and shall, before proceeding to any business, make and subscribe a solemn declaration that they will impartially and carefully examine and decide the matters referred to them to the best of their judgment, and according to justice and equity; and such declaration shall be entered on the record of their proceedings. Each of the high contracting parties shall also name one person to attend the commission as its agent, to represent it generally in all matters connected with the commission. ARTICLE 24. The proceedings shall be conducted in such order as the commissioners appointed under articles twenty-two and twenty-three of this treaty shall determine. They shall be bound to receive such oral or written testimony as either government shall present. If either party shall offer oral testimony, the other party shall have the right of cross-examination, under such rules as the commissioners shall prescribe. If in the case submitted to the commissioners either party shall have specified or alluded to any report or document in its own exclusive possession without annexing a copy, such party shall be bound-if the other party thinks proper to apply for it—to furnish that party with a copy thereof; and either party may call upon the other, through the commissioners, to produce the original or certified copies of any papers adduced as evidence, giving in each instance such reasonable notice as the commissioners may require. The case on either side shall be closed within a period of six months from the date of the organization of the commission, and the commissioners shall be requested to give their award as soon as possible thereafter. The aforesaid period of six months may be extended for three months, in case of a vacancy occurring among the commissioners, under the circumstances contemplated in article twenty-three of this treaty. ARTICLE 25. The commissioners shall keep an accurate record and correct minutes or notes of all their proceedings, with the dates thereof, and may appoint and employ a secretary and any other necessary officer or officers to assist them in the transaction of the business which may come before them. Each of the high contracting parties shall pay its own commissioner and agent or connsel; all other expenses shall be defrayed by the two governments in equal moieties. XXXIII. The foregoing articles, eighteen to twenty-five inclusive, and article thirty of this treaty, shall take effect as soon as the laws required to carry them into operation shall have been passed by the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain, by the parliament of Canada, and by the legislature of Prince Edward Island, on the one hand, and by the Congress of the United States on the other. Such assent having been given, the said articles shall remain in force for the period of ten years from the date at which they may come into operation; and further, until the expiration of two years after either of the high contracting parties shall have given notice to the other of its wish to terminate the same, each of the high contracting parties being at liberty to give such notice to the other at the end of the said period of ten years, or at any time afterward. No. 323. Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 14th instant, conveying the information that the act of the legislature of Newfoundland, passed by that body on the 28th of March, 1874, for the purpose of extending the provisions of articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, of the treaty of Washington, to that colony, was specially con-. firmed by Her Majesty on the 12th instant, and inclosing a copy of the colonial act. Presuming that the special confirmation mentioned is meant as signifying the assent of Her Majesty contemplated by the provisions of this act, I have the honor to state that the act of Congress, in pursuance of which the President is authorized to issue his proclamation extending the provisions of the articles in question to the colony of Newfoundland, provides that such proclamation may issue when the President shall have received satisfactory evidence that the colony of Newfoundland has consented "in a due and proper manner" to have the provisions of the said articles extended to it. And the act of the colonial legisla ture contains the following provision, namely: "The governor may at any time hereafter, by his proclamation, to be published in the Royal Gazette of this colony, declare that after a time to be therein named the provisions and stipulations of the said article. shall extend to this colony of Newfoundland, so far as they are applicable." The issue and publication of the governor's proclamation would therefore seem necessary to complete the required action of the colony in a due and proper manner. I inclose herewith for your information a copy of a draft of the proclamation which the President is prepared to issue on the subject, and have the honor to suggest the first of June proximo as the day when the reciprocal privileges secured by the articles of the treaty referred to shall become operative. I will thank you, if convenient, in the mean time to furnish me with a copy of the proclamation proposed to be issued by the governor of Newfoundland. Should any other date than that suggested be fixed by the latter, the President will no doubt adopt it, in order to have the provisions in question take effect simultaneously in regard to citizens of the United States and Her Majesty's subjects in Newfoundland. I have, &c., No. 324. HAMILTON FISH. Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: With reference to the draft of a proclamation submitted by you at our interview on Saturday last, and which it is proposed shall be issued by his excellency the governor of Newfoundland, in relation to extending the provisions and stipulations of articles XVIII to XXV inclusive, and Article XXX of the treaty between the Government of the United States and Her Britannic Majesty, concluded at Washington on the 8th of May, 1871, to that colony, I have the honor to inform you that, with the modifications proposed to bring the proclamation into conformity with the act of the legislature of Newfoundland, passed March 28, 1874, and the further verbal change which I have indicated on the margin of the draft in question, i. e., substituting the word "citizens" for "subjects," where the latter term is used in reference to citizens of the United States, the draft in question, it is conceived, will fulfill the requirements in regard to such proclamation. I transmit herewith for your consideration a draft of a protocol, similar in form to that entered into on the 7th of June of last year, with reference to Canada and Prince Edward's Island. Upon the conclusion of the protocol on the subject, the President has signified his willingness to issue his proclamation simultaneously with the issuing of the proclamation of his excellency the governor of Newfoundland. By this arrangement it is believed that the provisions and stipulations of the articles named of the treaty of Washington may be given effect to between the citizens of the United States and Her Majesty's subjects in the colony of Newfoundland, on the 1st of June of the present year. I have, &c., HAMILTON FISH. No. 325. