ARTICLE XV

When in a criminal action, not of a political nature, one of the two governments shall deem it necessary to take the testimony of witnesses residing in the territory of the other state, or carry out some other judicial process, letters rogatory shall be sent to this effect through the diplomatic channels, which shall be complied with in accordance with the laws of the country to which they are sent.

ARTICLE XVI

When the appearance of a witness shall be deemed necessary, the government of the state wherein such witness resides shall invite him to appear.

In such case, the demanding country shall furnish him beforehand with the amount of money necessary to pay his traveling expenses both ways, and for his stay at the place where he is to be examined.

No witness of whatever nationality, who, on being invited or summoned to one of the two countries, shall voluntarily appear before the judicial authorities of the other country, shall be arrested or prosecuted for acts committed or sentences rendered against him previously in any criminal or civil action, nor for complicity in the acts for which the proceedings wherein he appears as a witness have been instituted.

ARTICLE XVII

When an order or judgment issuing from the authorities of one of the contracting states in a criminal, but not political, proceeding, is to be notified to a person residing in the other state, the document shall be brought to his notice through the diplomatic channels in accordance with the laws of the state applied to, and the original of said notice, duly authenticated, shall be returned through the same channels to the demanding state.

ARTICLE XVIII

When in criminal, but not political, proceedings instituted in one of the two states, the execution of process or the presentation of some documents shall be deemed necessary, demand for the same shall be made through the diplomatic channels, which shall be granted in due course, unless there be reasons to the contrary, but in any case, with the obligation to return them.

ARTICLE XIX

The expenses caused by the demands for extradition and the letters rogatory shall be borne by the demanding government.

ARTICLE XX

The contracting governments agree that the differences which may arise as to the interpretation or the carrying out of this treaty or in regard to the consequences of its violation shall, after exhausting all means for the direct and amicable settlement of the same, be submitted to the decision of arbitral commissions whose award shall be binding on both states.

The members of these commissions shall be appointed by common agreement between the two governments. Should these two governments fail to reach an agreement in this respect, each party shall designate one arbiter and the two arbiters shall choose an umpire.

The rules of procedure shall be fixed in each case by the contracting parties, and in default thereof the arbitral commission is hereby empowered to determine the same prior to the discharge of its duties.

ARTICLE XXI

The present treaty shall remain in force for the period of five years, beginning from the date of the exchange of ratifications.

In case neither of the contracting parties notifies the other twelve months before the expiration of said period of its intention to terminate this treaty, it shall continue in force for five years, and so on for consecutive periods of five years duration.

This convention shall be ratified and the ratifications exchanged in the city of Mexico or in the city of San Salvador as soon as possible. In witness whereof, the respective plenipotentiaries have signed the present treaty and affixed their seals thereto.

Done in duplicate in the city of Guatemala on the twenty-second day of January, nineteen hundred and twelve.

(Signed) FRANCISCO A. LIMA. (Signed) V. SALADO ALVAREZ.

AN ACT TO GIVE EFFECT TO THE CONVENTION BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENTS OF THE UNITED STATES, GREAT BRITAIN, JAPAN, AND RUSSIA FOR THE PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF THE FUR SEALS AND SEA OTTER WHICH FREQUENT THE WATERS OF THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN, CONCLUDED AT WASHINGTON JULY SEVENTH, NINETEEN HUNDRED AND ELEVEN

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Approved August 24, 1912

Whereas the plenipotentiaries of the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia did, on the seventh day of July, anno Domini nineteen hundred and eleven, enter into a convention for the preservation and protection of the fur seals and sea otter which frequent the waters of the north Pacific Ocean, which convention was subsequently ratified by the Governments of the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia and the exchange of ratifications thereof was effected on the twelfth day of December, nineteen hundred and eleven: Now, therefore,

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That no citizen of the United States, nor person owing duty of obedience to the laws or the treaties of the United States, nor any of their vessels, nor any vessel of the United States, nor any person belonging to or on board of such vessel, shall kill, capture, or pursue, at any time or in any manner whatever, any fur seal in the waters of the north Pacific Ocean north of the thirtieth parallel of north latitude and including the seas of Bering, Kam chatka, Okhotsk, and Japan; nor shall any such person or vessel kill, capture, or pursue sea otter in any of the waters mentioned beyond the distance of three miles from the shore line of the territory of the United States.

