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In accordance with the Government of the Republic of the Uruguay, I resolved upon the cessation of the military aid which we

afforded that State.

I saw, with pleasure, that the conduct of the Brazilian division has been always most praiseworthy, and that its discipline and morality were publicly and solemnly acknowledged by the Govern ment and the Oriental people.

The stipulations which for a length of time have bound us to the Argentine Confederation have been confirmed and developed by means of a Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation, which is grounded on a solid and durable basis.

A Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation has likewise been made between my Government and that of the Republic of the Paraguay, by which the question of navigation and fluvial transit is solved; another respecting boundaries being put off until a more suitable occasion, within the term of the said Treaty.

August and most worthy Sirs, Representatives of the Nation,

Peace and internal order are becoming daily more consolidated by the calmness which presides over the spirits of the public, and by the general tendency to labour, and towards improving the state of the country.

This result, which is in a great part owing to the policy hitherto followed, justifies a continuation of the frank and decided support which it always has deserved on your part. I therefore hope that, in paying attention to the necessities pointed out by my Government, you will vote for the measures which they call for, and thus promote the happiness and aggrandizement of the nation.

The session is opened.

DECREE of the President of Mexico, respecting Privateers and Naturalization of Foreigners.-Mexico, September 24, 1846.

JOSE MARIANO DE SALAS, General exercising the Supreme Executive Power, to the inhabitants of the Republic-Be it known: Considering that the Mexican nation is at war with The United States, according to the Proclamation made by their Government on the 13th May* of the present year, and that therefore it finds itself under the harsh necessity of ordering every kind

• Vol. XXXIV. Page 1137.

of measure to weaken its enemy, one of these being the establishment of privateers which may injure its commerce; adequate regulations are wanting for this purpose, since the decree of the 25th and the regulations of the 26th of July of the present year, are neither valid nor effective, having been given by incompetent authority; and that, notwithstanding it is the attribute of the general Congress, according to Article L, part 17, of the Constitution of 1824,* to make regulations for granting letters of marque, and to declare the legality or illegality of captures made by sea or land, the peculiar position of the Republic requires that the executive of the nation should exercise this power, I have decreed and do decree as follows:

REGULATIONS for privateering by Individuals during the present War.

To whom and upon what conditions Letters of Marque are to be granted.

ART. I. To engage in privateering against The United States during the present war, letters of marque must be obtained from the Supreme Government, which will grant them in the form and under the conditions prescribed in these regulations.

II. The letters of marque referred to in the foregoing Article will only be granted to vessels of which the captain, officers, and other individuals of its crew are Mexican citizens, according to the laws of the Republic.

III. Every individual who may wish to fit out one or more privateers, shall deposit for each one a sum of not less than 4,000 dollars, should the vessel not exceed 100 tons, or 8,000 dollars if of larger burthen; or shall give security for the like amounts, to the satisfaction of the person who shall grant him the patent.

To whom to apply for Letters of Marque.

IV. The applications shall be addressed to the Supreme Government in the territory of the Republic, through the respective Governors; and in foreign countries, through the Consuls or agents authorized for this purpose.

V. In the application everything shall be minutely expressed that may be necessary to give a circumstantial account of the vessel destined for cruizing, its tonnage, force, equipment, and crew; with the understanding that it must never be less than 60 tons.

VI. With the letters of marque will also be given to the parties interested, letters of commission for those in charge of the prizes, if they should solicit them, to the number which the functionary Vol. XIII. Page 695.

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who has to deliver the said letters of marque may think necessary considering the armament of the vessel.

VII. All the functionaries, or persons authorized for issuing letters of marque, or letters of commission, shall immediately notify to the Government those which have been issued, with a circumstantial account of the owners, their bonds, or sureties, the vessels which they have armed, their captains, force, equipment, and crew.

VIII. They will likewise keep a register of all letters of marque and letters of commission which they issue, with every other particular to which the preceding Article refers.

The Aids which are to be afforded to the Outfit.

IX. The naval commanders, harbour-masters, and other local authorities, shall afford to the owners and captains of the privateers all the assistance which they may need, and which may be in their power, in everything conducive to the quick armament of the vessels, permitting them to receive all the men they may require, excepting those in actual service of the national vessels of war, coercing those who refuse to fulfil their engagements, and prosecuting deserters, who shall be condemned to six years' service in the army or navy, if apprehended after the privateer shall have sailed.

X. They shall also be furnished with arms of every description, powder, and shot, when they ask for them and the service does not want them, supplying them with these last articles at cost price, with a credit of 6 months at least, if they should not be able to make immediate payment, but taking sufficient security. That which may not be consumed during this period they may return, the value thereof being credited to them.

