
for Germany, by the Bundesrath on February 7, 1895. The 
Bernese treaty applies to all international freight traffic, ex¬ 
cepting such articles as are regularly monopolized by the post- 
office departments of the contracting states, and all goods shipped 
through any of them. It provides for uniform through-bills of 
lading, prescribes routes for international traffic, fixes liability 
in cases of delay and loss, prohibits special contracts, rebates, 
and reductions, except such as are publicly made and available 
to all under identical conditions, and prescribes certain custom 
house regulations. It also established a Central Bureau, the 
duties and powers of which may be grouped under five heads: 
1. To receive communications from any of the contracting 
states, and to transmit such information to the rest of them. 
2. To compile and publish information of varions kinds. 
3. To act as a board of arbitration on application of the coun¬ 
tries interested. 
4. To take preliminary steps for necessary changes in the 
agreement. 
5. To facilitate financial transactions among the railroads; that 
is, the Bureau may act as a clearing house. 
The expenses of the Bureau are met by contributions from 
the contracting states in proportion to mileage. 
The original agreement provided that any of the states might 
withdraw at the end of three years, on giving one year’s notice. 
No such notice has ever been given. The provisions drawn up 
by the delegates who met in Berne have practically been made 
permanent, and to see the great states of the continent united 
on the basis of an international code is a fact of more than ordi¬ 
nary significance. Any violation of this code can be punished in 
the courts. And a judgment having been given in one country 
the courts of the other countries are bound to assist its execu¬ 
tion, except so far as it would conflict with their own laws. 
But so far as the question of fact is concerned there is no appeal, 
and a German court may be bound by the findings of a court in 
France. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Russia, Switzerland and, 
to a less extent, France have embodied provisions of the inter¬ 
national code in their internal code, thus leading to unification 
beyond the limits of international traffic. And to what extent 
