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may be paid, by the Native Subjects or Citizens of the Power in whose Dominions they may be resident. They shall be exempted from all compulsory military Service whatsoever, whether by Sea or Land, and from all forced loans, or military exactions or requisitions; neither shall they be compelled to pay any ordinary taxes, under any pretext whatsoever, greater than those that are paid by Native Subjects or Citizens.

ARTICLE X.

Appointment of Consuls.

It shall be free for each of the Two Contracting Parties to appoint Consuls for the Protection of Trade, to reside in the Dominions and Territories of the other Party; but before any Consul shall act as such, he shall, in the usual form, be approved and admitted by the Government to which he is sent; and either of the Contracting Parties may except from the residence of Consuls, such particular Places as either of them may judge fit to be so excepted.

ARTICLE XI.

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

For the better security of Commerce between the Subjects of His Britannick Majesty, and the Inhabitants of The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, it is agreed, that if at any time any interruption of friendly Commercial Intercourse, or any rupture should unfortunately take place between the Two Contracting Parties, the Subjects or Citizens of either of the Two Contracting Parties residing in the Dominions of the other, shall have the privilege of remaining and continuing their Trade therein, without any manner of interruption, so long as they behave peaceably, and commit no offence against the laws; and their effects and property, whether entrusted to Individuals or to the State, shall not be liable to seizure or sequestration, or to any other demands than those which may be made upon the like effects or property belonging to the Native Inhabitants of the State in which such Subjects or Citizens may reside.

ARTICLE XII.

Liberty of Conscience.-Freedom of Religious Worship.—

Burials.

The Subjects of His Britannick Majesty residing in The United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, shall not be disturbed, persecuted, or annoyed on account of their Religion, but they shall have perfect liberty of Conscience therein, and to cele

brate Divine Service either within their own private houses, or in their own particular Churches or Chapels, which they shall be at liberty to build and maintain in convenient places, approved of by the Government of the said United Provinces:Liberty shall also be granted to bury the subjects of His Britannick Majesty who may die in the Territories of the said United Provinces, in their own burial places, which, in the same manner, they may freely establish and maintain. In the like manner, the Citizens of the said United Provinces shall enjoy within all the Dominions of His Britannick Majesty, a perfect and unrestrained liberty of Conscience, and of exercising their Religion publickly or privately, within their own dwelling houses, or in the Chapels and places of worship appointed for that purpose, agreeably to the system of toleration established in the Dominions of His said Majesty...

ARTICLE XIII.

Disposal of Property by Will.-Intestate Estates.

It shall be free for the Subjects of His Britannick Majesty, residing in the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata, to dispose of their property, of every description, by Will or Testament, as they may judge fit; and, in the event of any British Subject dying without such Will or Testament in the Territories of the said United Provinces, the British Consul-General, or, in his absence, his Representative, shall have the Right to nominate Curators to take charge of the property of the deceased, for the benefit of his lawful heirs and creditors, without interference, giving convenient notice thereof to the Authorities of the Country; and reciprocally.

ARTICLE XIV.

Abolition of Slave Trade.

His Britannick Majesty being extremely desirous of totally abolishing the Slave Trade, The United Provinces of Rio de la Plato engage to co-operate with His Britannick Majesty for the completion of so beneficent a work, and to prohibit all Persons inhabiting within the said United Provinces, or subject to their jurisdiction, in the most effectual manner, and by the most solemn laws, from taking any share in such Trade.

ARTICLE XV.

Ratifications.

The present Treaty shall be ratified, and the Ratifications shall be exchanged in London within four months, or sooner if possible.

[July 10, 1853.

In witness whereof the respective Plenipotentiaries have signed the same, and have affixed their seals thereunto.

Done at Buenos Ayres, the second day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-five. WOODBINE PARISH,

(L.S.)

(L.S.)

H.M. Consul-General. MANL. J. GARCIA,

No. 3.

TREATY BETWEEN GREAT BRITAIN AND THE ARGENTINE CON

FEDERATION FOR THE FREE NAVIGATION OF THE RIVERS
PARANÁ AND URUGUAY.

