is excepted from the provisions of the present Treaty, and shall be regulated according to the laws of Japan and the Argentine Republic respectively.

IX. All vessels which, according to Japanese laws and ordinances, are to be deemed Japanese vessels, and all vessels which, according to Argentine laws and regulations, are to be deemed Argentine vessels, shall, for the purposes of this Treaty, be deemed Japanese and Argentine vessels respectively.

X. His Imperial Majesty's subjects and Japanese merchantvessels resorting to the Argentine Republic or to the territorial waters thereof shall, so long as they there remain, be subject to the laws and jurisdiction of the Argentine Republic; and, in the same manner, citizens of the Argentine Republic as well as Argentine merchant-vessels resorting to Japan or to the territorial waters thereof shall be subject to the laws of Japan and to the jurisdiction of His Imperial Majesty's Courts. It is understood, however, that the provisions of this Article do not extend to matters relating exclusively to the internal discipline of the merchant-vessels of either Contracting Party in the ports or territorial waters of the other.

XI. The subjects and citizens of each of the High Contracting Parties shall, in the territories and possessions of the other, reciprocally receive and enjoy the same full and perfect protection for their persons and property that is granted to native subjects or citizens; and they shall have free and open access to the Courts of Justice in said countries respectively, for the prosecution and defence of their just rights; and they shall, equally with native subjects or citizens, be at liberty to employ advocates, attorneys, or agents to represent them before such Courts of Justice.

They shall also enjoy entire liberty of conscience, and, subject to the laws for the time being in force, shall enjoy the right of private or public exercise of their worship, and also the right of burying their respective countrymen, according to their religious customs, in such suitable and convenient places as may be established and maintained for the purpose subject to the regulations in force.

XII. In regard to billeting; forced or compulsory military service, whether by land or sea; contributions of war; military exactions or forced loans, the subjects and citizens of each of the two High Contracting Parties shall, in the territories and possessions of the other, enjoy the same privileges, immunities, and exemptions as may now or may hereafter be granted to the subjects or citizens of European nations or of the United States of America.

XIII. The present Treaty shall go into operation immediately after the exchange of ratifications, and shall continue in force until the expiration of six months after either of the High Contracting

Parties shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the same, and no longer.

XIV. The present Treaty shall be signed in duplicate in the Japanese, Spanish, and English languages; and in case there should be found any discrepancy between the Japanese and Spanish texts, it will be decided in conformity with the English text, which is binding upon both Governments.

XV. The present Treaty shall be ratified by the two High Contracting Parties, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at Washington as soon as possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty, and hereunto affixed their respective seals.

Done in sextuplicate at Washington, this 3rd day of the 2nd month of the 31st year of Meiji, corresponding to the 3rd day of February of the year 1898.

(L.S.) TORU HOSHI.

(L.S.) M. GARCIA MÉROU.

TREATY of Alliance between the Republics of Honduras, Nicaragua, and Salvador, for the Establishment of the

Greater Republic of Central America."— Signed at Amapala, June 20, 1895.

[Ratifications exchanged at San Salvador, September 15, 1896.]

(Translation.)

THEIR Excellencies the Presidents of the Republics of Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras, Generals Rafael A. Gutierrez, J. Santos Zelaya, and Dr. Policarpo Bonilla, being assembled with the important object of coming to an agreement for the purpose of choosing the means for the establishment on a permanent basis of the peace of Central America and for the realization of the great ideal of the reconstruction of the former nationality, and of putting at once into practice everything that they consider easy of execution until the same can be completely realized, they have nominated their respective Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Drs. Don Jacinto Castellanos and Don Manuel C. Matus, and of Public Works, Dr. Don Constantino Fiallos;

Who, after having exchanged their full powers, and having found them in due form, have agreed upon the following:

ART. I. The Republics of Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras shall constitute henceforth a single political entity for the exercise of their external sovereignty under the denomination of the "Greater Republic of Central America"

This denomination shall continue until the Republics of Guatemala and Costa Rica voluntarily accept the present Agreement, in which case it shall be called the "Republic of Central America."

II. The Signatory Governments do not by the present Agreement renounce their autonomy or independence as regards the management of internal affairs; and the Constitutions and accessory laws of each State shall remain in force, so far as they are not opposed to the present stipulations.

III. In furtherance of the agreement in Article I, there shall be a Diet composed of one member of full right and one deputy member elected by each of the Legislatures of the Signatory Republics for a term of three years.

The Resolutions of the Diet shall be by majority of votes, and for its intercourse with the other Governments it shall annually elect from among its own body one who shall serve as the medium of communication.

The Diet itself shall have the faculty of issuing the requisite Regulations for the exercise of its functions.