SEC. 2. That no citizen of the United States, nor person above described in the first section, shall equip, use, or employ, or furnish aid in equipping, using, or employing, or furnish supplies to any vessel used or employed, or to be used or employed, in carrying on or taking part in pelagic sealing or in sea-otter hunting in said waters, nor shall any of their vessels nor any vessel of the United States be so used or

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employed; and no person or vessel shall use any of the ports or harbors of the United States, or any part of the territory of the United States, for any purposes whatsoever connected with the operations of pelagic sealing or sea-otter hunting in the waters named in the first section of this Act; and no vessel which is engaged or employed, or intended to be engaged or employed, for or in connection with pelagic sealing or sea-otter hunting in such waters shall use any of the ports or harbors or any part of the territory of the United States for any purpose what

soever.

SEC. 3. That the provisions of the first and second sections of this Act shall not apply to Indians, Aleuts, or other aborigines dwelling on the American coast of the waters mentioned in the first section of this Act who carry on pelagic sealing in canoes or undecked boats propelled wholly by paddles, oars, or sails, and not transported by or used in connection with other vessels, and manned by not more than five persons each, in the way hitherto practiced by the said Indians, Aleuts, or other aborigines, and without the use of firearms: Provided, however, That the exception made in this section shall not apply to Indians, Aleuts, or other aborigines in the employment of other persons or who shall kill, capture, or pursue fur seals or sea otters under contract to deliver the skins to any person.

SEC. 4. That the importation or bringing into territory of the United States, by any person whatsoever, of skins of fur seals or sea otters taken in the waters mentioned in the first section of this Act, or of skins identified as those of the species known as Callorhinus alascanus, Callorhinus ursinus, and Callorhinus kurilensis, or belonging to the American, Russian, or Japanese herds, whether raw, dressed, dyed, or manufactured, except such as have been taken under the authority of the respective parties to said convention, to which the breeding grounds of such herds belong, and have been officially marked and certified as having been so taken, is hereby prohibited; and all such articles. imported or brought in after this Act shall take effect shall not be permitted to be exported, but shall be seized and forfeited to the United States.

SEC. 5. That the President shall have power to make regulations to carry this Act and the said convention into effect, and from time to time to add to, modify, amend, or revoke such regulations, as in his judgment may seem expedient. It shall be the duty of the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, under the direction of the President, to see

that the said convention, the provisions of this Act, and the regulations made thereunder are executed and enforced; and all officers of the United. States engaged in the execution and enforcement of this Act are authorized and directed to co-operate with the proper officers of any of the other parties to the said convention in taking such measures as may be appropriate and available under the said convention, this Act, or the regulations made thereunder for the purpose of preventing pelagic sealing as in this Act prohibited.

SEC. 6. That every person guilty of a violation of any of the provisions of said convention, or of this Act, or of any regulation made thereunder, shall, for each offense, be fined not less than two hundred dollars or more than two thousand dollars, or imprisoned not more than six months, or both; and every vessel, its tackle, apparel, furniture, and cargo, at any time used or employed in violation of this Act, or of the regulations made thereunder, shall be forfeited to the United States.

SEC. 7. That if any vessel shall be found within the waters to which this Act applies, having on board fur-seal skins or sea-otter skins, or bodies of seals or sea otters, or apparatus or implements for killing or taking seals or sea otter, it shall be presumed that such vessel was used or employed in the killing of said seals or sea otters, or that said apparatus or implements were used in violation of this Act, until the contrary is proved to the satisfaction of the court, in so far as such vessel, apparatus, and implements are subject to the jurisdiction of the United States.

SEC. 8. That any violation of the said convention, or of this Act, or of the regulations thereunder, may be prosecuted either in the district court of Alaska, or in any district court of the United States in California, Oregon, or Washington.

SEC. 9. That it shall be the duty of the President to cause a guard or patrol to be maintained in the waters frequented by the seal herd or herds and sea otter, in the protection of which the United States is especially interested, composed of naval or other public vessels of the United States designated by him for such service; and any officer of any such vessel engaged in such service and any other officers duly designated by the President may search any vessel of the United States, in port, or in territorial waters of the United States, or on the high seas, when suspected of having violated, or being about to violate, the provisions of said convention, or of this Act, or of any regulation made thereunder, and may seize such vessel and the officers and crew thereof,