1890.

GENERAL ACT FOR THE REPRESSION OF AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.

Signed July 2, 1890; ratification advised by the Senate January 11, 1892; ratified by the President January 19, 1892; ratification depos ited with Belgian Government February 2, 1892; proclaimed April 2, 1892. (U. S. Stats., Vol. 27, p. 886.)

(The original of this treaty is in the French language and the text here given is from the translation submitted to the Senate and attached to the proclamation.)!

ARTICLES.

CHAPTER I.—Slave-trade countries.—Measures to be taken in the places of origin.

CHAPTER II.-Caravan routes and transportation of slaves by land.

Section II.-Regulations concerning the use of the flags and supervision by cruisers,

1. Rules for granting the flag to native vessels, and as to crew lists and manifests of black passengers on board.

CHAPTER IV.-Countries to which slaves are sent, whose institutions recognize the existence of domestic slavery.

CHAPTER V.-Institutions intended to insure the execution of the general act.

Section II. Of the exchange between the Governments of documents and information relative to the slave trade.

CHAPTER VI.-Measures to restrict the traffic in spirituous liquors.

CHAPTER VII.-Final provisions.

[Translation.]

IN THE NAME OF GOD ALMIGHTY.

The President of the United States of America;

His Majesty the German Emperor, King of Prussia, in the name of the German Empire;

His Majesty the Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, &c., and Apostolic King of Hungary;

His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

His Majesty the King of Denmark;

His Majesty the King of Spain, and in his name Her Majesty the Queen Regent of the Kingdom;

His Majesty the Sovereign of the Independent State of the Congo; The President of the French Republic;

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India;

His Majesty the King of Italy;

His Majesty the King of the Netherlands, Grand Duke of Luxemburg;

His Majesty the Shah of Persia;

His Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves, &c.;

His Majesty the Emperor of all the Russias;

His Majesty the King of Sweden and Norway, &c.;

His Majesty the Emperor of the Ottomans; and

His Highness, the Sultan of Zanzibar;

Being equally actuated by the firm intention of putting an an end to the crimes and devastations engendered by the traffic in African slaves, of efficiently protecting the aboriginal population of Africa, and of securing for that vast continent the benefits of peace and civilization;

Wishing to give fresh sanction to the decisions already adopted in the same sense and at different times by the powers, to complete the results secured by them, and to draw up a body of measures guaranteeing the accomplishment of the work which is the object of their common solicitude;

Have resolved, in pursuance of the invitation addressed to them by the Government of His Majesty the King of the Belgians, in agreement with the Government of Her Majesty the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India, to convene for this purpose a conference at Brussels, and have named as their plenipotentiaries: THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Mr. Edwin H. Terrell, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of the United States of America near His Majesty the King of the Belgians, and

Mr. Henry Shelton Sanford;

HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF GERMANY, KING OF PRUSSIA, IN THE
NAME OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE,

Frederic John, Count of Alvensleben, His Chamberlain and Actual
Privy Councillor, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni-
potentiary near His Majesty the King of the Belgians, and
Mr. William Goehring, His Privy Councillor of Legation, Consul-
General of the German Empire at Amsterdam;

HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA, KING OF BOHEMIA AND
APOSTOLIC KING OF HUNGARY,

Rodolphe Count Khevenhüller-Metsch, His Chamberlain, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near his Majesty the King of the Belgians,

11

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE BELGIANS,

Auguste Baron Lambermont, His Minister of State, His Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, and

M. Emile Banning, Director General in the Department of Foreign
Affairs of Belgium;

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF DENMARK,

Mr. Frederic-George Schack de Brockdorff, Consul-General of Den-
mark at Antwerp;

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SPAIN, AND IN HIS NAME HER MAJESTY
THE QUEEN REGENT OF THE KINGDOM,

Don José Gutierrez de Agüera, His Envoy Extraordinary and Min-
ister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of the Belgians;
HIS MAJESTY THE SOVEREIGN-KING OF THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF
THE CONGO,

