kind by reason of the grants contained in this treaty or by reason of the operations of the U. S., its agents or employees, or by reason of the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the said canal of or the works of sanitation and protection herein proved for, shall be appraised and settled by a joint Commission appointed by the Governments of the U. S. and the Rep. of P., whose decisions as to such damages shall be final and whose awards as to such damages shall be paid soleley by the U. S. No part of the work on said Canal or the Panama railroad or any auxiliary works relating thereto and authorized by the terms of this treaty shall be prevented, delayed or impeded by or pending such proceedings to ascertain such damages. The appraisal of said private lands and private property and the assessment of damages to them shall be based upon their value before the date of this convention.

Art. VII.

The Rep. of P. grants to the U. S. within the limits of the cities of Panama and Colon and their adjacent harbors and within the territory adjacent thereto the right of eminent domain, any lands, buildings, water rights or other properties necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation and protection of the Canal and of any works of sanitation, such as the collection and disposition of sewage and the distribution of water in the said cities of Panama and Colon, which, in the discretion of the U. S. may be necessary and convenient for the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the said Canal and railroad. All such works of sanitation, collection and disposition of sewage and distribution of water in the cities of Panama and Colon shall be made at the expense of the U. S., and the Government of the U. S., its agents or nominees shall be authorized to impose and collect water rates and sewerage rates which shall be sufficient to provide for the payment of interest and the amortization of the principal of the cost of said works within a period of fifty years and upon the expiration of said term of fifty years the system of sewers and water works shall revert to and become the properties of the cities of Panama and Colon respectively, and the use of the water shall be free to the inhabitants of Panama and Colon, except to the extent that water rates may be necessary for the operation and maintenance of said system of sewers and waters.

The Rep. of P. agrees that the cities of Panama and Colon shall comply in perpetuity with the sanitary ordinances whether of a preventive or curative character prescribed by the U. S. and in case the Government of Panama is unable or fails in its duty to enforce this compliance by the oities of Panama and Colon with the sanitary ordinances of the U. S. the Rep. cf P. grants to the U. S. the right and authority to enforce the same.

The same right and authority are granted to the U. S. for the maintenance of public order in the cities of Panama and Colon and the territories and harbours adjacent thereto in case the Rep. of P. should not be, in the judgment of the U. S., able to maintain such order.

Art. VIII.

The Rep. of P. grants to the U. S. all rights which it now has or hereafter may acquire to the Property of the New Panama Company and the Panama Railroad Company as a result of the transfer of sovereignty from the Republic of Colombia to the Republic of Panama over the Isthmus of Panama and authorizes the New Panama Company to sell and transfer to the U. S. its rights, privileges, properties and concessions as well as the Panama Railroad and all the shares or part of the shares of that company; but the public lands situated outside of the zone described in art. II of this treaty now included in the concessions to both said enterprises and not required in the construction or operation of the Canal shall revert to the Rep. of P. except any property now owned by or in the possession of said companies within Panama or Colon or the parts or terminals thereof.

Art. IX.

The U. S. agrees that the ports at either entrance of the Canal and the waters thereof, and the Rep. of P. agrees that the towns of Panama and Colon shall be free for all time so that there shall not be imposed or collected costum house tolls, tonnage, anchorage, lighthouse, wharf, pilot or quarantine dues or any other charges or taxes of any kind upon any vessel using or passing through the Canal or belonging to or employed by the U. S., directly or indirectly, in connection with the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the main Canal, or auxiliary works, or upon the cargo, officers, crew, or passengers of any such vessels, except such tolls and charges as may be imposed by the U. S. for the use of the canal and other works, and except tolls and charges imposed by the Rep. of P. upon merchandise destined to be introduced for the consumption of the rest of the Rep. of P., and upon vessels touching at the Ports of Colon and Panama and which do not cross the Canal. The Government of the Rep. of P. shall have the right to establish in such ports and in the towns of Panama and Colon such houses and guards as it may seem necessary to collect duties on importations destined to other portions of Panama and to prevent contraband trade. The U. S. shall have the right to make use of the towns and harbours of Panama and Colon as places of anchorage, and for making repairs, for loading, unloading, depositing, or transshipping cargoes either in transit or destined for the service of the Canal and for other works pertaining to the Canal.

Art. X.

The Rep. of P. agrees that there shall not be imposed any taxes, national, municipal, departmental, or of any other class, upon the Canal, the railways and auxiliary works, tugs and other vessels employed in the service of the Canal, store houses, work shops, offices, quarters for laborers, factories of all kinds, warehouses, wharves, machinery and other works, or their officers and employees, situated within the cities of Panama and Colon, and that there shall

not be imposed contributions or charges of a personal character of any kind upon officers, employees, labourers, and other individuals in the service of the Canal and railroad and auxiliary works.

Art. XI.

The U. S. agrees that the official dispatches of the Government of the Rep. of P. shall be transmitted over any telegraph and telephone lines established for canal purposes and used for public and private business at rates no higher than those required from officials in the service of the U. S.

Art. XII.

The Government of the Rep. of P. shall permit the immigration and free access to the lands and workshops of the Canal and its auxiliary works of employees and workmen of whatever nationality under contract to work upon or seeking employment upon or in any wise connected with the said Canal and its auxiliary works, with their respective families, and all such persons shall be free and exempt from the military service of the Rep. of P.

Art. XIII.

