for unlawful seizures, captures, sequestrations, confiscations, or destructions of their vessels, cargoes, or other property, engages to pay a sum of twentyfive millions of francs to the government of the United States, who shall distribute it among those entitled, in the manner and according to the rules which it shall determine.(1)

The sum of twenty-five millions of francs, above stipulated, shall be paid at Paris, in six annual instalments, of four millions one hundred and thirtysix thousand six hundred and sixty-six francs sixty-six centimes each, into the hands of such person or persons as shall be authorized by the government of the United States to receive it.

The first instalment shall be paid at the expiration of one year next fol. lowing the exchange of the ratifications of this convention, and the others at successive intervals of a year, one after another, till the whole shall be paid.

To the amount of each of the said instalments shall be added interest at four per cent. thereupon, as upon the other instalments then remaining unpaid; the said interest to be computed from the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention.(2)

738. The government of the United States, on its part, for the being liberated completely from all the reclamations presented by France on purpose of behalf of its citizens, or of the royal treasury, (either for ancient supplies or accounts, the liquidation of which had been reserved, or for unlawful seizures, captures, detentions, arrests, or destructions of French vessels, cargoes, or other property,) engages to pay to the government of his majesty (which shall make distribution of the same in the manner and according to the rules to be determined by it) the sum of one million five hundred thousand francs.(3)

The sum of one million five hundred thousand francs, stipulated in the preceding article, shall be payable in six annual instalments, of two hundred and fifty thousand francs; and the payment of each of the said instalments shall be effected by a reservation of so much out of the annual sums which the French government is bound, by the second article above, to pay to the government of the United States.

To the amount of each of these instalments shall be added interest at four per cent. upon the instalment then paid, as well as upon those still due; which payments of interest shall be effected by means of a reservation, similar to that already indicated for the payment of the principal. The said interest shall be computed from the day of the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention.(4)

(1) Convention 4th July, 1831, art. 1. (2) Ibid. art. 2.

(3) Ibid. art. 3.
(4) Ibid. art. 4.

two conventions of the same date provided for the payment of the consideration money, including debts, due from France to citizens of the United States.

Previous to the 24th of June, 1822, there existed no treaty of any character between the United States and France. At that date, the commercial convention given in the text was adopted.

By act 13th of July, 1832, a board of three commissioners, with a secretary and clerk, was established, to examine the claims under the convention of 4th of July, 1831. The commissioners were allowed, each, three thousand dollars, the secretary two thousand dollars, and the clerk one thousand five hundred dollars, per annum. The commission was required to report its awards to the secretary of state, and he, to furnish a copy to the secretary of the treasury, who is authorized to distribute, thereon, the amount receivable from France, deducting sums due the United States from those in whose favour awards were made. Upon the execution of the commission, its records are to be deposited in the office of the secretary of state. By act 19th of June, 1854, the convention was extended to three years, from first Monday in August, 1832.

739. As to the reclamations of French citizens against the government of the United States, and the reclamations of citizens of the United States against the French government, which are of a different nature from those which it is the object of the present convention to adjust, it is understood that the citizens of the two nations may prosecute them in the respective countries before the competent judicial or administrative authorities, in complying with the laws and regulations of the country, the dispositions and benefit of which, shall be applied to them in like manner as to native citizens.(1)

740. The French government and the government of the United States reciprocally engage to communicate to each other, by the intermediary of the respective legations, the documents, titles, or other informations proper to facilitate the examination and liquidation of the reclamations comprised in the stipulations of the present convention.(2)

741. Articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture, of the United States, imported into France in vessels of the United States, shall pay an additional duty, not exceeding twenty francs per ton of merchandise, over and above the duties paid on the like articles, also the growth, produce, or manufacture of the United States, when imported in French vessels.(3)

Articles of the growth, produce, or manufacture of France, imported into the United States in French vessels, shall pay an additional duty, not exceed. ing three dollars and seventy five cents per ton of merchandise over and above the duties collected upon the like articles, also of the growth, produce, or manufacture of France, when imported in vessels of the United States.(3)

742. No discriminating duty shall be levied upon the productions of the soil or industry of France, imported in French bottoms into the ports of the United States for transit or re-exportation: nor shall any such duties be levied upon the productions of the soil or industry of the United States, imported in vessels of the United States into the ports of France for transit or re-exportation.(3)

743. The following quantities shall be considered as forming the ton of merchandise for each of the articles hereinafter specified:

Wines four 61 gallon hogsheads, or 244 gallons of 231 cubic inches, American measure.