Mr. Edmund Van Eetvelde, Administrator-General of the Depart-
ment of Foreign Affairs of the Independent State of the Congo
and

Mr. Auguste Van Maldeghem, Councillor in the Belgian Court of
Cassation;

THE PRESIDENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC,

M. Albert Bourée, Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipoten-
tiary of the French Republic near His Majesty the King of the
Belgians, and

M. George Cogordan, Minister Plenipotentiary, Director of the
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of France;

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF THE UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT
BRITAIN AND IRELAND, EMPRESS OF INDIA,

Lord Vivian, Peer of the United Kingdom, Her Envoy Extraordi-
nary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of
the Belgians, and

Sir John Kirk;

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF ITALY,

Francis de Renzis, Baron of Montanaro, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of the Belgians, and

Mr. Thomas Catalani, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni-
potentiary;

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF THE NETHERLANDS, GRAND DUKE OF
LUXEMBURG,

Louis Baron Gericke de Herwynen, His Envoy Extraordinary and
Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of the Bel-
gians;

HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY THE SHAH OF PERSIA,

General Nazare Aga, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni-
potentiary near His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF PORTUGAL AND OF THE ALGARVES,
Mr. Henrique de Macedo Pereira Coutinho, Member of His Council,
Peer of the Kingdom, Minister and Honorary Secretary of State,
His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His
Majesty the King of the Belgians;

HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF ALL THE RUSSIAS,

Leon Prince Ouroussoff, Master of His Court, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of the Belgians, and

Mr. Frederic de Martens, His Actual Councillor of State, Permanent Member of the Council of Foreign Affairs of Russia;

HIS MAJESTY THE KING OF SWEDEN AND NORWAY,

Mr. Charles de Burenstam, His Chamberlain, His Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of the Belgians and near His Majesty the King of the Netherlands,

HIS MAJESTY THE EMPEROR OF THE OTTOMANS,

Étienne Carathéodory Efendi, High Dignitary of His Empire, His Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary near His Majesty the King of the Belgians;

HIS HIGHNESS THE SULTAN OF ZANZIBAR,

Sir John Kirk, and

Mr. William Goehring;

Who, being furnished with full powers, which have been found to be in good and due form, have adopted the following provisions:

CHAPTER I. Slave-trade countries.—Measures to be taken in the places of origin. ARTICLE I.

The powers declare that the most effective means of counteracting the slave-trade in the interior of Africa are the following:

1. Progressive organization of the administrative, judicial, religious, and military services in the African territories placed under the sovereignty or protectorate of civilized nations.

2. The gradual establishment in the interior, by the powers to which the territories are subject, of strongly occupied stations, in such a way as to make their protective or repressive action effectively felt in the territories devastated by slave hunting.

3. The construction of roads, and in particular of railways, connecting the advanced stations with the coast, and permitting easy access to the inland waters, and to such of the upper courses of the rivers and streams as are broken by rapids and cataracts, with a view to substituting economical and rapid means of transportation for the present system of carriage by men.

4. Establishment of steam-boats on the inland navigable waters and on the lakes, supported by fortified posts established on the banks.

5. Establishment of telegraphic lines, insuring the communication of the posts and stations with the coast and with the administrative centres.

6. Organization of expeditions and flying columns, to keep up the communication of the stations with each other and with the coast, to support repressive action, and to insure the security of high roads.

7. Restriction of the importation of fire-arms, at least of those of modern pattern, and of ammunition throughout the entire extent of the territory in which the slave-trade is carried on.

ARTICLE II.

The stations, the inland cruisers organized by each power in its waters, and the posts which serve as ports of register for them shall, independently of their principal task, which is to prevent the capture of slaves and intercept the routes of the slave trade, have the following subsidiary duties:

1. To support and, if necessary, to serve as a refuge for the native population, whether placed under the sovereignty or the protectorate