FRANCE, 1853.

CONSULAR CONVENTION WITH FRANCE. CONCLUDED FEBRUARY 23, 1853; RATIFICATIONS EXCHANGED AUGUST 11, 1853; PROCLAIMED AUGUST 12,

1853.

Consular convention between the United States of America and his Majesty the Emperor of the French.

Preamble.

The President of the United States of America, and his Majesty the Emperor of the French, being equally desirous to strengthen the bonds of friendship between the two nations, and to give a new and more ample development to their commercial intercourse, deem it expedient, for the accomplishment of that purpose, to conclude a special convention which shall determine, in a precise and reciprocal manner, the rights, privileges, and duties of the consuls of the two countries. Accordingly they have named:

Negotiators.

The President of the United States, the Honorable Edward Everett, Secretary of State of the United States; His Majesty the Emperor of the French, the Count de Sartiges, Commander of the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honor, &c., &c., his Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary at Washington;

Who, after communicating to each other their full powers, found in good and due form, have agreed upon the following articles:

Exequaturs.

ARTICLE I.

The Consuls General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls, or consular agents . of the United States and France shall be reciprocally received and recognized, on the presentation of their commissions, in the form established in their respective countries. The neces sary exequatur for the exercise of their functions shall be furnished to them without charge; and on the exhibition of this exequatur, they shall be admitted at once, and without difficulty, by the territorial authorities, federal or State, judicial or executive, of the ports, cities, and places of their residence and district, to the enjoyment of the preroga tives reciprocally granted. The Government that furnishes the exequa tur reserves the right to withdraw it on a statement of the reasons for which it has thought proper to do so.

&c.

Immunities and

ARTICLE II.

The Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents of the United States and France, shall enjoy in the two countries privileges of consuls, the privileges usually accorded to their offices, such as personal immunity, except in the case of crime, exemption from military billetings, from service in the militia or the national guard, and other duties of the same nature; and from all direct and personal taxation, whether federal, State, or municipal. If, however, the said Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, are citizens of the country in which they reside; if they are, or become, owners of property there, or engage in commerce, they shall be subject to the same taxes and imposts, and with the reservation of the treatment granted to commercial agents, to the same jurisdiction, as other citizens of the country who are owners of property, or merchants.

They may place on the outer door of their offices, or of their dwell

ing-houses, the arms of their nation, with an inscription in these words: "Consul of the United States," or "Consul of France;" and they shall be allowed to hoist the flag of their country thereon.

They shall never be compelled to appear as witnesses before the courts. When any declaration for judicial purposes, or deposition, How their evidence is to be received from them in the administration of justice, is to be taken. they shall be invited, in writing, to appear in court, and if unable to do so, their testimony shall be requested in writing, or be taken orally at their dwellings.

Consular pupils shall enjoy the same personal privileges and immunities as Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular Consular pupils.

agents.

Provision in case

In case of death, indisposition, or absence of the latter, the chancellors, secretaries, and consular pupils attached to their offices, shall be entitled to discharge ad interim the duties of their of death of consular respective posts; and shall enjoy whilst thus acting the prerogatives granted to the incumbents.

ARTICLE III.

agents.

The consular offices and dwellings shall be inviolable. The local authorities shall not invade them under any pretext. In no case shall they examine or seize the papers there deposited. In no case shall those offices or dwellings be used as places of asylum.

ARTICLE IV.

Immunities of their offices, dwellings, and papers,

The Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, of both countries, shall have the right to complain to the authori- Complaints of inties of the respective Governments, whether federal or local, fractions of treaties. judicial or executive, throughout the extent of their consular district, of any infraction of the treaties or conventions existing between the United States and France, or for the purpose of protecting informally the rights and interests of their countrymen, especially in cases of absence. Should there be no diplomatic agent of their nation, they shall be authorized, in case of need, to have recourse to the General or Federal Government of the country in which they exercise their functions.

ARTICLE V.

Vice-consuls and

The respective Consuls General, and Consuls, shall be free to establish, in such parts of their districts as they may see fit, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, who may be taken indis- agents. criminately from among Americans of the United States, Frenchmen, or citizens of other countries. These agents, whose nomination, it is understood, shall be submitted to the approval of the respective Governments, shall be provided with a certificate given to them by the Consul by whom they are named, and under whose orders they are to act.

ARTICLE VI.

The Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, shall have the right of taking at their offices or bureaux, at

Το receive pro

the domicil of the parties concerned, or on board ship, the tests. declarations of captains, crews, passengers, merchants, or citizens of their country, and of executing there all requisite papers.

The respective Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, shall have the right, also, to receive at their offices, or bureaux, conformably to the laws and regulations of their country, all acts of agreement executed between the citizens of their own country and citizens or inhabitants of the country in which they reside, and even all such acts between the latter, provided that these acts relate to property situated, or to business to be transacted, in the territory of the nation to which the Consul or the agent before whom they are executed may belong.

Copies of such papers, duly authenticated by the Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, and sealed with the official seal of their consulate or consular agency, shall be admitted in courts of justice throughout the United States and France, in like manner as the originals.

Copies authenticated by them to be received as evidence.

ARTICLE VII.

Right to hold property.

In all the States of the Union, whose existing laws permit it, so long and to the same extent as the said laws shall remain in force, Frenchmen shall enjoy the right of possessing personal and real property by the same title and in the same manner as the citizens of the United States. They shall be free to dispose of it as they may please, either gratuitously or for value received, by donation, testament, or otherwise, just as those citizens themselves; and in no case shall they be subjected to taxes on transfer, inheritance, or any others different from those paid by the latter, or to taxes which shall not be equally imposed.

As to the States of the Union, by whose existing laws aliens are not permitted to hold real estate, the President engages to recommend to them the passage of such laws as may be necessary for the purpose of conferring this right.