Brandies, and all other liquids, 244 gallons.

Silks and all other dry goods, and all other articles usually subject to measurement, forty-two cubic feet, French, in France, and fifty cubic feet American measure, in the United States.

Cotton 804 lbs. avoirdupois, or 365 kilogrammes.
Tobacco, 1,600 lbs. avoirdupois, or 725 kilogrammes.

Ashes, pot and pearl, 2,240 lbs. avoirdupois, or 1,016 kilogs.

Rice, 1,600 lbs. avoirdupois, or 725 kilogrammes; and for all weighable articles, not specified, 2,240 lbs. avoirdupois, or 1,016 kilogrammes.(3)

744. The duties of tonnage, light-money, pilotage, port charges, brokerage, and all other duties upon foreign shipping, over and above those paid by the national shipping in the two countries respectively, other than those specified in articles one and two of the present convention, shall not exceed in France, for vessels of the United States, five francs per ton of the vessel's American register; nor for vessels of France in the United States, ninetyfour cents per ton of the vessel's French passport.(3)

745. The contracting parties, wishing to favour their mutual commerce,

(1) Convention 4th July, 1831, art. 5. (3) Treaty of 24th June, 1822. (2) Ibid. art. 6.

by affording in their ports every necessary assistance to their respective vessels, have agreed that the consuls and vice consuls may cause to be arrested the sailors, being part of the crews of the vessels of their respective nations, who shall have deserted from the said vessels, in order to send them back and transport them out of the country. For which purpose the said consuls and vice consuls shall address themselves to the courts, judges and officers competent, and shall demand the said deserters in writing, proving by an exhibition of the registers of the vessel, or ship's roll, or other official documents, that those men were part of said crews; and on this demand, so proved, (saving however where the contrary is proved,) the delivery shall not be refused; and there shall be given all aid and assistance to the said consuls and vice consuls for the search, seizure, and arrest, of the said deserters, who shall even be detained and kept in the prisons of the country, at their request and expense, until they shall have found an opportunity of sending them back. But if they be not sent back within three months, to be counted from the day of their arrest, they shall be set at liberty, and shall be no more arrested for the same cause.(1) (See infra art. 749.)

746. The present temporary convention shall be in force for two years from the first day of October next, and even after the expiration of that term, until the conclusion of a definite treaty, or until one of the parties shall have declared its intention to renounce it; which declaration shall be made at least six months beforehand.(1)

747. And in case the present arrangement should remain without such declaration of its discontinuance by either party, the extra duties specified in the 1st and 2d articles, shall, from the expiration of the said two years, be, on both sides, diminished by one-fourth of their whole amount, and, afterwards, by one-fourth of the said amount from year to year, so long as neither party shall have declared the intention of renouncing it as above stated.(1)

748. The wines of France, from and after the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention, shall be admitted to consumption in the states of the union at duties which shall not exceed the following rates, by the gallon, (such as is used at present for wines in the United States,) to wit, six cents for red wines in casks; ten cents for white wines in casks; and twenty-two cents for wines of all sorts in bottles. The proportion existing between the duties on French wines thus reduced, and the general rates of the tariff which went into operation the first of January, 1829, shall be maintained, in case the government of the United States should think proper to diminish those general rates in a new tariff.

In consideration of this stipulation, which shall be binding on the United States for ten years, the French government abandons the reclamations which it had formed in relation to the 8th article of the treaty of cession of Louisiana. It engages, moreover, to establish on the long staple cottons of the United States, which, after the exchange of the ratifications of the present convention, shall be brought directly thence to France by the vessels of the United States, or by French vessels, the same duties as on short staple cottons.(2)

749. On the application of a consul or vice consul of France, made in writing, stating that the person therein named has deserted from a public or private vessel of France, while in any port of the United States, and on proof, by the exhibition of the register of the vessel, ship's roll, or other official document, that the person named belonged, at the time of desertion,

(1) Treaty of June 24th, 1822.

