ARTICLE XIII.

Privileges of Diplomatic Agents and Consuls.-Appointment of Consuls. Most-favoured-nation Treatment.

The Diplomatic Agents and Consuls of each of the two High Contracting Parties in the dominions or territories of the other shall enjoy whatever privileges, exemptions, and immunities are or shall be granted there to Agents of the same rank, belonging to the most favoured nation.

It shall be free for each of the Contracting Parties to appoint Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents, to reside in the towns and ports of the dominions and possessions of the other. Such Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls and Consular Agents, however, shall not enter upon their functions until after they shall have been approved and admitted, in the usual form, by the Government to which they are sent. They shall exercise whatever functions, and enjoy whatever privileges, exemptions, and immunities are or shall be granted there to Consuls of the most favoured nation.

ARTICLE XIV.

Freedom of Residence, Travel.-Hiring of Houses, Warehouses, &c. -Trade.-Employment of Agents.-Passports, Taxes, &c.National Treatment.

The subjects and citizens of each of the Contracting Parties, conforming themselves to the laws of the country,—

1. Shall have full liberty, with their families, to enter, travel, or reside in any part of the dominions and possessions of the other Contracting Party.

2. They shall be permitted to hire or possess the houses, manufactories, warehouses, shops, and premises which may be necessary for them.

3. They may carry on their commerce, by wholesale or by retail, and either in person or by any agents whom they may think fit to employ.

4. They shall not be subject, in respect of their persons or property, or in respect of passports, licences for residence or establishment, nor in respect of their commerce or industry, to any taxes, whether general or local, nor to imposts or obligations of any kind whatever, other or greater than those which are or may be imposed upon native subjects or citizens.

ARTICLE XV.

Liberty of Conscience.-Freedom of Religious Worship.-Burials.

The subjects or citizens of the two High Contracting Parties residing in the territories of the other, shall enjoy the most perfect and entire liberty of conscience, without being molested or disturbed on account of their religious belief. Neither shall they be molested or disturbed in the proper

exercise of their religion, in private houses, or in the churches, chapels, or places destined for worship, provided that in so doing they observe the decorum due to Divine worship, and the respect due to the laws of the country. Liberty shall also be granted to bury the subjects or citizens of the two High Contracting Parties who may die in the territories of the other, in convenient and adequate places, to be appointed and established by the said resident subjects or citizens for that purpose, with the knowledge of the local authorities, or in such other places of sepulture as may be chosen by the friends of the deceased; and the funerals or sepulchres of the dead shall not be disturbed in any wise or upon any account.

ARTICLE XVI.

Exemption from Military Service, Municipal Functions, Forced Loans, &c.

The subjects and citizens of each of the Contracting Parties in the dominions and possessions of the other shall be exempted from all compulsory military service whatever, whether in the army, navy, or national guard or militia. They shall be exempted from all judicial and municipal functions whatever, as well as from all contributions, whether pecuniary or in kind, imposed as a compensation for personal service; and, finally, from forced loans and military exactions or requisitions.

ARTICLE XVII.

Acquisition and Disposal of Property.-Most-favoured-nation and National Treatment.

The subjects and citizens of each of the Contracting Parties in the dominions and possessions of the other, shall be at full liberty to acquire, possess, and dispose of every description of property which the laws of the country may permit_any foreigners, of whatsoever nation, to acquire and possess. They may acquire and dispose of the same, whether by purchase, sale, donation, exchange, marriage, testament, succession ab intestato, or in any other manner, under the same conditions as are established by the laws of the country for all foreigners. Their heirs and representatives may succeed to and take possession of such property, either in person or by agents acting on their behalf, in the same manner and in the same legal forms as subjects or citizens of the country. In the absence of heirs and representatives the property shall be treated in the same manner as the like property belonging to a subject or citizen of the country under similar circumstances.

Property: Duties on Succession or Exportation.-National

Treatment.

In none of these respects shall they pay upon the value of such property any other or higher impost, duty, or charge than

is payable by subjects or citizens of the country. In every case the subjects or citizens of the Contracting Parties shall be permitted to export their property, or the proceeds thereof, if sold, freely, and without being subjected on such exportation to pay any duties as foreigners, or any other or higher duties than those to which subjects or citizens of the country are liable under similar circumstances,

ARTICLE XVIII.

Inviolability of Dwellings, &c.-Domiciliary Visits.

The dwellings, manufactories, warehouses, and shops of the subjects or citizens of each of the Contracting Parties in the dominions and possessions of the other, and all premises appertaining thereto, destined for purposes of residence or commerce, shall be respected. If there should be occasion to make a search of, or a domiciliary visit to, such dwellings and premises, or to examine or inspect books, papers, or accounts, such measure shall be executed only in conformity with the legal warrant or order in writing of a tribunal, or of the competent authority.

