5. Any award made shall be final and conclusive and, if in favor of the claimant, shall be paid by the Government of Hayti within twelve (12) months of the date of such award. Done in duplicate, at Washington this 24th day of May, one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight. MEXICO. T. F. BAYARD. Convention for the adjustment of claims of citizens of the United States against Mexico. [Concluded April 11, 1839; ratifications exchanged at Washington April 7, 1840; proclaimed April 8, 1840.] Whereas a convention for the adjustment of claims of citizens of the United States upon the Government of the Mexican Republic was concluded and signed at Washington on the 10th day of September 1838, which convention was not ratified on the part of the Mexican Government, on the alleged ground that the consent of His Majesty the King of Prussia to provide an arbitrator to act in the case provided by said convention could not be obtained; And whereas the parties to said convention are still, and equally, desirous of terminating the discussions which have taken place between them in respect to said claims, arising from injuries to the persons and property of citizens of the United States by Mexican authorities, in a manner equally advantageous to the citizens of the United States, by whom said injuries have been sustained, and more convenient to Mexico than that provided by said convention: The President of the United States has named for this purpose, and furnished with full powers, John Forsyth, Secretary of State of the said United States; and the President of the Mexican Republic has named His Excellency Señor Don Francisco Pizarro Martinez, accredited as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Mexican Republic to the United States, and has furnished him with full powers for the same purpose; And the said Plenipotentiaries have agreed upon and concluded the following articles: ARTICLE I. It is agreed that all claims of citizens of the United States upon the Mexican Government, statements of which, soliciting the interposition of the Government of the United States, have been presented to the Department of State or to the diplomatic agent of the United States at Mexico until the signature of this convention, shall be referred to four commissioners, who shall form a board, and be appointed in the following manner, namely: two commissioners shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and two commissioners by the President of the Mexican Republic. The said commissioners, so appointed, shall be sworn impartially to examine and decide upon the said claims according to such evidence as shall be laid before them on the part of the United States and the Mexican Republic respectively. ARTICLE II. The said board shall have two secretaries, versed in the English and Spanish languages; one to be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and the other by the President of the Mexican Republic. And the said Secretaries shall be sworn faithfully to discharge their duty in that capacity. ARTICLE III. The said board shall meet in the city of Washington within three months after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, and within eighteen months from the time of its meeting shall terminate its duties. The Secretary of State of the United States shall, immediately after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, give notice of the time of the meeting of the said board, to be published in two newspapers in Washington, and in such other papers as he may think proper. ARTICLE IV. All documents which now are in, or hereafter, during the continuance of the commission constituted by this convention, may come into the possession of the Department of State of the United States, in relation to the aforesaid claims, shall be delivered to the board. The Mexican Government shall furnish all such documents and explanations as may be in their possession, for the adjustment of the said claims according to the principles of justice, the law of nations, and the stipulations of the treaty of amity and commerce between the United States and Mexico of the 5th of April 1831; the said documents to be specified when demanded at the instance of the said commissioners. ARTICLE V. The said commissioners shall, by a report under their hands and seals, decide upon the justice of the said claims and the amount of compensation, if any, due from the Mexican Government in each case. ARTICLE VI. It is agreed that if it should not be convenient for the Mexican Government to pay at once the amount so found due, it shall be at liberty, immediately after the decisions in the several cases shall have taken place, to issue Treasury notes, receivable at the maritime customhouses of the Republic in payment of any duties which may be due or imposed at said custom houses upon goods entered for importation or exportation; said Treasury notes to bear interest at the rate of eight per centum per annum from the date of the award on the claim in payment of which said Treasury notes shall have been issued until that of their receipt at the Mexican custom-houses. But as the presentation and receipt of said Treasury notes at said custom-houses in large amounts might be inconvenient to the Mexican Government, it is further agreed that, in such case, the obligation of said Government to receive them in payment of duties, as above stated, may be limited to one-half the amount of said duties. ARTICLE VII. It is further agreed that in the event of the commissioners differing in relation to the aforesaid