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PRUSSIA.

(SEE ALSO GERMAN EMPIRE AND NORTH GERMAN UNION.)

1755.

TREATY OF AMITY AND COMMERCE.

Concluded September 19, 1785: ratified by the Congress of the United States May 17, 1786: ratifications exchanged October, 1786. (Treaties and Conventions, 1889, p. 899.)

This treaty of twenty-seven articles expired by its own limitations October, 1796, but Article XII was revived by Article XII of the Treaty of 1828, page 518.

ARTICLE XII-NEUTRALITY of Vessels.

Article 12. If one of the contracting parties, should be engaged in war with any other power, the free intercourse & commerce of the Subjects or Citizens of the party remaining neuter with the belligerent powers shall not be interrupted. On the contrary in that case as in full peace, the Vessel of the neutral party may navigate freely to & from the ports and on the coasts of the belligerent parties, free Vessels making free goods insomuch that all things shall be adjudged free which shall be on board any Vessel belonging to the neutral party, although such things belong to an enemy of the other: and the same freedom shall be extended to persons who shall be on board a free Vessel, although they should be enemies to the other party unless they be soldiers in actual service of such enemy.

1799.

TREATY OF AMITY AND COMMERCE.

Concluded July 11, 1799; ratification advised by the Senate February 18, 1800; ratified by the President February 19, 1800; ratifications exchanged June 22, 1800; proclaimed November 4, 1800. (Treaties and Conventions, 1889, p. 907.)

This treaty expired by its own limitations June 22, 1810; but the provisions of the articles printed hereunder were revived by Article XII of the Treaty of May 1, 1828, p. 518.

ARTICLES.

XIII. Detention of contraband goods.
XIV. Ship's papers in time of war.
XV. Visit to neutral ships.
XVI. Embargoes, seizures, etc.
XVII. Restoration of neutral ships.
XVIII. Asylum to vessels in distress.
XIX. Prizes.

XX. Letters of marque.

XXI. Rules in case of war with com

mon enemy.

XXII. Mutual protection of ships
against common enemy.

XXIII. Protection in case of war.
XXIV. Treatment of prisoners of war.

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ARTICLE XIII.

And in the same case of one of the Contracting in War with any other Power, to prevent all t

understandings, that usually arise respecting merchandize of contraband, such as arms, ammunition, and military stores of every kind, no such articles, carried in the vessels, or by the subjects or citizens of either Party, to the enemies of the other, shall be deemed contraband so as to induce confiscation or condemnation and a loss of property to individuals. Nevertheless it shall be lawful to stop such vessels and articles, and to detain them for such length of time as the captors may think necessary to prevent the inconvenience or damage that might ensue from their proceeding, paying however a reasonable compensation for the loss such arrest shall occasion to the proprietors, and it shall further be allowed to use in the service of the captors, the whole or any part of the military stores so detained, paying the owners the full value of the same, to be ascertained by the current price at the place of its destination. But in the case supposed of a vessel stopped for articles of contraband, if the master of the vessel stopped will deliver out the goods supposed to be of contraband nature, he shall be admitted to do it, and the vessel shall not in that case be carried into any port, nor further detained, but shall be allowed to proceed on her voyage.

All cannons, mortars, fire-arms, pistols, bombs, grenades, bullets, balls, muskets, flints, matches, powder, salt-petre, sulphur, cuirasses, pikes, swords, belts, cartouch-boxes, saddles and bridles, beyond the quantity, necessary for the use of the ship, or beyond that which every man serving on board the vessel or passenger ought to have, and in general whatever is comprised under the denomination of arms and military stores, of what description so ever, shall be deemed objects of contraband.

ARTICLE XIV.

To ensure to the vessels of the two Contracting Parties the advantage of being readily and certainly known in time of War, it is agreed that they shall be provided with the Sea-letters and Documents hereafter specified.

