LATIN UNION. By the monetary treaty of Paris of Dec. 23,1865, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy entered into a mutual agreement concerning the monetary and -coinage policy, which took effect Aug. 1, 1866. That association of states is called the Latin union. Greece and Roumania came into the association in April, 1867. The fol lowing is the substance of the treaty: .
Article 1. "Belgium, France, Italy, and Switzerland unite to regulate the weight, title, form, and circulation of their gold and silver coins. No change is made for the present in legislation relative to copper Obis for the four countries.' Art. 2. "The high contracting parties bind themselves not to coin, or permit to be coined, any gold other than in pieces of 100, 50, 20, 10, and 5 francs in weight, standard, tolerance, and diameter as follows: All these coins shall be of the fineness or standard of .900, with a tolerance of two-thousandths above or below the legal standard. The tolerance in weight shall be, for the 100 and for the 50 franc pieces, one-thousandth. above.or below; for the 20 and 10 franc pieces, two-thousandths; for the 5 franc pieces, three-thousandths. [The weights and diameters of the gold coins here follow in French measure. ED.] the different states will receive all the above coins when not worn 'to one-half per cent, or the devices effaced." Art. 3. "The contracting governments bind themselves not to coin, or permit to be coined, silver pieces of 5 francs except of the weight, standard, tolerance, and diameter fixed." Art. 4. " The contracting parties will coin hereafter pieces of 2 and 1 franc, 50 and 20 centimes, only to the fineness of .835; tolerance of standard of weight.
006 f /„, or the first two, fcr the 50 centime piece, and .01 for the N centime piece."' [Here follows the French weight and measure of the silver coins. ED.] Art. 5. [Stipulates for the withdrawal and recoinage of silver pieces of 2 francs and. under, not of the required standard, within a stipulated time.] Art. 6. "The silver coins authorized in article 4 shall be a legal tender between indi viduals of the state in which they are issued to the sum of fifty francs. The nation issuing them shall receive them in any amount." Art. 7. "The public banks of each of the four countries will receive the coins of article 4, to the sum of 100 francs, in payment to said banks." [The remainder of the article relates to exceptions for Swiss coins.] Art. 8. "Each of the contracting governments binds itself to receive from banks or individuals the small coins they have issued, and return the equivalent in current coin (gold, or 5 franc silver pieces), provided the sum presented be not less than 100 francs..
This obligation shall extend two years beyond the expiration of this treaty." Art. 9. "The high contracting parties agree not to issue a greater amount of these 2 and 1 franc, 50 and 20 centime pieces of article 4, than six francs for each inhabitant. The amount thus fixed in accordance with the last census and the presumed increase of population is fixed at (1866), for Belgium, 32,000,000 francs; for France, 239,000,000 francs; for Italy, 141,000,000 francs; for Switzerland, 17,000,000 francs. Exclusive of the above sums, the different governments can issue of coins already in circulation in the following proportion : France, in 50 and 20 centime pieces, by the law of May 25, 1864, about 16,000,000 francs; Italy, in 2 and 1 franc, 50 and 20 centime pieces, by the law of the 24th of Aug., 1862, about 100,000,000 francs; Switzerland, in 2 and 1 franc pieces: by the law of Jan. 31, 1860, about 10,500,000 francs." Art. 10. "Hereafter the year of issue to be stamped on all the gold and silver coins issued by the four governments." Art. 11. " The contracting governments shall annually state the quantity of their. issue of gold and silver coins, and the amount collected for melting. They shall like wise give notice of important facts in regard to the reciprocal circulation of issues." Art. 12. "Any other nation can join the present convention by accepting its obliga tions, and adopting the monetary system of the union in regard to gold and silver coins." Art. 13. [Binds the contracting parties to pass laws to carry out the foregoing agree ments.] Art. 14. "The present convention shall remain in force till Jan 1, 1880. If it be not. repealed a year before the expiration of that term, it shall remain in force.for an addi tional period of 15 years, and so on until repealed." Art. 15. "The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications exchanged in Paris, within six months, or less time if possible." [It was so ratified.] On Jan. 30, 1874, at a conference of the Latin union, a supplementary treaty was made . between the high contracting parties, by which they agreed to limit the coinage for the year 1874, of 5 franc pieces, to 12,000.000 francs in Belgium; 60,000.000 francs in France ; 40,000,000 francs in Italy; and 8,000,000 in Switzerland; in all, 120,000,000 • francs: and the delivery of coins upon mint receipts of Dec. 31, 1873, to the amount of nearly 50,000,000 francs, was applicable on these quotas. By a special article, Italy was allowed to coin, for the reserve of her national bank, 20,000,000 francs additional in 5 franc pieces.