representative on the floor of Congress, they have for this very reason peculiar claims upon our just regard. To this I know, from my long acquaintance with them, they are eminently entitled.

Washington, December 8, 1857.

JAMES BUCHANAN.

TREATY between The United States and Japan, regulating the Intercourse of American Citizens with Japan.-Signed at Simoda, June 17, 1857.*

For the purpose of further regulating the intercourse of American citizens within the Empire of Japan, and, after due deliberation, hist Excellency Townsend Harris, Consul-General of the United States of America for the Empire of Japan, and their Excellencies Inowouye, Prince of Sinano, and Nakamoera, Prince of Dewa, Governors of Simoda, all having full powers from their respective Governments, have agreed to the following articles, to wit:

ART. I. The port of Nagasaki, in the principality of Hizen, shall be open to American vessels, where they may repair damages, procure water, fuel, provisions, and other necessary articles, even coals, where they are obtainable.

II. It being known that American ships coming to the ports of Simoda and Hakodade cannot have their wants supplied by the Japanese, it is agreed that American citizens may permanently reside at Simoda and Hakodade, and the Government of The United States may appoint a Vice-Consul to reside at Hakodade.

This Article to go into effect on the 4th day of July, 1858.

III. In settlement of accounts the value of the money brought by the Americans shall be ascertained by weighing it with Japanese coin (gold and silver itsebues), that is, gold with gold and silver with silver, or weights representing Japanese coin may be used, after such weights have been carefully examined and found to be

correct.

The value of the money of the Americans having been thus ascertained, the sum of 6 per cent. shall be allowed to the Japanese for the expense of recoinage.

IV. Americans committing offences in Japan shall be tried by the American Consul-General or Consul, and shall be punished according to American laws.

Japanese committing offences against Americans shall be tried by the Japanese authorities, and punished according to Japanese laws.

* Signed also in the Japanese and Dutch languages.

V. American ships which may resort to the ports of Simoda, Hakodade, or Nagasaki, for the purpose of obtaining necessary supplies, or to repair damages, shall pay for them in gold or silver coin, and if they have no money, goods shall be taken in exchange.

VI. The Government of Japan admits the right of his Excellency the Consul-General of The United States to go beyond the limits of Seven Ri, but has asked him to delay the use of that right, except in cases of emergency, shipwreck, &c., to which he has assented.

VII. Purchases for his Excellency the Consul-General, or his family, may be made by him only, or by some member of his family, and payment made to the seller for the same, without the interven tion of any Japanese official, and for this purpose Japanese silver and copper coin shall be supplied to his Excellency the ConsulGeneral.

VIII. As his Excellency the Consul-General of the United States of America has no knowledge of the Japanese language, nor their Excellencies the Governors of Simoda a knowledge of the English language, it is agreed that the true meaning shall be found in the Dutch version of the Articles.

IX. All the foregoing Articles shall go into effect from the date hereof, except Article II, which shall go into effect on the date indicated in it.

Done in quintuplicate (each copy being in English, Japanese, and Dutch), at the Goyosso of Simoda, on the 17th day of June, in the year of the Christian era 1857, and of the Independence of the United States of America the 81st, corresponding to the 4th Japanese year of Ansei, Mi, the 5th month, the 26th day, the English version being signed by his Excellency the Consul-General of the United States of America, and the Japanese version by their Excellencies the Governors of Simoda.

(L.S.) TOWNSEND HARRIS.

CONVENTION between The United States and Peru, interpreting Article XII of the Treaty of July 26, 1851, relating to Commerce and the Whale Fishery.*-Signed at Lima, July 4, 1857.†

[Ratifications exchanged at Washington, October 13, 1858.]

CERTAIN doubts having arisen with regard to the interpretation to be given to Article XII of the Treaty of the 26th July, 1851, as to the goods, other than oil and the produce of their fishery, that Signed also in Spanish.

* Vol. XL. Page 1095.

the whale-ships of The United States may land and sell, or barter, duty free, for the purpose of obtaining provisions and refitting, a concession which, in Articles LXXXI, CX, of the General Commercial Regulations, is not so extensive; and it being convenient, for the advantage of the citizens of The United States employed in the whale fishery, and of the citizens of Peru, who furnish provisions, to fix, clearly and definitively, the proper meaning of the concessions stipulated in the above-mentioned Article XII of the Treaty of the 26th July, 1851, so that while those reciprocal benefits are secured, all and every controversy in the matter may be avoided.

The Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to the Republic of Peru, John Randolph Clay, in virtue of his full powers, and his Excellency Doctor Don Manuel Ortiz de Zevallos, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Peru, fully authorized to act in the premises by the excellent Council of Ministers charged with the government of the Republic, after having held repeated conferences, and come to a mutual understanding, upon the true spirit and extent of the exemption from duties conceded to the said whale-ships in the sale and barter of their stores and merchandize, by Article XII of the Treaty of 1851, which provides.

