crew.

8. They may cause proper order to be maintained on board of vessels of their nation, and may decide on the disputes arising between Decide disputes the captains, the officers, and the members of the crew, unless between offers and the disorders taking place on board should disturb the public tranquillity, or persons not belonging to the crew or to the nation in whose service the Consul is employed; in which case the local authorities may interfere.

Wrecks.

9. They may direct all the operations for saving vessels of their nation which may be wrecked on the coasts of the district where the Consul resides. In such cases the local authorities shall interfere only in order to maintain tranquillity, to give security to the interests of the parties concerned, and to cause the dispositions which should be observed for the entry and export of the property to be fulfilled. In the absence of the Consul, and until his arrival, the said authorities shall take all the measures necessary for the preservation of the effects of the wrecked vessel.

Estates.

10. They may take possession, make inventories, appoint appraisers to estimate the value of articles, and proceed to the sale of the movable property of individuals of their nation who may die in the country where the Consul resides without leaving executors appointed by their will or heirs-at-law. In all such proceedings, the Consul shall act in conjunction with two merchants, chosen by himself, for drawing up the said papers or delivering the property or the produce of its sales, observing the laws of his country and the orders which he may receive from his own Government; but Consuls shall not discharge these functions in those States whose peculiar legislation may not allow it. Whensoever there is no Consul in the place where the death occurs, the local authority shall take all the precautions in their power to secure the property of the deceased.

Deserters.

11. They may demand from the local authorities the arrest of seamen deserting from the vessels of the nation in whose service the Consul is employed, exhibiting, if necessary, the register of the vessel, her muster-roll, and any other official document in support of this demand. The said authorities shall take such measures as may be in their power for the discovery and arrest of such deserters, and shall place them at the disposition of the Consul; but if the vessel to which they belong shall have sailed, and no opportunity for sending them away should occur, they shall be kept in arrest, at the expense of the Consul, for two months; and if, at the expiration of that time, they should not have been sent away, they shall be set at liberty by the respective authorities, and cannot again be arrested for the same cause.

Issue documents.

12. They may give such documents as may be necessary for the intercourse between the two countries, and countersign those which may have been given by the authorities. They may also give bills of health, if necessary, to vessels sailing from the port where the Consul resides to the ports of the nation to which he belongs; they may also certify invoices, muster-rolls, and other papers necessary for the commerce and navigation of vessels.

13. They may appoint a chancellor or secretary whensoever the consulate has none and one is required for authenticating docu- Appointment of

ments.

secretary.

commercial agents.

14. They may appoint commercial agents to employ all the means in their power, in behalf of individuals of the nation in whose Appointment of service the Consul is, and for executing the commissions which the Consul may think proper to intrust to them, out of the place of his residence; provided, however, that such agents are not to enjoy

the prerogatives conceded to Consuls, but only those which are peculiar to commercial agents.

ARTICLE IV.

The Consuls of one of the contracting Republics residing in another of country may employ their good offices in favor of individuals of the other Republic which has no Consul in that country.

Employment good offices.

ARTICLE V.

The contracting Republics recognize no diplomatic character in ConKo diplomatic Suls, for which reason they will not enjoy in either country eharacter in Consuls. the immunities granted to public agents accredited in that character; but, in order that the said Consuls may exercise their proper functions without difficulty or delay, they shall enjoy the following prerogatives:

1. The archives and papers of the consulate shall be inviolable, and cannot be seized by any functionary of the country in which they may be.

Archives.

2. Consuls, in all that exclusively concerns the exercise of their functions, shall be independent of the State in whose territory they reside.

Exemption.

3. The Consuls and their chancellors or secretaries shall be exempt from all public service, and from contributions, personal and extraordinary, imposed in the country where they reside. This exemption does not comprehend the Consuls or their chancellors or secretaries who may be natives of the country in which they reside.

dwelling.

4. Whenever the presence of Consuls may be required in Witnesses. courts or offices of justice, they shall be summoned in writing. 5. In order that the dwellings of Consuls may be easily and generally Consular fag and known, for the convenience of those who may have to resort to them, they shall be allowed to hoist on them the flag, and to place over their doors the coat-of-arms of the nation in whose service the Consul may be, with an inscription expressing the functions discharged by him; but those insignia shall not be considered as importing a right of asylum, nor as placing the house or its inhabitants beyond the authority of the magistrates who may think proper to search them, and who shall have that right in regard to them in the same manner as with regard to the houses of the other inhabitants, in the cases prescribed by the laws.

ARTICLE VI.

The persons and dwellings of Consuls shall be subject to the laws and authorities of the country in all cases in which they have not received a special exemption by this convention, and in the same manner as the other inhabitants.

Exemptions.

Passports.

ARTICLE VII.

Consuls shall not give passports to any individual of their nation or going to their nation who may be held to answer before any authority, court, or judge of the country for delinquencies committed by them, or for a demand which may have been legally acknowledged; provided that in each case proper notice thereof shall

have been given to the Consul; and they shall see that the vessels of their nation do not infringe the rules of neutrality when the nation in which the Consul resides is at war with another nation.

ARTICLE VIII.

The present convention shall be ratified by the Governments of the two contracting Republics, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Bogota within the term of eighteen months, counted from this date, or sooner if possible.

Ratifications.

ARTICLE IX.

Duration of treaty.

The present convention shall be binding upon the contracting parties so long as the treaty of peace, friendship, navigation, and commerce between the United States and New Granada, the ratifications of which were exchanged at Washington, on the tenth of June, one thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, shall remain in force. In faith whereof we, the Plenipotentiaries of the United States and of New Granada, have signed the present, and have affixed to it our respective seals at Washington, the fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty.

[SEAL.] [SEAL.]