claims, they shall, jointly or severally, draw up a report, stating, in detail, the points on which they differ, and the grounds upon which their respective opinions have been formed. And it is agreed that the said report or reports, with authenticated copies of all documents upon which they may be founded, shall be referred to the decision of His Majesty the King of Prussia. But as the documents relating to the aforesaid claims are so voluminous that it cannot be expected His Prussian Majesty would be willing or able personally to investigate them, it is agreed that he shall appoint a person to act as an arbiter in his behalf; that the person so appointed shall proceed to Washington; that his travelling expenses to that city and from thence on his return to his place of residence in Prussia, shall be defrayed, one-half by the United States and one half by the Mexican Republic; and that he shall receive as a compensation for his services a sum equal to one-half the compensation that may be allowed by the United States to one of the commissioners to be appointed by them, added to one-half the compensation that may be allowed by the Mexican Government to one of the commissioners to be appointed by it. And the compensation of such arbiter shall be paid, one-half by the United States and one-half by the Mexican Government. ARTICLE VIII. Immediately after the signature of this convention, the Plenipotentiaries of the contracting parties (both being thereunto competently authorized) shall, by a joint note, addressed to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of His Majesty the King of Prussia, to be delivered by the Minister of the United States at Berlin, invite the said monarch to appoint an umpire to act in his behalf in the manner above mentioned, in case this convention shall be ratified respectively by the Governments of the United States and Mexico. ARTICLE IX. It is agreed that, in the event of His Prussian Majesty's declining to appoint an umpire to act in his behalf, as aforesaid, the contracting parties, on being informed thereof, shall, without delay, invite Her Britannic Majesty, and in case of her declining, His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, to appoint an umpire to act in their behalf, respectively, as above provided. Convention for the settlement of claims. [Concluded July 4, 1868; ratifications exchanged at Washington February 1, 1869; pro claimed February 1, 1869.] Whereas it is desirable to maintain and increase the friendly feelings between the United States and the Mexican Republic, and so to strengthen the system and principles of republican government on the American continent; and whereas since the signature of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, of the 2d of February 1848, claims and complaints have been made by citizens of the United States, on account of injuries to their persons and their property by authorities of that republic, and similar claims and complaints have been made on account of injuries to the persons and property of Mexican citizens by authorities of the United States, the President of the United States of America and the President of the Mexican Republic have resolved to conclude a convention for the adjustment of the said claims and complaints, and have named as their Plenipotentiaries, the President of the United States, William H. Seward, Secretary of State; and the President of the Mexican Republic, Matias Romero, accredited as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the Mexican Republic to the United States; who, after having communicated to each other their respective full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed to the following articles: ARTICLE I. All claims on the part of corporations, companies, or private individuals, citizens of the United States, upon the Government of the Mexican Republic, arising from injuries to their persons or property by anthorities of the Mexican Republic, and all claims on the part of corporations, companies, or private individuals, citizens of the Mexican Republic, upon the Government of the United States, arising from injuries to their persons or property by authorities of the United States, which may have been presented to either Government for its interposition with the other since the signature of the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo between the United States and the Mexican Republic of the 2d of February 1848, and which yet remain unsettled, as well as any other such claims which may be presented within the time hereinafter specified, shall be referred to two commissioners, one to be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, and one by the President of the Mexican Republic. In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of either commissioner, or in the event of either commissioner omitting or ceasing to act as such, the President of the United States or the President of the Mexican Republic, respectively, shall forth with name another person to act as commissioner in the place or stead of the commissioner originally named. The commissioners so named shall meet at Washington within six months after the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, and shall, before proceeding to business, make and subscribe a solemn declaration that they will impartially and carefully examine and decide, to the best of their judgment, and according to public law, justice and equity, without fear, favor, or affection to their own country, upon all such claims above specified as shall be laid before them