"Article XII.

"The whale-ships of The United States shall have access to the port of Tumbez as well as to the ports of entry of Peru, and may sail from one port to another for the purposes of refreshment and refitting, and they shall be permitted to sell or barter their supplies or goods, including oil, to the amount of 200 dollars, ad valorem, for each vessel, without paying any tonnage or harbour dues, or any duties or imposts upon the articles so sold or bartered. They shall be also permitted, with like exemption from tonnage and harbour dues, further to sell or barter their supplies or goods, including oil, to the additional amount of 1,000 dollars, ad valorem, for each vessel, upon paying for the said additional articles the same duties as are payable upon like supplies or goods and oil when imported in the vessels and by the citizens or subjects of the most favoured nations."

Have agreed and declared:

ART. I. That the permission to the whale-ships of The United States to barter or sell their supplies and goods to the value of 200 dollars, ad valorem, without being obliged to pay port or tonnage dues, or other imposts, should not be understood to comprehend every kind of merchandize without limitation, but those only that whale-ships are usually provided with for their long voyages.

II. That in the said exemption from duties of every kind are included the following articles, in addition to the produce of their

fishery, viz.:

White unbleached domestics.

White bleached domestics.

Wide cotton cloths.

Blue drills.

Twilled cottons.

Axes, hatchets.

Biscuit of every kind.

Flour.

Shirting stripes.

Ticking.

Cotton shirtings.

Prints.

Sailors' clothing of all kinds.

Soap.

Slush.

Lard.

Butter.

Rum.

Beef.

Pork.

Spermaceti and composition can

dles.

Canvas.

Rope.
Tobacco.

Boots, shoes, and brogans.

III. It is also agreed upon and understood between the Contracting Parties, that the whale-ships of The United States may land and sell or barter, free of all duties or imposts whatsoever, the supplies and merchandize specified in the preceding Article to the amount of 500 dollars, ad valorem, in conformity with Article LXXXI of the General Commercial Regulations; but for every additional quantity from 500 dollars to 1,000 dollars, ad valorem, the exemption shall only extend to port and tonnage dues.

IV. The stipulations in this Convention shall have the same force and effect as if inserted, word for word, in the Treaty concluded in Lima on the 26th of July, 1851, and of which they shall be deemed and considered as explanatory. For which purpose the present Convention shall be approved and ratified by the President of the United States of America, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate thereof, and by the executive power of the Republic of Peru, with the authorization of the National Peruvian Legislature; and the ratifications shall be exchanged in Washington in as short a time as possible. In faith whereof, the above-named Plenipotentiaries have signed, in quadruplicate, this Convention, explanatory of the Treaty of the 26th of July, 1851, and have hereunto affixed their seals.

Done at Lima, the 4th day of July, in the year of our Lord 1857.

(L.S.) J. RANDOLPH CLAY.

(L.S.) MANUEL ORTIZ DE ZEVALLOS.

CONVENTION of Claims between The United States and New Granada.-Signed at Washington, September 10, 1857.*

[Ratifications exchanged at Washington, November 5, 1860.]

THE United States of America and the Republic of New Granada, desiring to adjust the claims of citizens of said States against New Granada, and to cement the good understanding which happily subsists between the two Republics, have, for that purpose, appointed and conferred full powers, respectively, to wit: the President of The United States upon Lewis Cass, Secretary of State of The United States, and the President of New Granada upon General Pedro A. Herran, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of that Republic in The United States, who, after exchanging their full powers, which were found in good and proper form, have agreed to the following Articles:

ART. I. All claims on the part of corporations, companies, or individuals, citizens of The United States, upon the Government of New Granada, which shall have been presented prior to the 1st day of September, 1859, either to the Department of State at Washington or to the Minister of The United States at Bogotá, and especially those for damages which were caused by the riot at Panama on the 15th of April, 1856, for which the said Government of New Granada acknowledges its liability, arising out of its privilege and obligation to preserve peace and good order along the transit route, shall be referred to a board of Commissioners, consisting of two members, one of whom shall be appointed by the Government of The United States, and one by the Government of New Granada. In case of the death, absence, or incapacity of either Commissioner, or in the event of either Commissioner omitting or ceasing to act, the Government of The United States or that of New Granada, respectively, or the Minister of the latter in The United States, acting by its direction, shall forthwith proceed to fill the vacancy thus occasioned.

The Commissioners so named shall meet in the city of Washington within ninety days from the exchange of the ratifications of this Convention, and before proceeding to business, shall make and subscribe a solemn oath that they will carefully examine and impartially decide, according to justice and equity, upon all the claims laid before them, under the provisions of this Convention, by the Government of The United States. And such oath shall be entered on the record of their proceedings.

The Commissioners shall then proceed to name an arbitrator or umpire to decide upon any case or cases on which they may * Signed also in Spanish. 2 A

[1856-57. LVII.]