In like manner, but with the reservation of the ulterior right of estab lishing reciprocity in regard to possession and inheritance, the Govern ment of France accords to the citizens of the United States the same rights within its territory in respect to real and personal property, and to inheritance, as are enjoyed there by its own citizens.

Consuls to

ences between cap

crews, own nation.

ARTICLE VIII.

The respective Consuls General, Consuls, .Vice-Consuls, or consular have agents, shall have exclusive charge of the internal order of cognizance of differ the merchant-vessels of their nation, and shall alone take tains, officers, and Cognizance of differences which may arise, either at sea or in port, between the captain, officers, and crew, without excep tion, particularly in reference to the adjustment of wages and the execu tion of contracts. The local authorities shall not, on any pretext, interfere in these differences, but shall lend forcible aid to the Consuls, when they may ask it, to arrest and imprison all persons composing the crew whom they may deem it necessary to confine. Those persons shall be arrested at the sole request of the Consuls, addressed in writing to the local authority, and supported by an official extract from the register of the ship or the list of the crew, and shall be held, during the whole time of their stay in the port, at the disposal of the Consuls. Their release shall be granted at the mere request of the Consuls made in writing. The expenses of the arrest and detention of those persons shall be paid by the Consuls.

ARTICLE IX.

from vessels.

The respective Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, may arrest the officers, sailors, and all other per- Case of deserters sons making part of the crews of ships of war, or mer chant vessels of their nation, who may be guilty or be accused of having deserted said ships and vessels, for the purpose of sending them on board, or back to their country. To that end the Consuls of France in the United States shall apply to the magistrates designated in the act of Congress of May 4, 1826-that is to say, indiscriminately to any of the Federal, State, or municipal authorities; and the Consuls of the United States in France shall apply to any of the competent authorities and make a request in writing for the deserters, supporting it by an exhibition of the registers of the vessel and list of the crew, or by other official documents, to show that the men whom they claim belonged to said crew. Upon such request alone, thus supported, and without the exaction of any oath from the Consuls, the deserters, not being citizens of the country where the demand is made, either at the time of their shipping or of their arrival in the port, shall be given up to them. All aid and protection shall be furnished them for the pursuit, seizure, and arrest of the deserters, who shall even be put and kept in the prisons of the country at the request and at the expense of the Consuls until these agents may find an opportunity of sending them away. If, however, such opportunity should not present itself within the space of three months, counting from the day of the arrest, the deserters shall be set at liberty, and shall not again be arrested for the same cause.

ARTICLE X.

Protests, &c.

The respective Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, shall receive the declarations, protests, and reports of all captains of vessels of their nation in reference to injuries experienced at sea; they shall examine and take note of the stowage; and when there are no stipulations to the contrary between the owners, freighters, or insurers, they shall be charged with the repairs. If any inhabitants of the country in which the Consuls reside, or citizens of a third nation, are interested in the matter, and the parties cannot agree, the competent local authority shall decide.

ARTICLE XI.

Salvage.

All proceedings relative to the salvage of American vessels wrecked upon the coasts of France, and of French vessels wrecked upon the coasts of the United States, shall be respectively directed by the Consuls General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls of the United States in France, and by the Consuls General, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls of France in the United States, and until their arrival by the respective consular agents, wherever an agency exists. In the places and ports where an agency does not exist, the local authorities, until the arrival of the Consul in whose district the wreck may have occurred, and who shall be immediately informed of the occurrence, shall take all necessary measures for the protection of persons and the preservation of property.

The local authorities shall not otherwise interfere than for the maintenance of order, the protection of the interests of the salvors, if they do not belong to the crews that have been wrecked, and to carry into

effect the arrangements made for the entry and exportation of the merchandise saved.

It is understood that such merchandise shall not be subjected to any custom-house duty if it is to be re-exported; and if it be entered for consumption, a diminution of such duty shall be allowed in conformity with the regulations of the respective countries.

ARTICLE XII.

The respective Consuls General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, or consular agents, as well as their consular pupils, chancellors, and secConsuls, immunities. retaries, shall enjoy in the two countries all the other privileges, exemptions, and immunities which may at any future time be granted to the agents of the same rank of the most favored nation.'

convention.

ARTICLE XIII.

The present convention shall remain in force for the space of ten Duration of this years from the day of the exchange of the ratifications, which shall be made in conformity with the respective constitutions of the two countries, and exchanged at Washington within the period of six months, or sooner if possible. In case neither party gives notice twelve months before the expiration of the said period of ten years of its intention not to renew this convention, it shall remain in force a year longer, and so on from year to year, until the expiration of a year from the day on which one of the parties shall give such notice.

In testimony whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed this convention, and hereunto affixed their respective seals. Done at the city of Washington the twenty-third day of February, anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.

CONVENTION BETWEEN THE UNITED STATES AND FRANCE, AGREEING TO AN ADDITIONAL ARTICLE TO THE EXTRADITION CONVENTION BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES. SIGNED AT WASHINGTON FEBRUARY 10, 1858; RATIFICATIONS EXCHANGED AT WASHINGTON FEBRUARY 12, 1859; PROCLAIMED FEBRUARY 14, 1859.

Additional article to the extradition convention between the United States and France, of the 9th of November, 1843, and to the additional article of the 24th of February, 1845.

Persons to be surrendered.

It is agreed between the high contracting parties that the provisions of the treaties for the mutual extradition of criminals between the United States of America and France, of November 9th, 1843, and February 24th, 1845, and now in force between the two Governments, shall extend not only to persons charged with the crimes therein mentioned, but also to persons charged with the following crimes, whether as principals, accessories, or accomplices, namely: Forging or knowingly passing or putting in circulation counterfeit coin or bank