The U. S. may import at any time into the said zone and auxiliary lands, free of costum duties, imposts, taxes, or other charges, and without any restrictions, any and all vessels, dredges, engines, cars, machinery, tools, explosives, materials, supplies, and other articles necessary and convenient in the construction, maintenance, operation, sanitation and protection of the Canal and auxiliary works, and all provisions, medicines, clothing, supplies and other things necessary and convenient for the officers, employees, workmen and laborers in the service and employ of the U. S. and for their families. I any such articles are disposed of for use outside of the zone and auxiliary lands granted to the U. S. and within the territory of the Republic, they shall be subject to the same import or other duties as like articles imported under the laws of the Rep. of. P.

Art. XIV.

As the prize or compensation for the rights, powers and privileges granted in this convention by the Rep. of P. to the U. S., the Government of the U. S. agrees to pay to the Rep. of P. the sum of ten million dollars (Doll. 10 000 000) in gold coin and also an annual payment during the life of this convention of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars (Doll. 250 000) in like gold coin beginning nine years after the date aforesaid. The provisions of this article shall be in addition to all other benefits assured to the Rep. of P. under this convention. But no delay or difference of opinion under this article or any other provisions of this treaty shall affect or interrupt the full operation and effect of this convention in all other respects.

Art. XV.

The joint Commission referred to in the art. VI shall be established as follows:

The President of the U. S. shall nominate two persons and the President of the Rep. of P. shall nominate two persons and they shall proceed to a decision; but in case of disagreement of the Commission (by reason of their being equally divided in conclusion) an umpire shall be appointed by the two Governments who shall render the decision. In the event of the death, absence or incapacity of a commissioner or umpire, or of his omitting, declining or ceasing to act, his place shall be filled by the appointment of another person in the manner above indicated. All decisions by a majority of the Commission or by the umpire shall be final.

Art. XVI.

The two Governments shall make adequate provision by future agreement for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment, detention and delivery within said zone and auxiliary lands to the authorities of the Rep. of P. of persons charged with the commitment of crimes, felonies, or misdemeanors without said zone and for the pursuit, capture, imprisonment, detention and delivery without said zone to the authorities of the U. S. of persons charged with the commitment of crimes, felonies and misdemeanors within said zone auxiliary lands.

Art. XVII.

The Rep. of P. grants to the U. S. the use of all the ports of the Republic open to commerce as places of refuge for any vessels employed in the Canal enterprise, and for all vessels passing or bound to pass through the Canal which may be in distress and be driven to seek refuge in said ports. Such vessels shall be exempt from anchorage and tonnage dues on the part of the Rep. of P..

Art. XVIII.

The Canal, when constructed, and the entrances thereto shall be neutral in perpetuity, and shall be opened upon the terms provided for by Section I of article III of, and in conformity with all the stipulations of, the treaty entered into by the Governments of the U. S. and Great Britain on Novem ber 18, 1901.

Art. XIX.

The Government of the Rep. of P. shall have the right to transport over the Canal its vessels and its troops and munitions of war in such vessels at all times without paying charges of any kind. The exemption is to be extended to the auxiliary railway for the transportation of persons in the service of the Rep. of P., or of the police force charged with the preservation of public order outside of said zone, as well as to their baggage, munition of war and supplies.

Art. XX.

If by virtue of any existing treaty in relation to the territory of the Isthmus of Panama, whereof the obligations shall descend or be assumed by the Rep. of P., there may be any privilege or concession in favor of the Government or the citizens and subjects of a third power relative to an interoceanic means of communication which in any of its terms may be incompatible with the terms of the present convention, the Rep. of P. agrees to cancel or modify such treaty in due form, for which purpose it shall give to the said third power the requisite notification within the term of four months from the date of the present convention, and in case the existing treaty contains no clause permitting its modifications or annulment in such form that there shall not exist any conflict with the stipulations of the present convention.

Art. XXI.

The rights and privileges granted by the Rep. of P. to the U. S. in the preceeding articles are understood to be free of all anterior debts, liens, trusts, or liabilities, or concessions or privileges to other Governments, corporations, syndicates or individuals, and consequently, if there should arise any claims on account of the present concessions and privileges or otherwise, the claimants shall resort to the Government of the Rep. of P. and not to the U. S. for any indemnity or compromise which may be required.

Art. XXII.

The Rep. of P. renounces and grants to the U. S. the participation to which it might be entiled in the future earnings of the Canal under Art. XV of the concessionary contract with Lucien N. W. Wyse now owned by the Panama Canal Company and any and all other rights or claims of a pecuniary nature arising under or relating to said concessions to the Panama Railway Company or any extension or modification thereof; and it likewise renounces, confirms and grants to the U. S., now and hereafter, all the rights and property reserved in the said concessions which otherwise would belong to Panama at or before the expiration of the terms of ninety-nine years of the concessions granted to or held by the above mentioned party and companies, and all right, title and interest which it now has or may hereafter have, in and to the lands, canal, works, property and rights held by the said companies under said concessions or otherwise, and acquired or to be acquired by the U. S. from or through the New Panama Canal Company, including any property and rights which might or may in the future either by lapse of time, forfeiture otherwise, revert to the Republic of Panama under any contracts or concessions, with said Wyse, the Universal Panama Canal Company, the Panama Railroad Company and the New Panama Canal Company.

The aforesaid rights and property shall be and are free and released from any present or reversionary interest in or claims of Panama and the