COLOMBIA, UNITED STATES OF. 



109 



ployes, workmen, artisans, and laborers, as well as 

 the military and naval forces destined to the canal 

 works shall be amenable to the laws and Government 

 of the United States of Colombia. 



ABT. 6. As soon as the canal, together with its de- 

 pendencies and appurtenances, shall be constructed, 

 the inspection, possession, direction, and government 

 of it will belong to the United States of America, and 

 will be exercised by that government ; that of the 

 United States of Colombia having the power, after 

 the exchange of this convention, of keeping a perma- 

 nent commission of agents, with the right to inspect 

 the respective operations, to ascertain the tonnage of 

 vessels, to examine the accounts, and to report there- 

 upon to the Government of the United States of Co- 

 lombia ; but not to interfere in the supervision, gov- 

 ernment, management, direction, and administration 

 of the canal. 



ART. 7. The Government of the United States of 

 America will establish the tariff of rates of passage 

 and transportation through the canal upon the basis 

 of perfect equality for all nations in time both of 

 peace and war. The yield of the canal will be applied 

 in preference to the reimbursement of the expenses, 

 management, service, and government of the canal, 

 and of the capital invested in the explorations, 

 drawings, and construction thereof, including in the 

 cost of construction the indemnities that may nave to 

 be paid for the property of private individuals, and 

 to the Panama Railroad Company, should the case 

 arrive, conformable to the contract between the Gov- 

 ernment of Colombia and said Company. Twelve 

 years after the canal shall have been in service, the 

 Government of Colombia will have the right to ten 

 per cent, of the net proceeds of the enterprise, and to 

 twenty-five per cent, from the moment in w^hich the 

 Government of the United States of America shall 

 have reimbursed herself the capital invested in the 

 work of the act of placing the same in operation, 

 even if the reimbursement shall have been effected 

 within the first twelve years. The payment of the 

 share accruing and due to Colombia is to be made in 

 the city of New York at the expiration of every six 

 months. For the effects of this article it is estab- 

 lished : 1. That the annual expenses of the undertak- 

 ing shall in no event exceed thirty per cent, of the 

 gross annual proceeds, without the express consent 

 of the two contracting parties ; 2. That the net pro- 

 ceeds of the enterprise accruing to the Government 

 of the United States of America shall be preferably 

 applied, from the first year of the canal being in ser- 

 vice, to the reimbursement of the capital ; and, 3. That, 

 to liquidate the net proceeds of the enterprise, no de- 

 duction is to be made for interest upon the capital 

 expended on the works, nor for the sums that may ba 

 set aside to make a reserve or sinking fund. 



ART. 8. The United States of Colombia will pre- 

 perve her political sovereignty and jurisdiction over 

 the canal and adjacent territory ; she will, however, 

 not only permit, but guarantee to the United States 

 of America, agreeably to the constitution and exist- 

 ing laws or Colombia, the peaceable employment, 

 government, direction, and management of the canal, 

 as hereinbefore specified. 



ART. 9. The United States of America will have 

 the right to use the canal for the transportation of 

 troops, munitions of war, and ships-of-war, in time 

 of peace. The entrance to the canal will be rigor- 

 ously closed to the troops, vessels, and munitions of 

 war, of nations that may be at war with another or 

 with, others. 



AKT. 10. Colombia shall not exact toll, or any dues 

 whatsoever, upon the vessels, passengers, money, 

 merchandise, and other effects passing through the 

 canal from one ocean to the other ; but such effects 

 as may be intended for sale or consumption in the 

 interior of the republic will be subject to the duties 

 and taxes already established or that may be estab- 

 lished. 



ART. 11. Should a -military or naval force ever be 



needed for the protection or defence of the canal, and 

 the Government of the United States of America 

 agree to furnish it, said force will operate with that 

 end for the necessary time, under the orders, in ac- 

 cord, of both governments, and will be paid out of the 

 proceeds of the canal. 



ART. 12. The rights and privileges herein specified 

 will last for the term of one hundred years, to be 

 reckoned from the time that the canal shall be opened 

 to the public service; and at the expiration of this 

 term the Government of Colombia will enter into the 

 possession, property, and enjoyment of the canal, 

 and accessory lands, wharves, warehouses, and other 

 appurtenances of the enterprise, constructed at the 

 extremities or on the route, without having to pay 

 therefor, or to grant any indemnity whatever. The 

 United States of America will reserve the benefits 

 that she may have derived during the said one hun- 

 dred years. 



ART. 13. The United States of America may trans- 

 fer by law all her rights, privileges, duties, property, 

 and obligations in reference to the exploration, map- 

 ping, construction, and preservation of the said canal 

 to any private citizen, or association of citizens of the 

 United States of America ; and in that event such 

 citizen or association will enjoy all the rights, prop- 

 erty, and privileges, and be subjected to all the obli- 

 gations and binding clauses agreed upon in this treaty 

 by the United States of America. The differences 

 that might occur between such citizen, or association, 

 and the United States of Colombia, upon the mean- 

 ing or the fulfilment of the clauses of this treaty, will 

 be adjusted by a tribunal composed thus : each one 

 of the parties will name one commissioner^ and these 

 judges will appoint an umpire to give his decision 

 upon such cases wherein there may be disagreement 

 between them. The court will reside at Bogota, and 

 no appeal against its decisions is left to either of the 

 parties. If, after one of the two parties shall have 

 been required to make appointment of a judge com- 

 missioner, said party shall fail to do it, or appoint 

 some person unable or unwilling^ to accept the ap- 

 pointment, then, and in that case, it is to be made by 

 the Government of the United States of America. 

 The expenses incurred by the tribunal will be taken 

 from the gross proceeds of the canal, if this be al- 

 ready in operation ; otherwise, the said expenses will 

 be paid share and share alike by the parties, with 

 the right to reimburse themselves out of the first pro- 

 ceeds of the canal. Should the judge commissioners 

 disagree upon the appointment of the umpire, the 

 two contracting governments will submit the decis- 

 ion of the questions at issue to the arbitration of an- 

 other friendly government in the form stipulated in 

 Article 17. 



The political obligations contracted in this agree- 

 ment by_ the United States of America and those of 

 Colombia are permanent and irrevocable. 



ART. 14. Such citizen or association will hold his 

 or their property, rights, immunities, and privileges 

 in the said canal and its vicinity, likewise subject to 

 the reservations herein contained in favor of the 

 United States of Colombia. 



ART. 15. In the event of the Government of the 

 United States of America making the transfer men- 

 tioned in Article 23, the privilege will cease, and the 

 Government of Colombia enter upon possession and 

 enjoyment, free of cost, of the canal and the appurte- 

 nances thereof in the following cases : First, if the 

 citizen or association of citizens in whose favor the 

 transfer has been effected should sell or lease the en- 

 terprise to any foreign government. Second. If said 

 citizen or association of citizens cooperate in any act 

 of rebellion against the Government of the United 

 States of Colombia, having for its object to withdraw 

 from her dominion the territory upon which the canal 

 may be. Third. If, after the canal shall have been 

 constructed and put into operation, the transit through 

 it should be stopped for more than three years, except- 

 ing in fortuitous cases, or such as may be "beyond the 



