ARTICLE II. The International Commission shall be composed of five members, to be appointed as follows: One member shall be chosen from each country, by the Government thereof; one member shall be chosen by each Government from some third country; the fifth member shall be chosen by common agreement between the two Governments, it being understood that he shall not be a citizen of either country. The expenses of the Commission shall be paid by the two Governments in equal proportion. The International Commission shall be appointed within six months after the exchange of the ratifications of this treaty; and vacancies shall be filled according to the manner of the original appointment. ARTICLE III. In case the High Contracting Parties shall have failed to adjust a dispute by diplomatic methods, they shall at once refer it to the International Commission for investigation and report. The International Commission may, however, spontaneously offer its services to that effect, and in such case it shall notify both Governments and request their cooperation in the investigation. The High Contracting Parties agree to furnish the Permanent International Commission with all the means and facilities required for its investigation and report. The report of the International Commission shall be completed within one year after the date on which it shall declare its investigation to have begun, unless the High Contracting Parties shall limit or extend the time by mutual agreement. The report shall be prepared in triplicate; one copy shall be presented to each Government, and the third retained by the Commission for its files. The High Contracting Parties reserve the right to act independently on the subject matter of the dispute after the report of the Commission shall have been submitted. ARTICLE IV. The present treaty shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof; and by the President of the Portuguese Republic in accordance with the constitutional laws of the Republic; and the ratifications shall be exchanged as soon as possible. It shall take effect immediately after the exchange of ratifications, and shall continue in force for a period of five years; and it shall thereafter remain in force until twelve months after one of the High Contracting Parties have given notice to the other of an intention to terminate it. In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the present treaty and have affixed thereunto their seals. Done in duplicate, in the english and portuguese languages, at Lisbon, this 4th day of February one thousand nine hundred and fourteen. [SEAL.] [SEAL.] THOS. H. BIRCH ANTONIO CAETANO MACIEIRA JÚNIOR AGREEMENT EFFECTED BY EXCHANGE OF NOTES EXTENDING THE TIME FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF THE COMMISSION UNDER ARTICLE II OF TREATY OF FEBRUARY 4, 1914. Sir: Signed at Washington November 16, 1915. (Treaty Series, No. 600-A.) [The Secretary of State to the Minister of Portugal.] -DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, November 16, 1915. The time specified in the Treaty of February 4, 1914, between the United States and Portugal, looking to the advancement of the general cause of peace, for the appointment of the International Commission having expired, without the United States non-national Commissioner, the Portuguese Commissioners and the Joint Commissioner being named, I have the honor to suggest for the consideration of your Government that the time within which the organization of the Commission may be completed be extended from April 24, 1915, to April 24, 1916. Your formal notification in writing, of the same date as this, that your Government receives the suggestion favorably, will be regarded on this Government's part as sufficient to give effect to the extension, and I shall be glad to receive your assurance that it will be so regarded by your Government also. Accept, Sir, the renewed assurances of my highest consideration. ROBERT LANSING VISCOUNT DE ALTE, Sir: The Minister of Portugal. [The Portuguese Minister to the Secretary of State.] LEGAÇÃO DE PORTUGAL NOS ESTADOS UNIDOS, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your note of today's date suggesting the extension from April 24, 1915, to April 24, 1916, of the time within which the organization of the International Commission provided for in the Treaty of February 4, 1914, between Portugal and the United States looking to the advancement of the general cause of peace, may be completed. I have the honour to inform you that the Portuguese Government fully concur with the suggestion made by the American Government and that this exchange of notes will be regarded by them as sufficient to give effect to the extension. I avail myself of this opportunity in order to convey to you, Sir, the renewed assurance of my highest consideration. The Honourable ROBERT LANSING, ALTE Secretary of State, etc., etc., etc. 1920. AGREEMENT FURTHER EXTENDING THE DURATION OF THE ARBITRATION CONVENTION OF APRIL 6, 1908. Signed at Lisbon September 14, 1920; ratification advised by the Senate March 7, 1921; ratified by the President March 22, 1921; ratified by Portugal September 16, 1921; ratifications exchanged at Lisbon September 29, 1921; proclaimed October 31, 1921. (Treaty Series, No. 656; 42 Statutes at Large.) ARTICLES. I. Extends 1908 convention five years. II. Ratification. The Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Portuguese Republic, being desirous of extending for another five years the period during which the Arbitration Convention concluded between them on April 6, 1908, extended by the Agreement concluded between the two Governments on June 28, 1913, shall remain in force, have authorized the undersigned, to wit: The President of the United States of America: His Excellency Colonel Thomas H. Birch, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America near the Portuguese Republic, The President of the Portuguese Republic: His Excellency João Carlos de Melo Barreto, Minister for Foreign Affairs. to