Signed at San José de Flores, July 10, 1853.*

[Ratifications exchanged at Paraná, March 11, 1854.]

HER Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and his Excellency the Provisional Director of the Argentine Confederation, being desirous of strengthening the bonds of friendship which so happily subsist between their respective States and Countries, and convinced that the surest means of arriving at this result is to take in concert all the measures requisite for facilitating and developing commercial relations, have resolved to determine by Treaty the conditions of the free navigation of the Rivers Paraná and Uruguay, and thus to remove the obstacles which have hitherto impeded this navigation.

With this object they have named as their Plenipotentiaries, that is to say:

Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Sir Charles Hotham, Knight Commander of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, a Captain in Her Majesty's Navy, and one of Her Aides-de-camp, accredited on a special mission to the Argentine Confederation;

And his Excellency the Provisional Director of the Argentine Confederation, Doctor Den Salvador Maria del Carril, and Doctor Don José Benjamin Gorostiaga;

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

*Signed also in Spanish.

17

ARTICLE I.

Free Navigation of Paraná and Uruguay.

The Argentine Confederation, in the exercise of her sovereign rights, concedes the free navigation of the Rivers Paraná and Uruguay, wherever they may belong to her, to the merchant vessels of all nations, subject only to the conditions which this Treaty establishes, and to the regulations sanctioned, or which may hereafter be sanctioned, by the national authority of the Confederation.

ARTICLE II.

Privileges of Vessels in Argentine Ports.

Consequently, the said vessels shall be admitted to remain, load, and unload in the places and ports of the Argentine Confederation which are open for that purpose.

ARTICLE III.

Facilities for Internal Navigation.

The Government of the Argentine Confederation, being desirous to provide every facility for interior navigation, agrees to maintain beacons and marks pointing out the channels.

ARTICLE IV.

Collection of Customs Duties and Harbour, Light, Police, and
Pilotage Dues.

A uniform system shall be established by the competent authorities of the Confederation for the collection of the customhouse duties, harbour, lights, police, and pilotage dues, along of the waters which belong to the whole course Confederation.

ARTICLE V.

Island of Martin Garcia.

to the

The High Contracting Parties, considering that the Island of Martin Garcia may, from its position, embarrass and impede the free navigation of the confluents of the River Plate, agree to use their influence to prevent the possession of the said island from being retained or held by any State of the River Plate, or its confluents, which shall not have given its adhesion to the principle of their free navigation.

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ARTICLE VI.

Navigation of Paraná and Uruguay in time of War.

If it should happen (which God forbid) that war should break out between any of the States, Republics, or Provinces. of the River Plate or its confluents, the navigation of the Rivers Paraná and Uruguay shall remain free to the merchant flag of all nations, excepting in what may relate to munitions of war, such as arms of all kinds, gunpowder, lead, and cannon-balls,

ARTICLE VII.

Power of Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, and Uruguay, to accede to Treaty.

Power is expressly reserved to Ilis Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, and the Government of Bolivia, Paraguay, and the Oriental State of Uruguay, to become parties to the present Treaty, in case they should be disposed to apply its principles to the parts of the Rivers Paraná, Paraguay, and Uruguay, over which they may respectively possess fluvial rights.

ARTICLE VIII.

Navigation of Paraná and Uruguay.—Most-favoured-nation Treatment.

The principal objects for which the Rivers Paraná and Uruguay are declared free to the commerce of the world. being to extend the mercantile relations of the countries which border them, and to promote immigration, it is hereby agreed that no favour or immunity shall be granted to the flag or trade of any other nation, which shall not equally extend to those of Her Britannic Majesty.

ARTICLE IX.

Ratifications.

The present Treaty shall be ratified by Her Majesty the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland within six months from its date, and within two days by his Excellency the Provisional Director of the Argentine Confederation, who shall present it to the first Legislative Congress of the Confederation for their approbation.

The ratification shall be exchanged within eighteen months at the place of residence of the Government of the Argentine Confederation.

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