IV. The principal attributes of the Diet shall be to preserve the greatest harmony with all the nations with whom the Signatory Republics maintain friendly relations, entering for that purpose into such Treaties, Conventions, or compacts as may conduce to that end.

In every Treaty of Friendship which the Diet may celebrate, there shall be expressly inserted the clause that all questions which may arise shall be decided invariably and without exception by means of arbitration.

V. Whilst there is no General Assembly in existence, the ratification of Treaties appertains to the Legislatures of each of the Republics, the same being considered ratified when they are agreed to by a majority.

Likewise when the Diet shall have to dictate any measure affecting the general interests, it shall act in accordance with the opinion of the majority.

VI. All questions now pending, or that may hereafter arise between the Signatory Republics and any other nation shall be discussed by the Diet, in conformity with the notes and instructions furnished to it by the Governments concerned.

VII. In case of its not being possible for the Diet to settle the question pending in an amicable manner, nor to procure that it be submitted to arbitration, it shall make a report to all the Governments, so that, in accordance with what the majority may determine, it shall according to circumstances accept or declare war.

* Page 230.

VIII. If unfortunately a question should arise between the Signatory Governments, the Diet shall constitute itself a Tribunal of Arbitration, in order to decide the difficulty in view of the proofs and pleadings which the Governments concerned may present to it.

But if any one of these should not conform to the award, they shall be obliged to nominate by common consent an Arbitrator, who shall pronounce a final decision in view only of the antecedents and of the Resolution of the Diet.

In case they cannot come to an agreement as to the appointment of an Arbitrator, he shall be nominated by the Diet, and chosen from amongst the Presidents of the remaining American Republics.

IX. The principal object of the present Convention being to preserve peace and the closest harmony between the Contracting Republics as the most efficacious means of realizing the Union, their respective Governments pledge themselves in the most formal and solemn manner to comply with the stipulations contained in the previous Article within the limits on which the parties may agree, or which in default the Diet may establish.

X. The appointment of the Diplomatic and Consular Agents of the Greater Republic of Central America appertains to the Diet, as also the reception and acceptance of those accredited to it.

XI. The arms and the flag of the Greater Republic of Central America shall be those of the former Federation.

XII. The Diet shall reside alternately one year in each of the capitals of the Contracting Republics, deciding by lot the order of residence.

XIII. The salaries of the members of the Diet shall be fixed by their respective Governments, and the general expenses shall be divided in equal parts.

XIV. During the three years, or earlier if possible, the Diet shall draw up a project for the definitive union of the Signatory Republics in the form it may judge most suitable, and shall send a report thereof to a General Assembly composed of twenty members chosen by each of their Legislatures, immediately after the Diet has notified to the Governments that the project referred to has been settled.

The Assembly shall meet in the place of residence of the Diet, and shall be installed when two-thirds at least of the members nominated have presented themselves.

XV. Each of the Signatories shall inform the Governments of Guatemala and Costa Rica of the present Convention, appealing to them to give their adhesion to its stipulations.

XVI. Having been ratified by the Legislatures of the Signatory Republics, the exchange shall take place in either of the capitals, one month after the last ratification, it being agreed that the expiration

of the said term does not imply the abandonment of the Treaty, and that consequently the exchange may take place at any time.

XVII. The same Assembly that ratifies the Convention shall proceed at once to the election of the members of the Diet corresponding to it, so that it may commence to exercise its functions, at the latest, within three months from the date of the verification of the exchange of ratifications.

In testimony of which the undersigned Ministers sign and seal with their respective seals this Convention, in duplicate, in the port of Amapala, on the 20th day of the month of June, in the year 1895, and 74th of the Independence of Central America.

(L.S.) JACINTO CASTELLANOS.

(L.S.) M. C. MATUS.

(L.S.) E. CONSTANTINO FIALLOS.

INTERNAL REGULATIONS of the Diet of the Greater Republic of Central America.-San Salvador, September 17,

1896.

(Translation.)

THE Diet of the Greater Republic of Central America, in exercise of the faculties conferred upon it by Article III, section 3, of the Treaty of Amapala,* decrees the following Regulations:

Organization of the Diet.

ART. 1. The Diet shall be composed of three members of full right ("proprietarios "), each of whom will be elected by the respective Legislature of the countries signatory of the Treaty.

2. There shall also be three supplementary members, elected in the same manner, whose duty it will be to represent the first three in case of their absence or inability to attend.

3. There shall be an annual election among themselves, either by common accord or by lot, of a President, a Secretary and a proSecretary, whose functions shall be determined later.

4. The Diet shall reside successively in the cities of San Salvador, Managua, and Tegucigalpa, as settled by lot, and in conformity with the stipulations of Article XII.

5. Neither the Diet nor the members composing it shall hold any honorary title, but will simply be called Delegates.

Page 227.