conclude the following Agreement: ARTICLE I The Convention of Arbitration of April 6, 1908, between the Government of the United States of America and the Government of Portugal, the duration of which by Article III thereof was fixed at a period of five years from the date of the exchange of ratifications of the said Convention on November 14, 1908, which period, by the Agreement of June 28, 1913,2 between the two Governments, was extended for five years from November 14, 1913, is hereby renewed and continued in force for a further period of five years from November 14, 1918. ARTICLE II. The present Agreement shall be ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by the President of the Portuguese Republic, in accordance with the constitutional laws of the Republic, and it shall become effective upon the date of the exchange of ratifications, which shall take place at Lisbon as soon as possible. Done in duplicate, in the english and portuguese languages, at Lisbon, this fourteenth day of September one thousand nine hundred and twenty. 1 For text see Vol. II, p. 1467. THOS. H. BIRCH JOÃO CARLOS DE MELLO BARRETO For text see above, p. 2808. RUSSIA. 1832. TREATY OF COMMERCE AND NAVIGATION. Signed at St. Petersburg December 18, 1832. TERMINATION. The Congress of the United States passed a joint resolution, approved December 21, 1911, in the following terms:1 "Whereas the treaty of commerce and navigation between the United States and Russia, concluded on the eighteenth day of December, eighteen hundred and thirty-two,2 provides in Article XII thereof that it 'shall continue in force until the first day of January, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty-nine, and if, one year before that day, one of the high contracting parties shall not have announced to the other, by an official notification, its intention to arrest the operation thereof this treaty shall remain obligatory one year beyond that day, and so on until the expiration of the year which shall commence after the date of a similar notification"; and "Whereas on the seventeenth day of December, nineteen hundred and eleven, the President caused to be delivered to the Imperial Russian Government, by the American Ambassador at Saint Petersburg, an official notification on behalf of the Government of the United States, announcing intention to terminate the operation of this treaty upon the expiration of the year commencing on the first of January, nineteen hundred and twelve; and "Whereas said treaty is no longer responsive in various respects to the political principles and commercial needs of the two countries; and "Whereas the constructions placed thereon by the respective contracting parties differ upon matters of fundamental importance and interest to each: Therefore be it "Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the notice thus given by the President of the United States to the Government of the Empire of Russia to terminate said treaty in accordance with the terms of the treaty is hereby adopted and ratified." The Secretary of State telegraphed to the American ambassador at St. Petersburg on December 15, 1911, the text of a note to be 137 Statutes at Large, 627. 29479-S. Doc. 348, 67-4 -23 2 For text see Vol. II, p. 1514. 2813 handed to the Russian minister of foreign affairs in the following terms: "Under instructions from my Government and in pursuance of conversations held by the Secretary of State with the Russian ambassador at Washington, I have now the honor to give to the Imperial Russian Government, on behalf of the United States, the official notification contemplated by Article XII of the treaty of 1832, whereby the operation of the said treaty will terminate in accordance with its terms on January 1, 1913. "Your excellency will recall that pourparlers between the two Governments during the last three years have fully recognized the fact that this ancient treaty, as is quite natural, is no longer fully responsive in various respects to the needs of the political and material relations of the two countries, which grow constantly more important. The treaty has also given rise from time to time to certain controversies equally regretted by both Governments. "In conveying the present formal notification to your excellency I am instructed to express the desire of my Government, meanwhile, to renew the effort to negotiate a modern treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation upon bases more perfectly responsive to the interests of both Governments. I am directed by the President at the same time to emphasize the great value attached by the Government of the United States to the historic relations between the two countries, and the desire of my Government to spare no effort to make the outcome of the proposed negotiations contribute still further to the strength and cordiality of these relations. "I avail myself of this occasion to offer to your excellency the renewed assurance of my highest consideration." The note was presented to the Russian minister for foreign affairs on December 17, and on December 18 the American ambassador received the following note from the Russian official: "In note No. 72 of December 4, 1912, your excellency has transmitted to me official notification of the United States Government provided by Article XII of the treaty of 1832, in accordance with which said treaty will cease to be in force on December 19, 1912/January 1, 1913. "At the same time you stated that in the meanwhile your Government is desirous of entering into negotiations for the conclusion of a new treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation on a basis which would better answer the requirements of both countries. "Taking due notice of the aforesaid, I take advantage of this occasion, sir, to express my distinguished consideration. "SAZONOFF." 1911. CONVENTION FOR THE PRESERVATION AND PROTECTION OF FUR SEALS. Signed at Washington July 7, 1911. (This text is printed among the international treaties in its order, p. 2965.) |