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[Dutch Proprietors. Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice.]

They shall also have full liberty to dispose of their Property in any manner in which they may think fit: but it is understood that in regard to Negroes, they are to be subject to the same restrictions as British subjects.

Foreclosure of Mortgages, &c.

ART. IV. In order to protect the Proprietors of Estates in the said Colonies from the ruinous effects of the immediate foreclosure of Mortgages due to the subjects of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, it is further agreed, that in all cases in which the proprietor of an estate shall offer to the holder of any mortgage on the said estate, made prior to the 1st of January, 1814 (such mortgagee being a subject of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands), the security hereinafter specified, such mortgagee shall not be at liberty to proceed to the immediate or summary foreclosure of the said mortgage; it being however understood, that in all cases in which no such security shall be offered by the proprietor, the mortgagee shall retain all those rights as to foreclosure, to which he is at present entitled.

The security in question must provide that the mortgagee shall receive, at the expense of the Proprietor of the estate, a new mortgage for the whole amount of the debt now due to him, including both that part of the original debt which has not been discharged, and the interest which may have accrued upon it up to the 31st December, 1814, inclusive. That this security shall reserve to the mortgagee that priority of claim over other mortgagees and creditors to which he is entitled under his original mortgage; that it shall bear an annual interest, beginning from the 1st of January, 1815, at the same rate, and payable in the same manner, as that which was payable under the original mortgage; and that the whole amount of the new debt shall be payable by eight annual instalments, the first of which is to become payable on the 1st of January, 1820.

The new security shall also afford to the mortgagee all those means of legal redress, in the event of non-payment of the interest, or omission to discharge the principal when due, and all those other privileges and advantages to which he would be entitled under his existing mortgage, and shall place him, with respect to the debt for which the new security is given, in the same situation as he stood with respect to his original claim upon the estate, excepting only in what relates to the period at which

[Dutch Proprietors. Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice.]

the payment may be demanded, so that no later creditor shall derive, from this arrangement, any power to affect the rights of the original creditor, and that no further suspension of payment (surchéance) beyond that herein agreed upon, shall take place without the original creditor's especial consent.

It is further agreed, that in order to entitle the mortgagee to receive the security specified in this Article, he shall, as soon as the said security is duly recorded in the said Colony and delivered to the mortgagee or his agent, in the Colony (the expenses of such record being defrayed by the Proprietors), deliver up to be cancelled the mortgages or bonds originally granted to him, or exhibit legal proof that the said mortgages and bonds have been duly cancelled, and are no longer of any value.

It is further expressly agreed, that, with the exceptions of the modifications specified in this Article, the rights of mortgagees and creditors shall remain intact.

Privileges of Dutch Proprietors.

ART. V. It is agreed that all Dutch proprietors, acknowledged to be such by the present Convention, shall be entitled to supply their Estates from the Netherlands with the usual articles of supply; and in return, to export to the Netherlands the produce of the said estates. But that all other importation of goods from the Netherlands into the Colonies, or export of produce from the Colonies to the Netherlands, shall be strictly prohibited; and it is further agreed, that the exportation of all such articles as may be prohibited to be exported to those Colonies from the British dominions, shall be also prohibited to be exported from the Netherlands.

Description of Dutch Proprietors.

ART. VI. By Dutch Proprietors are to be understood:

1st. All subjects of His Majesty the King of the Netherlands resident in his said Majesty's European dominions, who are at present Proprietors in the said Colonies.

2ndly. All subjects of His said Majesty who may hereafter become possessed of Estates now belonging to Dutch Proprietors therein.

3rdly. All such Proprietors as being now resident in the above Colonies, and being natives of the Netherlands, may (by virtue of Article VIII of the present Convention) declare that they wish to continue to be considered as such; and

[Dutch Proprietors. Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice.]

4thly. All subjects of His said Majesty who may be the holders of Mortgages on Estates in the said Colonies, made prior to the date of this Convention, and who may, under their mortgage deeds, have the right of exporting from the said Colonies to the Netherlands, the produce of the said Estates; subject, nevertheless, to the restrictions specified in Article IX.