on the part of the Governments of the United States and of the Mexican Republic, respectively; and such declaration shall be entered on the record of their proceedings. The commissioners shall then name some third person to act as an umpire in any case or cases on which they may themselves differ in opinion. If they should not be able to agree upon the name of such third person, they shall each name a person, and in each and every case in which the commissioners may differ in opinion as to the decision which they ought to give, it shall be determined by lot which of the two persons so named shall be umpire in that particular case. The person or persons so to be chosen to be umpire shall, before proceeding to act as such in any case, make and subscribe a solemn declaration in a form similar to that which shall already have been made and subscribed by the commissioners, which shall be entered on the record of their proceedings. In the event of the death, absence, or incapacity of such person or persons, or of his or their omitting, or declining, or ceasing to act as such umpire, another and different person shall be named, as aforesaid, to act as such umpire, in the place of the person so originally named, as aforesaid, and shall make and subscribe such declaration as aforesaid. ARTICLE II. The commissioners shall then conjointly proceed to the investigation and decision of the claims which shall be presented to their notice, in such order and in such manner as they may conjointly think proper, but upon such evidence or information only as shall be furnished by or on behalf of their respective governments. They shall be bound to receive and peruse all written documents or statements which may be presented to them by or on behalf of their respective governments in support of, or in answer to any claim, and to hear, if required, one person on each side on behalf of each government on each and every separate claim. Should they fail to agree in opinion upon any individual claim, they shall call to their assistance the umpire whom they may have agreed to name, or who may be determined by lot, as the case may be; and such umpire, after having examined the evidence adduced for and against the claim, and after having heard, if required, one person on each side as aforesaid, and consulted with the commissioners, shall decide thereupon finally and without appeal. The decision of the commissioners and of the umpire shall be given upon each claim in writing, shall designate whether any sum which may be allowed shall be payable in gold or in the currency of the United States, and shall be signed by them respectively. It shall be competent for each government to name one person to attend the commissioners as agent on its behalf, to present and support claims on its behalf, and to answer claims made upon it, and to represent it generally in all matters connected with the investigation and decision thereof. The President of the United States of America and the President of the Mexican Republic hereby solemnly and sincerely engage to consider the decision of the commissioners conjointly, or of the umpire, as the case may be, as absolutely final and conclusive upon each claim decided upon by them or him, respectively, and to give full effect to such decisions without any objection, evasion, or delay whatsoever. It is agreed that no claim arising out of a transaction of a date prior to the 2d of February 1848 shall be admissible under this convention. ARTICLE III. Every claim shall be presented to the commissioners within eight months from the day of their first meeting, unless in any case where reasons for delay shall be established to the satisfaction of the commissioners, or of the umpire in the event of the commissioners differing in opinion thereupon, and then and in any such case the period for presenting the claim may be extended to any time not exceeding three months longer. The commissioners shall be bound to examine and decide upon every claim within two years and six months from the day of their first meeting. It shall be competent for the commissioners conjointly, or for the umpire if they differ, to decide in each case whether any claim has or has not been duly made, preferred, and laid before them, either wholly or to any and what extent, according to the true intent and meaning of this convention. ARTICLE IV. When decisions shall have been made by the commissioners and the arbiter in every case which shall have been laid before them, the total amount awarded in all the cases decided in favor of the citizens of the one party shall be deducted from the total amount awarded to the citizens of the other party, and the balance, to the amount of three hundred thousand dollars, shall be paid at the city of Mexico or at the city of Washington, in gold or its equivalent, within twelve months from the close of the commission, to the government in favor of whose citizens the greater amount may have been awarded, without interest or any other deduction than that specified in Article VI. of this convention. The residue of the said balance shall be paid in annual installments to an amount not exceeding three hundred thousand dollars, in gold or its equivalent, in any one year until the whole shall have been paid. ARTICLE V. The high contracting parties agree to consider the result of the proceedings of this commission as a full, perfect, and final settlement of every claim upon either government arising out of any transaction of a date prior to the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention; |