1, A Passport; expressing the name, the property, and the burthen of the vessel, as also the name and dwelling of the master, which Passport shall be made out in good and due form, shall be renewed as often as the vessel shall return into port, and shall be exhibited whensoever required, as well in the open sea as in port. But if the vessel be under convoy of one or more vessels of War, belonging to the neutral party, the simple declaration of the officer commanding the convoy, that the said vessel belongs to the party of which he is, shall be considered as establishing the fact, and shall relieve both parties from the trouble of further examination.

2. A Charter-party; that is to say, the contract passed for the freight of the whole vessel; or the bills of lading given for the cargo in detail. 3. The list of the ship's company, containing an indication by name and in detail of the persons composing the crew of the vessel. These documents shall always be authenticated according to the forms established at the place from which the vessel shall have sailed. As their production ought to be exacted only when one of the contracting Parties shall be at war, and as their exhibition ought to have no other object than to prove the neutrality of the vessel, its cargo and company, they shall not be deemed absolutely necessary on board, such vessels belonging to the neutral party, as shall have sailed from its ports before, or within three months after the Government shall have been informed of the State of War, in which the

belligerent party shall be engaged. In the interval, in default of these specific documents, the neutrality of the vessel may be established by such other evidence as the tribunals authorised to judge of the case may deem sufficient.

ARTICLE XV.

And to prevent entirely all disorder and violence in such cases, it is stipulated that when the vessels of the neutral party, sailing without convoy, shall be met by any vessel of War, public or private, of the other party, such vessel of war shall not send more than two or three men in their boat on board the said neutral vessel, to examine her Passports and documents. And all persons belonging to any vessel of War, public or private, who shall molest or insult in any manner whatever the people, vessels or effects of the other party shall be responsible in their persons and property for damages and interest; sufficient security for which shall be given by all commanders of private armed vessels before they are commissioned.

ARTICLE XVI.

In times of War, or in cases of urgent necessity when either of the Contracting Parties, shall be obliged to lay a general embargo, either in all its ports, or in certain particular places, the vessels of the other party, shall be subject to this measure upon the same footing as those of the most favoured Nations, but without having the right to claim the exemption in their favour stipulated in the sixteenth Article of the former Treaty of 1785. But on the other hand the proprietors of the vessel, which shall have been detained whether for some military expedition, or for what other use soever, shall obtain from the Government that shall have employed them an equitable indemnity as well as for the freight, as for the loss occasioned by the delay. And furthermore in all cases of seizure, detention or arrest, for debts contracted, or offences committed by any citizen or subject of the one party, within the jurisdiction of the other, the same shall be made and prosecuted by order and authority of law only, and according to the regular course of proceedings usual in such cases.

ARTICLE XVII.

If any vessel or effects of the neutral power, be taken by an enemy of the other, or by a pirate, and retaken by the Power at War, they shall be restored to the first proprietor upon the conditions hereafter stipulated, in the twenty-first article for cases of recapture.

ARTICLE XVIII.

If the citizens or subjects of either party in danger from tempests, pirates, enemies or other accident, shall take refuge with their vessels or effects, within the harbours or jurisdiction of the other, they shall be received, protected and treated with humanity and kindness, and shall be permitted to furnish themselves at reasonable prices, with all refreshments, provisions and other things necessary for their sustenance, health and accomodation, and for the repair of their vessels.

ARTICLE XIX.

The vessels of War, public and private, of both parties shall carry freely wheresoever they please, the vessels and effects taken from their enemies, without being obliged to pay any duties, charges, or fees to officers of admiralty, of the customs, or any others: nor shall such prizes be arrested, searched or put under legal process, when they come to and enter the ports of the other party, but may freely be carried out again at any time by their captors to the places expressed in their commissions, which the commanding officer of such vessel shall be obliged to shew. [But, conformably to the Treaties existing between the United States and Great Britain, no vessel that shall have made a prize upon british subjects, shall have a right to shelter in the ports of the United States, but if forced therein by tempests, or any other danger or accident of the sea, they shall be obliged to depart as soon as possible. ]1

ARTICLE XX.