XI. In case of shipwreck, or of the vessel being taken, they shall be freed from all responsibility, both themselves and their securities, the loss or seizure being fully proved.

The Rights of those engaged in Privateering, and the Privileges granted to them.

XII. All those who may be engaged on board of privateering vessels shall be subject, in their internal police and regulations, to the ordinances of the navy, and shall enjoy the rights of the navy in all that does not relate to prizes.

XIII. The service of the captains and subaltern officers shall be considered as rendered to the national marine, and those who may distinguish themselves in signal actions shall be rewarded with appointments and promotion, pensions or grants of land, according to the force of the vessel of war or privateer which they may take,

and the nature of the actions sustained, upon the report of the respective commanders of the naval department.

XIV. These captains and other officers may wear the uniform appointed for the national marine, during the period of their commission.

XV. The individuals of their crews, who may be disabled from wounds received in action, and who are without the necessary means for their subsistence, shall have the same privileges as invalids of the navy, each according to his class, and in conformity with the reports made by the captains and commanders of the privateers, also with those of the respective commanders of the naval department.

XVI. The widows of those who may die from like causes, if they be left without resources, shall enjoy such pensions as the Supreme Government may be pleased to grant to them.

On the Adjudication and Distribution of Prizes.

XVII. To the owners and other individuals engaged in the privateering shall be adjudicated, entirely and without any reserve whatsoever, the prizes which they may make, in conformity with these regulations.

XVIII. Moreover should the vessels taken be men-of-war, a gratuity of 60 dollars shall be given for every cannon exceeding 12 inclusively; 40 dollars if exceeding 4, also inclusively, and 20 dollars for every prisoner of the enemy's forces; the amount of these gratuities exclusively belongs to the captain, subalterns, marines, and sailors of the privateering vessel, amongst whom it is to be divided, according to the pay which they receive.

XIX. If the Government require the vessels for the service of the nation, they may be taken on paying to the captors their intrinsic value.

XX. Vessels of war belonging to the enemy captured by those of the national navy, shall belong to the Government, with all their stores, arms, and ammunition; everything else which may be found on board, in furniture, money, or effects, being adjudicated to the officers, marines, and crew; but the privateers or merchantmen shall belong to them altogether.

XXI. Of the total proceeds arising from the prizes made by vessels of the navy, two-fifths shall be adjudged to the officers, and the three-fifths remaining to the marines and crew.

XXII. The individuals of other corps of the army or navy who may be on board as passengers, shall not share in the distribution, excepting only when they may have shown very distinguished merit, fighting at the taking of the prize, in which case they shall be considered as belonging to the armament.

XXIII. The division of the prizes made by privateers, or armed

merchantmen, shall take effect according to the manner and form in which the parties interested may have agreed amongst themselves by their contracts and engagements.

What Vessels and Effects are to be considered as lawful Prize.
XXIV. The following are lawful prize:

1st. Vessels of the enemy, with all that they may carry on board belonging to them, whether they be war vessels, privateers, or merchantmen.

2nd. The cargo and effects of neutrals and Mexicans which may be found on board these said vessels, after sufficient time has elapsed for the declaration of war, proclaimed by the Government of The United States against the Mexican nation, to have become known.

3rd. Vessels constructed by the enemy, or which may have belonged to the enemy, if the property be not sufficiently accredited as neutral.

4th. Those which may be navigated without patents or register showing their neutrality, as well as their entire cargo, wholly or in part, if found similarly deficient of the indispensable papers; the act of throwing papers into the sea, shall of itself be sufficient ground for declaring them lawful prize.

5th. Those which may be found without the legal patent of a sovereign state, or republic, having authority to grant one.

6th. Those which may have one from two or more different powers.

7th. Those which may fight under other colours than those of the sovereign or state to whom their patent belongs. If these vessels, and those comprised in the foregoing paragraphs, should be armed for war, their captains and officers shall be reputed pirates. 8th. Those which after the national flag is hoisted should refuse to lie to, and should provoke combat.

9th. Those which may navigate with the patent of the enemy under the condition expressed in the second paragraph.

10th. Those belonging to Mexicans and neutrals which may be armed for privateering under the Mexican flag, without having obtained permission from the Supreme Government, with the patent showing it, their captains to be treated as pirates.

11th. Those of pirates and mutineers the latter to be returned to their owners, should they appear within a year and a day; and the former also if they can prove that they have not taken part directly or indirectly in piracy; a third part of their total value being reserved for the benefit of those making the seizure.

12th. Vessels abandoned by the enemy, or cast adrift by tempest, or any other accident, before being brought into safety, if it should not be known to whom they belong, for want of documents, or if they

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