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. WASHINGTON, May 26, 1874. (Received May 27.) SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your two notes of the 18th and 25th instant, respectively, relative to the act of the legislature of Newfoundland, passed by that body on March 28, 1874, for the purpose of extending the provisions of articles XVIII to XXV, inclusive, of the treaty of Washington to that colony, which act received the assent of the Queen on the 12th instant, as I had intended to convey in my note of the 14th instant. I have been in telegraphic communication with the governor of Newfoundland since I received your note of yesterday's date, and I have received from his excellency this morning a message, informing me that he will issue his proclamation on Saturday next, to carry into effect the provisions of the treaty of Washington on Monday, the 1st of June next. This proclamation will be similar to that of which I handed you a printed copy on the 23d instant, modified so as to bring it into conformity with the act of the legislature of Newfoundland passed March 28, 1874, with the further verbal change which you indicated, i. e., substituting the word "citizens" for "subjects," where the latter term is used in reference to citizens of the United States. I shall have much pleasure in waiting upon you at the Department of State on any day which you may think proper to name, for the purpose of signing with you the protocol which accompanied your note of yesterday's date. I have, &c., No. 326. EDW'D THORNTON. Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note of the 26th instant, relating to the act of the legislature of Newfoundland, passed by that body on the 28th of March last, for the purpose of extending the provisions of articles XVIII to XXV inclusive, of the treaty of Washington, to that colony, which act received the assent of the Queen on the 12th instant, and informing the Department that you are in receipt of a message from his excellency the governor of Newfoundland, stating that he will issue his proclamation on Saturday next to carry into effect the provisions of the articles above referred to of the said treaty on Monday, the 1st of June next, and that this proclamation will be similar to the printed copy which you furnished me on the 23d instant, modified so as to bring it into conformity with the act of the legislature of Newfoundland, of the 28th of March, 1874, with the further verbal change indicated by this Department substituting the word "citizens" for "subjects," where the latter term is used in reference to citizens of the United States. You also inform me of your readiness to call at this Department on any day which I may think proper to name for the purpose of sign ing with me the protocol transmitted with my note of the 25th instant. In reply I have the honor to state that I shall be happy to have you call at this Department to-morrow, the 28th instant, for the purpose above indicated, and at the same time I will thank you to bring with you the protocol above referred to. I have, &c., No. 327. HAMILTON FISH. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. WASHINGTON, June 10, 1874. (Received June 11.) SIR: With reference to Mr. Bancroft Davis's note of the 4th of April last, and to yours of the 24th of that month, I have the honor to inform you that I have made inquiries from the governor-general of Canada relative to the right of American vessels to transport goods and passengers between Canadian ports, and that I find the case to be as follows: With respect to the coasting-trade generally, Canadian vessels in the United States and United States vessels in Canada are at present placed in precisely the same position; and the vessels of each country are prohibited from engaging in the coasting trade of the other country, the only difference being that, under the laws of Canada, United States vessels can at any time participate in the coasting trade of Canada when it is shown to the governor in council that Canadian vessels have been admitted to the coasting-trade of the United States. It is understood that no provision exists in the laws of the United States for extending the privileges of the coasting-trade to foreign vessels. With regard, however, to the practical working of the coasting laws and regulations of the Dominion, it has been customary so to interpret them as to permit foreign vessels, including those of the United States, having cargoes taken on board at a foreign port, and destined for several Canadian ports, to remove from one such port to another for the purpose of discharging her said original cargo, care being taken that no goods, other than those taken on board at the foreign port of departure, are received on board or discharged. The same rule has been applied to vessels having passengers on board, the spirit of the law being interpreted so as to preclude foreign vessels from taking in goods or passengers at one Canadian port to be discharged or landed at another Canadian port. It has also been customary for all foreign vessels arriving in Canadian ports in ballast, to remove when necessary to another Canadian port for the purpose of taking in cargo destined for a foreign port. In all such cases the vessels are required to report their whole contents at the first port of entry, and file copies of the same at each succeeding port which they enter, with the certificate of the collectors as to the packages landed and remaining on board until the whole is discharged. I have, &c., EDW'D THORNTON. No. 328. Mr. Fish to Sir Edward Thornton. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the reception of your note of the 10th instant, with reference to the coasting laws and regulations of Canada, and to avoid the possibility of misapprehending the practical working of these regulations, beg leave to ask information with regard to the concluding sentence of the paragraph, where it is said that "it has been customary so to interpret them as to permit foreign vessels, including those of the United States, having cargoes taken on board at a foreign port, and destined for several Canadian ports, to remove from one such port to another for the purpose of discharging her said original cargo, care being taken that no goods other than those taken on board at the foreign port of departure are received on board or discharged." The strict interpretation of the concluding sentence might imply that, although a foreign vessel is allowed to proceed from port to port in Canada, and to discharge parts of the cargo brought from abroad at successive ports, yet she is not allowed to receive on board at any Canadian port any "goods other than those taken on board at the foreign port of departure." This would practically be a refusal of permission to take a return cargo. I beg, therefore, to ask whether the regulations are interpreted to prohibit the taking on board by a foreign vessel which may have discharged its cargo, brought from a foreign port, at more than one Canadian port, of any goods other than those taken on board at the foreign port of departure of the vessel. The recent proclamation of a law relating to foreign vessels in Canadian ports has raised doubts and apprehensions as to the rights of American vessels in those ports, and I desire to be enabled to answer questions raised by parties anxious not to be brought in conflict with any of the regulations of the provinces. I am, &c., No. 329. HAMILTON FISH. Sir Edward Thornton to Mr. Fish. WASHINGTON, June 19, 1874. (Received June 20.) SIR: In compliance with an instruction from the Earl of Derby, I have the honor to inclose copy of a dispatch addressed to his lordship by Her Majesty's consul-general at Tripoli, in which he expresses his opinion that the slave traffic from Tripoli to Constantinople via Malta is on the decrease, and that there is no reason whatever for supposing that the Malta police authorities in any way connive at its existence. I have, &c., EDW'D THORNTON. |