No citizen or subject of either of the Contracting Parties shall take from any power with which the other may be at War, any commission or letter of marque for arming any vessel to act as a privateer against the other, on pain of being punished as a pirate; nor shall either party hire, lend, or give any part of its naval or military force, to the enemy of the other, to aid them offensively or defensively against the other.

ARTICLE XXI.

If the two Contracting Parties should be engaged in a War against a common enemy, the following points shall be observed between them.

1o, If a vessel of one of the parties taken by the enemy, shall before being carried into a neutral or enemy's port, be retaken by a ship of War, or privateer of the other, it shall, with the cargo be restored to the first owners, for a compensation of one-eighth part of the value of the said vessel and cargo, if the recapture be made by a public ship of War, and one sixth part, if made by a privateer.

2o, The restitution in such cases shall be after due proof of property, and surety given for the part to which the recaptors are entitled. 3o, The vessels of War, public and private of the two parties shall reciprocally be admitted with their prizes into the respective ports of each, but the said prizes shall not be discharged or sold there, until their legality shall have been decided according to the laws and regulations of the state to which the captor belongs, but by the judicatories of the place into which the prize shall have been conducted.

4o, It shall be free to each Party, to make such regulations as they shall judge necessary for the conduct of their respective vessels of War, public and private, relative to the vessels which they shall take and carry into the ports of the two Parties.

ARTICLE XXII.

When the Contracting Parties shall have a common enemy, or shall both be neutral, the vessels of War, of each shall upon all occasions Omitted by Treaty of 1828, p. 518.

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take under their protection the vessels of the other going the same course, and shall defend such vessels, as long as they hold the same course against all force and violence in the same manner as they ought to protect and defend vessels belonging to the party of which they are.

ARTICLE XXIII.

If War should arise between the two Contracting Parties, the merchants of either country then residing in the other, shall be allowed to remain nine months to collect their debts and settle their affairs, and may depart freely, carrying off all their effects, without molestation or hindrance; And all women and children, scholars of every faculty, cultivators of the Earth, artisans, manufacturers and fishermen, unarmed and inhabiting unfortified towns, villages, or places, and in general all others, whose occupations are for the common subsistence and benefit of mankind, shall be allowed to continue their respective employments, and shall not be molested in their persons, nor shall their houses or goods be burnt, or otherwise destroyed, nor their fields wasted by the armed force of the enemy, into whose power, by the events of War, they may happen to fall; but if anything is necessary to be taken from them, for the use of such armed force, the same shall be paid for, at a reasonable price

ARTICLE XXIV.

And to prevent the destruction of prisoners of war, by sending them into distant and inclement countries, or by crowding them into close and noxious places, the two Contracting Parties solemnly pledge themselves to the world and to each other, that they will not adopt, any such practice; that neither will send the prisoners whom they may take from the other into the East-Indies, or any other parts of Asia or Africa, but that they shall be placed in some parts of their dominions in Europe or America, in wholesome situations; that they shall not be confined in dungeons, prison-ships, nor prisons, nor be put into irons nor bound, nor otherwise restrained in the use of their limbs; that the officers shall be enlarged on their paroles within convenient districts and have comfortable quarters, and the common men be disposed in cantonments open and extensive enough for air and exercize, and lodged in barracks as roomly and good as are provided by the Party in whose power they are, for their own troops; that the officers shall also be daily furnished by the party in whose power they are, with as many rations, and of the same articles and quality, as are allowed by them either in kind, or by commutation to officers of equal rank in their own army; and all others shall be daily furnished by them with such ration as they shall allow to a common soldier in their own service; the value whereof shall be paid by the other party on a mutual adjustment of accounts for the subsistence of prisoners at the close of the war; and the said accounts shall not be mingled with, or set off against any others, nor the balances due on them be withheld as a satisfaction or reprizal for any other article, or for any other cause real or pretended, whatever. That each Party shall be allowed to keep a Commissary of prisoners of their own appointment, with every separate cantonment of prisoners in possession of the other, which commissary shall see the prisoners as often as he pleases; shall be allowed to receive and distribute whatever comforts may be sent to them by their friends, and shall be free to

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