And the same rules shall apply to the streams and river as well as the lakes and canals in the territories defined in paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 1.
At the same time the powers of the International Commission of the Congo will not extend to the said rivers, streams, lakes, and canals unless with the assent of the States under whose sovereignty they are placed. It is well understood, also, that with regard to the territories mentioned in paragraph 3 of Article 1, the consent of the Sovereign States owning these territories is reserved.
Article 16. The roads, railways, or lateral canals which may be constructed with the special object of obviating the innavigability or correcting the imperfection of the river route on certain sections of the course of the Congo, its affluents, and other waterways placed under a similar system, as laid down in Article 15, shall be considered, in their quality of means of communication, as dependencies of this river, and as equally open to the traffic of all nations.
And as on the river itself, so there shall be collected on these roads, railways, and canals only tolls calculated on the cost of construction, maintenance, and management, and on the profits due to the promoters.
As regards the tariff of these tolls, strangers and the natives of the respective territories shall be treated on a footing of perfect equality.
Article 17. There is instituted an International Commission, charged with the execution of the provisions of the present Act of Navigation.
The Signatory Powers of this Act, as well as those who may subsequently adhere to it, may always be represented on the said Commission, each by one Delegate. But no Delegate shall have more than one vote at his disposal, even in the case of his representing several Governments.
This Delegate will be directly paid by his Government. As for the various agents and employees of the International Commission, their remuneration shall be charged to the amount of the dues collected in conformity with paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 14.
The particulars of the said remuneration, as well as the number, grade, and powers of the agents and employees, shall be entered in the Returns to be sent yearly to the Governments represented on the International Commission.
Article 18. The members of the International Commission, as well as its appointed agents, are invested with the privileges of inviolability in the exercise of their functions. The same guarantee shall apply to the offices and archives of the Commission.