Supplies for Mortgaged Estates, &c.

ART. VII. In all cases where the right of supplying the mortgaged estate with articles of supply, and exporting produce from it to the Netherlands, is not actually secured to the mortgagee by the mortgage deed, the mortgagee shall be allowed to export from the colony only such quantity of produce as will be sufficient, when estimated at the current prices of the colony, to pay the amount of interest or principal annually due to him and to import into the colony articles of supply in the same propor

tion.

Declaration to be made by Proprietors.

ART. VIII. All Proprietors, subjects to His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, now residing in the above Colonies, must, in order to entitle themselves to the benefit of this Convention, declare, within 3 months after the publication of this Convention in the said colonies, whether they wish to be considered as such.

Double Mortgages.

ART. IX. In all cases where both Dutch and British subjects have Mortgages upon the same property in the said colonies, the quantity of produce to be consigned to the different mortgagees, shall be in proportion to the amount of the debts respectively due to them.

Annual Lists of Proprietors and Estates.

ART. X. In order more easily to carry into effect, and the better to ensure the execution of the provisions of this Convention, it is agreed, that exact and specific Lists shall be made out every year, by order of the King of the Netherlands, containing the names and places of abode of the Proprietors resident in the Netherlands, together with the name and description of the Estate belonging to them respectively, specifying whether the same be a sugar or other plantation, and whether the whole or only part of the Estate belongs to the Proprietor in question: similar Lists

[Dutch Proprietors. Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice.]

shall also be made out of the existing Mortgages on estates, in as far as these mortgages are held by Dutch subjects, specifying the amount of the debt on Mortgage, either actually existing, or to be made out by virtue of the provisions of Article IV.

These lists shall be delivered over to the British Government, and shall be sent to the Colonies in question, in order to make out from them, in conjunction with a list of the Dutch Proprietors resident in the said Colonies, the whole amount of the Dutch population and property on interest in the said Colonies.

Berbice Association.

ART. XI. His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, having represented to His Britannic Majesty that the Company of Dutch Merchants and others (styling themselves the Berbice Association), have a just claim to certain Estates formerly settled by them in the colony of Berbice, of which they were dispossessed by the Revolutionary Government of Holland, and which, on the capture of the said colony by His Britannic Majesty, were considered as Government property; his Britannic Majesty engages to restore to the said Berbice Association, within six months after the exchange of the ratifications of the present Convention, the Estates of Dageraad, Dankbaarheid, Johanna, and Sandvoort, together with all the Negroes and stock now actually employed upon the same; such restoration to be in full compensation and satisfaction of all claims which the said Association may have, or may pretend to have, against His Britannic Majesty or his subjects, on account of any property heretofore belonging to them in the Colony of Berbice.

Judicial Decisions, &c.

ART. XII. All questions of a private nature, relating to such Property as comes within the operation of this Convention, shall be decided by competent judicial authority, according to the laws in force in the said colonies.

Fairness and Impartiality.

ART. XIII. His Britannic Majesty engages, that the utmost fairness and impartiality shall be shewn in all matters affecting the rights and interests of Dutch Proprietors.

[Dutch Proprietors. Demerara, Essequibo, and Berbice.]

Modifications.

ART. XIV. The two High Contracting Parties reserve themselves the power of making such future modifications in the present Convention as experience may point out to be desirable for the interest of both.

Operation of Treaty.

ART. XV. Lastly, it is agreed, that the provisions of this Convention shall be in force from the date of the exchange of the ratifications.

Ratifications.

ART. XVI. The present Convention shall be ratified, and the ratifications thereof shall be exchanged in London, within 3 weeks from the date thereof, or sooner, if possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed it, and affixed thereunto the Seal of their Arms.

Done at London, the 12th of August, in the year of Our Lord 1815.

(L.S.) BATHURST. (L.S.) W. FAGEL.

See Netherlands Decree of 21st December, 1815. "State Papers," vol. iii, p. 770; and Acts of the British Parliament, 56 Geo. III, c. 91, 26th June, 1816; and 1 Geo. IV, c. 34, 8th July, 1820.

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