(2) Convention 4th July, 1831, sec. 8.

to the crew of said vessel, it shall be the duty of any court, judge, justice, or other magistrate, having competent power to issue warrants, to cause the said person to be arrested for examination; and if, on the examination, the facts stated are found to be true, the person arrested, not being a citizen of the United States, shall be delivered up to the consul or vice consul, to be sent back to the dominions of France; or, on the request, and at the expense of the said consul or vice consul, shall be detained, until the consul or vice consul finds an opportunity to send him back to the dominions of France: But no person shall be detained more than three months after his arrest, but at the end of that time shall be set at liberty, and shall not be again molested for the same cause.(1)

The foregoing provisions shall continue in force, so long as the convention of the twenty-fourth of June, eighteen hundred and twenty-two, between the United States and France, shall be mutually obligatory on the parties to it, and no longer.(1)

ART. 750. There shall be a firm and inviolable peace and sincere friend

(1) Act May 4th, 1826.

* There have been no treaties with Spain other than those in the text, except the convention of indemnity of 1802, ratified by Spain in 1818, and annulled by the treaty of 1819. But articles 2, 3, 4, 21, and the 2d clause of article 22, of the

ship between the United States and their citizens, and his catholic majesty, his successors and subjects, without exception of persons or places.(1)

751. His catholic majesty cedes to the United States, in full property and sovereignty, all the territories which belong to him, situated to the eastward of the Mississippi, known by the name of East and West Florida. The adjacent islands dependent on said provinces, all public lots and squares, vacant lands, public edifices, fortifications, barracks, and other buildings, which are not private property, archives and documents, which relate directly to the property and sovereignty of said provinces, are included in this article. The said archives and documents shall be left in possession of the commissaries or officers of the United States, duly authorized to receive them.(2)

752. The inhabitants of the ceded territories shall be secured in the free exercise of their religion, without any restriction; and all those who may desire to remove to the Spanish dominions, shall be permitted to sell or export their effects, at any time whatever, without being subject, in either case, to duties.(3)

753. The inhabitants of the territories which his catholic majesty cedes to the United States, by treaty, February twenty-second, 1819, shall be incorporated in the union of the United States, as soon as may be consistent with the principles of the federal constitution, and admitted to the enjoy ment of all the privileges, rights, and immunities of the citizens of the United States.(4)

754. The boundary line between the two countries, west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the river Sabine,

(3) Treaty 22d Feb. 1819, art. 5.
(4) Ibid. art. 6.

(1) Treaty of Feb. 22d, 1819, art. 1. (2) Ibid. art. 2. treaty of 1795, were annulled. Articles 2 and 3 provided for the designation of the southern boundary of the United States and the north line of Florida. Article 4, for the west line between the United States and the then Spanish province of Louisiana, and for the free navigation of the Mississippi by both parties: article 21, for the reparation of the losses sustained by citizens of the U. S. by the capture of their vessels by Spanish subjects; and the 2d clause of the 22d article, gave the right of deposit to the citizens of the U. S. at New Orleans for three years, and provided for the continuation of this right, or an equivalent on some other part of the bank of the Mississippi; article 5, providing for maintaining peace and harmony among the Indians, and restraining their hostilities, and prohibiting either party to make treaties other than of peace with Indians living within the boundary of the other, and declaring that both parties would endeavour to make the advantages of the Indian trade common to both, has also been omitted, Spain being no longer in condition to participate in it.

We have omitted from the text, also, articles 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 14, 15, of the treaty of 22d February, 1819.

Article 4, made provision for running the boundary line between Louisiana and Mexico; art. 7, for the withdrawal of the Spanish troops from, and the delivery up of, the Floridas.

By article 9, the parties reciprocally renounced all claims for damages and injuries sustained by either on the citizens or subjects of either, previous to the time of signing the treaty. And the U. S. undertook to satisfy all damages suffered by Spanish officers and inhabitants by the proceedings of the army in Florida. Article 10, annulled the convention of 1802.

By article 11, the U. S. assumed to satisfy the claims of American citizens against Spain, to an amount not exceeding five millions of dollars; and provision was made for determining the validity of such claims.

By article 13, the U. S. certified that they had received no compensation from France for claims provided for in this treaty.

Article 15, gave to Spanish vessels, laden with Spanish productions, directly from the ports of Spain or her colonies, privilege to the ports of Pensacola and St. Augustine, for 12 years, paying no other or higher duties than should be paid by vessels of the U. S.