Administration of Justice.-National Treatment.

The subjects or citizens of each of the two Contracting Parties in the dominions and possessions of the other, shall have free access to the Courts of Justice for the prosecution and defence of their rights. They shall enjoy in this respect the same rights and privileges as subjects or citizens of the country, and shall, like them, be at liberty, to employ, in all causes, their advocates, attorneys, or agents from among the persons admitted to the exercise of those professions according to the laws of the country.

ARTICLE XIX.

Rupture of Friendly Relations.-Position of Persons and
Property.-National Treatment.

For the better security of commerce between the subjects and citizens of the two High Contracting Parties, it is agreed that if at any time any rupture, or any interruption of friendly intercourse, should unfortunately take place between the two Contracting Parties, the subjects or citizens of either of them, established in the territories of the other, who may reside upon the coasts, shall be allowed six months, and those who may reside in the interior a whole year, to wind up their accounts and to dispose of their property; and a safe-conduct shall be given to them to embark at the port which they themselves shall select. The subjects or citizens of either of the two Contracting Parties who may be established in the dominions or territories of the other, in the exercise of any trade of other occupation or employment, shall be allowed to remain and con

tinue in the exercise of the said trade or occupation, notwithstanding the interruption of friendship between the two countries, in the free enjoyment of their personal liberty and property, so long as they behave peaceably and observe the laws; and their goods and effects, of whatever description they may be, whether in their own custody or intrusted to individuals or to the State, shall not be liable to seizure or sequestration, or to any other charges or demands than those which may be made upon the like effects or property belonging to native subjects or citizens. In the same case, or in case of domestic troubles, debts between individuals, public funds, and the shares of Companies, shall never be confiscated, sequestered, or detained.

ARTICLE XX.

Wrecks and Salvage.-National Treatment,

Any ship of war or merchant-vessel of either of the Contracting Parties which may be compelled by stress of weather, or by accident, to take shelter in a port of the other, shall be at liberty to refit therein, to procure all necessary stores, and to put to sea again, without paying any dues other than such as would be payable in a similar case by a national vessel. In case, however, the master of a merchant-vessel should be under the necessity of disposing of a part of his merchandize in order to defray his expenses, he shall be bound to conform to the regulations and tariffs of the place to which he may have come.

If any ship of war or merchant-vessel of one of the Contracting Parties should run aground or be wrecked upon the coasts of the other, such ship or vessel, and all parts thereof, and all furniture and appurtenances belonging thereunto, and all goods and merchandize saved therefrom, including any which may have been cast into the sea, or the proceeds thereof if sold, as well as all papers found on board such stranded or wrecked ship or vessel, shall be given up to the owners or their agents when claimed by them.. If there are no such owners or agents on the spot, then the same shall be delivered to the British or Colombian Consul-General, Consul, or Vice-Consul, in whose district the wreck or stranding may have taken place, upon being claimed by him within the period fixed by the laws of the country; and such Consuls, owners, or agents, shall pay only the expenses incurred in the preservation of the property, together with the salvage or other expenses which would have been payable in the like case of a wreck of a national vessel.

The goods and merchandize saved from the wreck shall be exempt from all duties of Customs, unless cleared for consumption, in which case they shall pay the same rate of duty as if they had been imported in a national vessel.

In the case either of a vessel being driven in by stress of weather, run aground, or wrecked, the respective ConsulsGeneral, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents shall, if

the owner or master or other agent of the owner is not present, or is present and requires it, be authorized to interpose in order to afford the necessary assistance to their fellow-countrymen.

ARTICLE XXI.

Seamen Deserters.

The Consuls-General, Consuls, Vice-Consuls, and Consular Agents of each of the Contracting Parties, residing in the dominions and possessions of the other, shall receive from the local authorities such assistance as can by law be given to them for the recovery of deserters from the vessels of their respective countries.

ARTICLE XXII.

Abrogation of Treaty between Great Britain and Colombia of April 18, 1825.-—Duration of Present Treaty.

The present Treaty of Commerce and Navigation, when ratified, shall, so far as regards the United States of Colombia, be substituted for the Treaty between His Britannic Majesty and the State of Colombia, signed at Bogotá, on the 18th of April, 1825, and shall remain in force for ten years from the date of the exchange of the ratifications, and further until the expiration of twelve months after either of the Contracting Parties shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the same; each of the Contracting Parties being at liberty to give such notice to the other at the expiration of the first nine years, or at any time afterwards.

ARTICLE XXIII.

Ratifications.

The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the ratifications shall be exchanged at London in twelve months, or sooner if possible.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed thereto their respective seals. Done at London, the sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.