[Moldavia and Wallachia.] No. 170.-TREATY between Russia and Turkey respecting Moldavia and Wallachia. Signed at St. Petersburgh, 29th January, 1834.* Preamble. Reference to Treaty of 14th September, 1829. 1. Map of Boundary. Line of Boundary. Commissioners to erect Posts defining Boundary. 2. Recognition by Turkey of Constitution of Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia. Appointment of Hospodars of Wallachia and Moldavia. Evacuation of Principalities by Russia. Tribute to be paid to Turkey by Wallachia and Moldavia. Number of Troops in Principalities to be fixed by Turkey. Colours to Garrisons, and Flag to Moldo-Wallachian Merchant Vessels. 3. Turkish Engagements Modified. Payment of Indemnity to Russia. Reduction of Indemnity. Periods of Payment. Ratifications. (Translation as laid before Parliament.†) THE Most High and Most Powerful Ottoman Emperor, my benefactor and master, on the one part, and the Most High and Most Magnanimous Emperor of All the Russias, on the other, animated by the desire with which they are inspired by the sincere friendship, cordiality, and confidence that happily subsist between them, to arrange definitively certain points of the Treaty concluded between the two High Powers at Adrianople (No. 145), which have not been hitherto carried into execution, have named for this purpose as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say: His Majesty the Ottoman Emperor, his Excellency Mouchir Ahmed Pacha, Military Counsellor of the Seraglio, Ambassador Extraordinary of the Sublime Port at the Imperial Court of Russia, &c.; and His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, their Excellencies the Count Nesselrode, Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, and the Count Alexis Orloff, General of Cavalry, Aide-de-camp of the Emperor, &c.; who, after having reciprocally exhibited their Full Powers, have agreed on the following Articles: Map of Boundary. ART. I. The two High Courts having deemed it necessary to establish, as has been stipulated in the Treaty of Adrianople, a Line of Demarcation between the two Empires in the East, such as may henceforth prevent every species of dispute and discussion, it *See also General Treaty of 30th March, 1856, and Convention of 19th August, 1858. For French version, see "State Papers," vol. xxvi, p. 1245. [Moldavia and Wallachia]. has been agreed that a Line shall be traced that shall completely prevent the depredations which the neighbouring tribes have been in the habit of committing, and which have more than once compromised the relations of neighbourhood and friendship between the two Empires. Therefore, after the Commissioners on both sides have examined the localities, and obtained the necessary information for this purpose, the two Contracting Parties have resolved to proceed to the settlement of the Frontiers, in such manner that the object judicially proposed in the Treaty of Adrianople should be completely fulfilled; and with that view they have adopted, by common consent, the Line which may be seen traced in red on the Map which is annexed to the present Treaty. Line of Boundary. Conformably to Article IV of the Treaty of Adrianople (No. 145), this Line departs from Port St. Nicholas on the coast of the Black Sea, follows the existing Frontiers of the Province of Gouriel, ascends up to the Limits of Juira, thence traverses the Province of Akhiskha [Akhaltzik], and terminates at the point where the Provinces of Akhiskha and of Kars join the Province of Georgia. Thus the greatest part of the Province of Akhiskha remains, together with the other Countries and Territories referred to in the said Treaty, under the dominion of the Sublime Porte, as may be seen by the Map, of which two copies have been made and compared by the Plenipotentiaries of the two Powers, and which, considered as forming part of the present Treaty, are to be annexed to it, as evidence of the manner in which the future Limits of the two Empires have been settled. Commissioners to erect Posts defining Boundary. After the exchange of the Ratifications of the present Treaty, and so soon as Posts shall have been erected by the Commissioners named on both parts, according to the Line traced on the Map, from one side to the other, the Russian troops shall evacuate the Territories situate beyond that line, and retire within the Limits which it prescribes. So also the Mussulmans who inhabit the inconsiderable Territories which are comprised within the line that passes in front of the district of Ghroubhan and the extremities of the districts of Ponskron and of Djildir, and who may wish to establish themselves within the Territories of the Sublime Porte, shall be at liberty, within the term of 18 months, [Moldavia and Wallachia.] from the date of the exchange of the Ratifications of the Treaty, to settle the affairs which connected them with the country, and to remove to the Turkish States without molestation. Recognition by Turkey of Constitution of Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia. ART. II. By the instrument executed separately at Adrianople (No. 145) relative to the Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia, the Sublime Porte undertook to recognise formally the Regulations made, while the Russian troops occupied those Provinces, by the principal inhabitants for their internal administration; the Sublime Porte finding nothing in