JOHN M. CLAYTON.

RAFAEL RIVAS.

NEW GRANADA, 1857

CLAIMS CONVENTION WITH NEW GRANADA, CONCLUDED AT WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 10, 1857; RATIFICATIONS EXCHANGED AT WASHINGTON, NOVEMBER 5, 1860; PROCLAIMED NOVEMBER 8, 1860.

Claims.

The United States of America and the Republic of New Granada, desiring to adjust the claims of citizens of said States against New Granada, and to cement the good understanding which happily subsists between the two Republics, have, for that purpose, appointed and conferred full powers, respectively, to wit:

The President of the United States upon Lewis Cass, Secretary of State of the United States, and the President of New Granada upon General Pedro A. Herran, Énvoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of that Republic in the United States;

Who, after exchanging their full powers, which were found in good and proper form, have agreed to the following articles:

ARTICLE I.

Character of

All claims on the part of corporations, companies, or individuals, citizens of the United States, upon the Government of New Granada, which shall have been presented prior to the 1st day claims. of September, 1859, either to the Department of State at Washington, or to the minister of the United States at Bogota, and especially those for damages which were caused by the riot at Panama on the 15th April, 1856, for which the said Government of New Granada acknowledges its liability, arising out of its privilege and obligation to preserve

peace and good order along the transit route, shall be referred to a board of commissioners, consisting of two members, one of whom shall be appointed by the Government of the United States and one by the Government of New Granada. In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of either commissioner, or in the event of either commissioner omitting or ceasing to act, the Government of the United States or that of New Granada, respectively, or the Minister of the latter in the United States, acting by its direction, shall forthwith proceed to fill the vacancy thus occasioned.

Meeting of commissioners.

The commissioners so named shall meet in the city of Washington within ninety days from the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, and, before proceeding to business, shall make and subscribe a solemn oath that they will carefully examine and impartially decide, according to justice and equity, upon all the claims laid before them, under the provisions of this convention, by the Government of the United States. And such oath shall be entered on the record of their proceedings.

Arbitrator.

The commissioners shall then proceed to name an arbitrator or umpire, to decide upon any case or cases on which they may differ in opinion. And if they cannot agree in the selection, the umpire shall be appointed by the Minister of Prussia to the United States, whom the two high contracting parties shall invite to make such appointment, and whose selection shall be conclusive on both parties.

Duty of commis

ARTICLE II.

The arbitrator being appointed, the commissioners shall proceed to examine and determine the claims which may be presented sioners as to claims. to them, under the provisions of this convention, by the Government of the United States, together with the evidence submitted in support of them, and shall hear, if required, one person in behalf of each Government on every separate claim. Each Government shall furnish, upon request of either of the commissioners, such papers in its possession as the commissioners may deem important to the just determination of any claims presented to them. In cases where they agree to award an indemnity, they shall determine the amount to be paid, having due regard, in claims which have grown out of the riot at Panama of April 15, 1856, to damages suffered through death, wounds, robberies, or destruction of property. In cases where they cannot agree, the subjects of difference shall be referred to the umpire, before whom each of the commissioners may be heard, and whose decision shall be final.

ARTICLE III.

The commissioners shall issue certificates of the sums to be paid by virtue of their awards to the claimants, and the aggregate Certificates of award. amount of said sums shall be paid to the Government of the United States, at Washington, in equal semi-annual payments, the first payment to be made six months from the termination of the commission, and the whole payment to be completed within eight years from the same date; and each of said sums shall bear interest (also payable semi-annually) at the rate of six per cent. per annum from the day on which the awards, respectively, shall have been decreed. To meet these payments, the Government of New Granada hereby specially appropriates one-half of the compensation which may accrue to it from the Panama Railroad Company, in lieu of postages, by virtue of the thirtieth article

of the contract between the Republic of New Granada and said company, made April 15, 1850, and approved June 4, 1850, and also one-half of the dividends which it may receive from the net profits of said road, as provided in the fifty-fifth article of the same contract; but if these funds should prove insufficient to make the payments as above stipulated, New Granada will provide other means for that purpose.

ARTICLE IV.

Duration of com.

The commission herein provided shall terminate its labors in nine months from and including the day of its organization; shall keep an accurate record of its proceedings, and may appoint mission a secretary to assist in the transaction of its business.

ARTICLE V.

The proceedings of this commission shall be final and conclusive with respect to all the claims before it, and its awards shall be a

full discharge to New Granada of all claims of citizens of the

Proceedings final.

United States against that Republic which may have accrued prior to the signature of this convention.

ARTICLE VI.

Each Government shall pay its own commissioner, but the umpire, as well as the incidental expenses of the commission, shall be paid, one-half by the United States, and the other half by New Granada.

Expenses.

ARTICLE VII.

The present convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications exchanged in Washington.

Ratification.

In faith whereof, we, the respective Plenipotentiaries, have signed this convention, and have hereunto affixed our seals.

Done at Washington, this tenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.

[SEAL.]

[SEAL.]

LEW. CASS.

P. A. HERRAN.

COLOMBIA, 1864.

CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE UNITED STATES OF COLOMBIA; DATED AT WASHINGTON, FEBRUARY 10, 1864; RATIFICATIONS EXCHANGED AT WASHINGTON AUGUST 19, 1865; PROCLAIMED AUGUST 19, 1865.

Whereas a convention for the adjustment of claims was concluded between the United States of America and the Republic of New Granada, in the city of Washington, on the 10th September, 1857, which convention, as afterward amended by the contracting parties, was proclaimed by the President of the United States on the 8th November, 1860;

And whereas the joint commission organized under the authority conferred by the preceding mentioned convention did fail, by reason of uncontrollable circumstances, to decide all the claims laid before them