The President of the United States of America: Mr. John A. Kasson, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States near His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia, and Mr. Henry S. Sanford, formerly Minister; His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia: Othon, Prince de Bismarck, His President of the Council of Ministers of Prussia, Chancellor of the Empire, Paul, Count de Hatzfeldt, His Minister of State and Secretary of State of the Department of Foreign Affairs, August Busch, His Actual Privy Councillor of Legation and Under Secretary of State in the Department of Foreign Affairs, and Henry de Kusserow, His Privy Councillor of Legation in the Department of Foreign Affairs; His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia etc. and Apostolic King of Hungary: Emeric, Count Szechenyi, de Sarvari Felso-Videk, Chamberlain and Actual Privy Councillor, His Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia; His Majesty the King of the Belgians: Gabriel, August, Count van der Straten Ponthoz, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia, and Auguste, Baron Lambermont, Minister of State, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary; His Majesty the King of Denmark: Mr. Emile de Vind, Chamberlain, His Envoy Extraordinary and His Majesty the King of Spain: Don Francisco Merry y Colom, Count de Benomar, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia; The President of the French Republic: Alphonse, Baron de Courcel, Ambassador Extraordinary and Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Sir Edward, Baldwin Malet, Her Ambassador Extraordinary and His Majesty the King of Italy: Edward, Count de Launay, His Ambassador Extraordinary and His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxembourg etc: Frederick, Philip, Jonkheer van der Hoeven, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia; His Majesty the King of Portugal and of the Algarves etc. etc. etc.: da Serra Gomes, Marquis de Penafiel, Peer of the Kingdom, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia, and Mr. Antoine de Serpa Pimentel, Councillor of State and Peer of the Kingdom; His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias: Pierre, Count Kapnist, Privy Councillor, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of the Netherlands; His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway etc. etc.: Gillis, Baron Bildt, Lieutenant General, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia; His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans: Mehemed Said Pacha, Vizier and High Dignitary, His Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the Emperor of Germany, King of Prussia; Who, furnished with full powers which have been found in good and due form, have successively discussed and adopted: 1st. A Declaration relative to the liberty of commerce in the basin of the Congo, embouchures and neighboring countries, with certain dispositions connected therewith; 2nd. A Declaration concerning the slave trade and the operations which on land or sea furnish slaves for the trade; 3rd. A Declaration relative to the neutrality of the territory comprised in the conventional basin of the Congo; 4th. An Act of navigation of the Congo, which while taking note of local circumstances, extends to this river, to its affluents and to the waters which are assimilated to them, the general principles announced in Articles 108 to 116 of the final Act of the Congress of Vienna and designed to regulate between the Powers signatory to said Act, the free navigation of navigable water courses which separate or traverse several States, principles since then conventionally applied to certain rivers of Europe and of America, and notably to the Danube, with the modifications provided by the treaties of Paris of 1856, of Berlin of 1878, and of London of 1871 and of 1883; 5th. An Act of navigation of the Niger which, while equally taking note of local circumstances, extends to this river and to its affluents the same principles inscribed in Articles 108 to 116 of the final Act of the Congress of Vienna; 6th. A Declaration introducing into international relations certain uniform rules relative to the occupations which may take place in the future upon the coasts of the African Continent; And having judged that these different documents might be usefully coördinated in a single instrument, have collected them into a general Act composed of the following articles. CHAPTER I. DECLARATION RELATIVE TO THE LIBERTY OF COMMERCE IN THE BASIN OF THE CONGO, ITS EMBOUCHURES AND NEIGHBORING COUNTRY, AND DISPOSITIONS CONNECTED THEREWITH. ARTICLE 1. The commerce of all nations shall enjoy complete liberty: 1st. In all the territories constituting the basin of the Congo and its affluents. This basin is defined by the crests of the contiguous basins, to wit: notably the basins of the Niari, of the Ogove, of the Schari and of the Nile, on the North; by the line of Eastern water shed of the affluents of lake Tanganyka on the East; by the crests of the basins of the Zambeze and of the Loge, on the South. It embraces, consequently, all the territories drained by the Congo and its affluents, including the lake Tanganyka and its Eastern tributaries. 2nd. In the maritime zone extending along the Atlantic ocean from the parallel of 2° 30′ Southern latitude to the mouth of the Loge. The Northern boundary shall follow the parallel of 2° 30′ from the coast to the point where it strikes the geographical basin of the Congo, avoiding the basin of the Ogove to which the stipulations of the present Act do not apply. The Southern boundary shall follow the course of the Loge up to the source of this river and shall be directed thence Eastward to the junction of the geographical basin of the Congo. 3rd. In the zone prolonged to the East of the Congo basin as it is above described, as far as the Indian ocean, from the fifth degree of North latitude to the mouth of the Zambeze on the South; from this point the line of demarcation shall follow the Zambeze to a point five miles above the confluence of the Shire and shall continue by the line. of water shed separating the waters which flow towards the lake Nyassa from the waters tributary to the Zambeze to rejoin finally the line dividing the waters of the Zambeze and of the Congo. It is expressly understood that in extending to this Eastern zone the principle of commercial liberty the Powers represented at the Conference only engage for themselves and that this principle shall apply to territories actually belonging to any independent and sovereign State only in so far as it shall give its consent thereto. The Powers agree to employ their good offices with the governments established upon the African littoral of the Indian ocean in order to obtain such consent and, in every case, to assure to the transit of all nations the most favorable conditions. ARTICLE 2. All flags, without distinction of nationality, shall have free access to all the littoral of the territories above enumerated, to the rivers which there empty into the sea, to all the waters of the Congo and its affluents including the lakes, to all the ports situated upon the borders of these waters, as well as to all the canals which may in the future be excavated with the object of connecting together the water courses or lakes comprised in the whole extent of the territories described in Article 1. They may undertake every kind of transport and exercise the coastwise navigation by sea and river as also small boat transportation upon the same footing as the allegiants. ARTICLE 3. Merchandise of every origin imported into these territories, under whatever flag it may be, by route of sea or river or land, shall have to discharge no other taxes than those which may be collected as an equitable compensation for expenses useful to commerce and which, under this head, must be equally borne by the allegiants and by strangers of every nationality. All differential treatment is prohibited in respect to ships as well as merchandise. ARTICLE 4. Merchandise imported into these territories shall remain free from entrance and transit dues. The Powers reserve to themselves to decide, at the end of a period of twenty years, whether freedom of entry shall or shall not be maintained. ARTICLE 5. Every Power which exercises or shall exercise rights of sovereignty in the territories under consideration shall not concede there either monopoly or privilege of any kind in commercial matters. Strangers shall enjoy there without distinction, for the protection of their persons and their goods, the acquisition and transmission of their movable and immovable property and for the exercise of the professions, the same treatment and the same rights as the allegiants. ARTICLE 6. Depositions relative to the protection of the natives, of missionaries and of travelers, and also to religious liberty. All Powers exercising rights of sovereignty or an influence in the Said territories engage themselves to watch over the conservation of the indigenous populations and the amelioration of their moral and material conditions of existence and to strive for the suppression of slavery and especially of the negro slave trade; they shall protect and favor without distinction of nationality or of worship, all the institutions and enterprises religious, scientific or charitable, created and organized for these objects or tending to instruct the natives and to make them. understand and appreciate the advantages of civilization. The christian missionaries, the savants, the explorers, their escorts, properties and collections shall be equally the object of special protection. |