the Articles of that Constitution which can affect its Rights of Sovereignty, consents henceforth formally to recognise the said Constitution. It engages to publish for that purpose a Firman, accompanied by a Hatti-sheriff, two months after the exchange of the Ratifications, and to give a copy of the same to the Russian Mission at Constantinople. Appointment of Iospodars of Wallachia and Moldavia. After the formal recognition of the Constitution, the Hospodars of Wallachia and Moldavia shall be named, but for this time only, and as a special case, in the manner which was agreed upon some time since between the two Contracting Powers, and they will proceed to govern the two Provinces conformably to the Constitution, which is a consequence of the Stipulations above mentioned. Evacuation of Principalities by Russia. Tribute to be Paid to Turkey by Wallachia and Moldavia. His Majesty the Emperor of Russia, wishing to afford a new proof of the esteem and consideration which he entertains towards His Highness, and to hasten the moment when the Sublime Porte shall exercise the rights which the Treaties secure to it over the two Provinces, will order his troops, so soon as the Princes shall have been named, to retire from the two Provinces. This measure shall be executed two months after the nomination of the Princes. And as compensation is justly due for the advantages which the Sublime Porte grants in favour of the Wallachians and Moldavians, it is agreed and ordained that the annual Tribute, which [Moldavia and Wallachia.] the two Provinces ought to pay according to the Treaties, shall be fixed henceforth at 6,000 purses (that is to say, at 3,000,000 Turkish piastres); and the Princes shall take care that this sum be annually paid, counting from the 1st of January, 1835. Number of Troops in Principalities to be Fixed by Turkey. Colours to Garrisons and Flag to Moldo-Wallachian Merchant Vessels, It is agreed between the two Courts that the number of troops which shall be employed as Garrisons in the interior of the two Provinces, shall be fixed in an invariable manner and at the pleasure of the Porte, which shall give Colours to the Garrisons and a Flag to the Valacho-Moldavian merchant-vessels that navigate the Danube. Turkish Engagements Modified. ART. III. Agreeably to the desire manifested by His Highness to execute scrupulously the engagements which he has undertaken by Article III of the Explanatory and Separate Act (No. 145), which is annexed to the Treaty of Adrianople, and by the Treaty of St. Petersburgh, relative thereunto, His Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias has been pleased to afford to the Sublime Porte new facilities for the execution of the engagements contracted by the Acts above mentioned; and it is accordingly agreed: Payment of Indemnities to Russia. 1. That, although it has been stipulated by Article II of the Treaty of St. Petersburgh that the Sublime Porte shall pay annually and during eight years 1,000,000 Dutch ducats, it shall pay only 500,000 ducats per annum. 2. That the Sublime Porte shall no longer be obliged, as it has hitherto been, to pay in the month of May of each year, and at one time, the whole sum due for the year, and that it shall henceforth pay the 500,000 ducats by degrees; the entire sum being, however, paid within the interval between the month of May of one year and the month of May of the following year. 3. That His Imperial Majesty renounces his right to demand the difference, which existed at the period of each payment of the portion of the Indemnities for the expenses of the War and for Commerce, between the price at which the Sublime Porte paid the ducat in Turkish piastres and the real value of the ducats. [Moldavia and Wallachia.] Reduction of Indemnity. 4. That His Imperial Majesty, moreover, taking into consideration the embarrassments in which the Treasury of that Empire has been lately involved, consents to the immediate reduction of 2,000,000 ducats, which is one-third of the amount of the Indemnities for the expenses of the War. Periods of Payment. 5. That considering the deduction above specified, and the other arrangements already mentioned, the sum total of the Indemnities amounts to 4,000,000 Dutch ducats, of which the first portion, to be paid in one year, as one instalment, consists of 500,000 ducats, and shall be paid between the 1st of May, 1834, and the 1st of May, 1835, and the corresponding portions in the following years in the same manner, until the whole debt be discharged; but upon condition that the securities, guarantees, and facilities stipulated in Articles IV, V, VI, VII, and IX of the Treaty of St. Petersburgh shall continue down to that period in all their force, as if they had been inserted word for word in the present Treaty. Ratifications. In virtue of the powers which have been given to me, I have concluded the present Treaty, which shall be ratified by the two Contracting Parties, and the Ratifications of which shall be exchanged at Constantinople, within the term of 6 weeks, or sooner if possible; I have affixed to it my Seal and Signature: and I have delivered it to their Excellencies the Plenipotentiaries of the Court of Russia at St. Petersburgh, in exchange for the instrument which they have delivered to me. Done the 18th Ramazan, 1249. [29th January, 1834.] (L.S.) NESSELRODE. (L.S.) ALEXIS ORLOFF. (L.S.) MOUCHIR AHMED PACHA. |